Las Mariposas Group

Forty-eight-year-old Elena attended school for three years and then began to work when she was 12 because she wanted to help her family cover expenses. First, she worked caring for children and selling bread in a bakery. She also cooked in a restaurant and worked on a farm harvesting vegetables. She married and then separated from her husband 15 years ago.

Elena has four children who range in age from 14 to 26. Fifteen years ago, she started her farm, where she grows cabbage and carrots. She rents the land, and her children help her with seeding and harvesting. She sells in Guatemala City three times each week. Ten months ago, she started working in her town as a concierge. Her goals are to create a brighter future and save income for her children and for when she is old. Elena requests her second Kiva loan to buy seeds, fertilizer and insecticide.

Elena and eight other Maya Kaqchikel women who also live in the department/state of Chimaltenango participate in the Friendship Bridge “Microcredit Plus” program of loans, education and healthcare. They are farmers who sell pork, fruit and chickens. The ladies look forward to monthly educational training that covers relevant topics related to health, women’s issues, family matters and business. Every two months, they have access to basic healthcare services that include exams, consults and family planning.

Thank you, Kiva lenders, for lending a helping hand to Elena and her friends!

In this group: Maria Modesta, Clemencia , Elena , Catarina , Maria Odilia , Elena, Maria Elena, Sindy Estela, Elvia Cristina