“I’ve always loved my science classes,” explains 2nd-year med student, Antonia, “but I didn’t realize I was good at it until last year.” At a community festival, Antonia put her passion into practice by providing emergency CPR and saving the life of a neighbor. “I was so grateful for the training,” Antonia continued, “and it never would have been possible without a loan from Kiva and FUNDAPEC.”
Antonia is the youngest of 9 children from a small village outside of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Her parents are ailing, currently unemployed and struggling financially. Despite her excellent academic scores, scholarships for top universities in the capital were still out of reach for Antonia.
Kiva Partner, FUNDAPEC, specializes in higher-education loans and leverages Kiva’s risk-tolerant capital to target under-resourced students. They have the most affordable and flexible loans in the Dominican market, wherein students are not required to repay their loans until after graduation. In fact, Kiva’s influence has motivated FUNDAPEC to extend a further grace period to students like Antonia who have interruptions in their studies.
Last year, Antonia had an unexpected pregnancy. She was diligent in her classes but eventually had to withdraw in the months before giving birth. Although hard to admit, it was devastating for Antonia to put her dreams on hold. She will need to retake some classes, but with the flexible financial support of FUNDAPEC and a community of Kiva lenders, Antonia maintains her passion to help others through medicine. As she reviewed the list of 250+ Kiva lenders who had chosen to support her loan, Antonia started to get choked up. “It’s hard not to feel alone as a single mother,” Antonia explained, “but I had no idea there were so many people behind me with Kiva.”
Click here to make a loan to someone like Antonia in the Dominican Republic.
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