The “Las Divinas” (The Divine Ones) communal bank is represented by Marina; it is maD. up of 13 members: 11 women and 2 men.

Marina is a widow and has two, school-age children, who are her reason to work. She sells seasonal items door-to-door, in the markets and, in some cases, in offices. She lives in a house under the anticretico modality. (Anticretico is a transaction not available in the U.S. whereby a property owner requests a "loan" from you in exchange for housing, which must be paid back to you at the end of your contract. If your loan is not repaid, the property owner loses the property to you). Her greatest expectation is to grow and be able to proviD. her children with a stable home.

The other members are involved in a variety of commercial activities such as: clothing sales, vegetable and meat sales, cheese sales, cleaning supplies sales, candle-making, optician supplies, office supplies, and others. For the most part, they all live in the same area of the city of El Alto.

Within the city’s internal marketplace, any business faces a lot of competition, as is true for the rest of the country. For this reason, the members look for other sales strategies to move their product. For example: they set up sales stands in as many markets as possible plus a fixed stand in the central market. The vast majority of members earn just enough to support their families so the capital offered helps them generate working capital and a savings rate for a future; most of the members are single mothers who must fend for themselves.

The loan will be used to increase their working capital and business. They will buy merchandise, materials, supplies, tools and ingredients. The group is in its 7th loan with the institution so they have wiD. expectations for growth because they can count on support from Fundación Agrocapita.