This group is called "Las Palomas" ("The Pigeons"), because pigeons are abundant near the place where they hold their meetings. The group includes 12 people: Marcelina G. V. and Macedonia H. sell snacks; Gudelia G. O., Evelia Enedina M. G. and Efigenia P. V. sell sweets and fried foods; Emperatriz López S., Luciana Teresa López M., Susana López M. and Maria Eugenia López H. sell beauty products such as perfumes, creams, etc. from catalogs; Antonia M. S. weaves huipiles (a traditional article of clothing); Erica Nora R. M. sells shoes from a catalog; and Lucia Matilde O. N. has a permanent store where she sells gift items.
Gudelia is the group's representative. She is married and has three children. Three years ago, she started a business selling sweets, and since then it has provided her with very satisfactory profits. This income has allowed her to support her children in conjunction with her husband, so that they can go to school and learn a profession. Gudelia also plans to start selling food to students and to the public in general, in hope of further increasing her income.
With the loan provided by the Realidad Foundation, she will stock her business with a greater volume of goods, and she will also purchase ingredients to prepare food to sell, such as vegetables, meat, seafood, soft drinks, coffee, sugar, eggs, tortillas, cooking oil and gas for cooking.
Doña Gude, as she is called by those who know her well, is grateful for the support provided to her by the Foundation and by the other people involved in the financing, such as KIVA lenders. Her dream is to have a permanent shop where she can sell more products. She reports that she recommends her people, because she says they are responsible and dependable with their payments.
In this group: Emperatriz, Gudelia, Susana, Maria Eugenia, Antonia, Evelia Enedina, Marcelina, Efigenia, Macedonia, Erica Nora, Lucia Matilde, Luciana Teresa
Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteer anonymized. View original language description.