Adding to basket
Daily life for 22-year-old Catarina, a single mother of a five-year-old daughter, has changed tremendously since the onset of COVID-19. Using the income from her traditional textile business and thread sales, she strives to provide basic needs and more for her daughter. With nearby community markets closed, Catarina promotes her merchandise on social media sites. She also visits neighbors and, because of what she has learned in her Friendship Bridge Trust Bank meetings, she always wears a mask and keeps a social distance. To restock her inventory, Catarina is requesting her first Kiva loan to buy thread, as well as the latest styles of colorful traditional blouses/”huipiles,” skirts/”cortes,” and belts/”fajas.”
Catarina and six other Maya K’iche ladies are members of the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “Rosas de Guadalupe” in a rural area in the department/state of Solola. The women have businesses that range from convenience stores to the sales of firewood and traditional textiles. They meet monthly to make loan payments and then participate in educational training sessions that cover an aspect of four topics: business, women, family, and health. Every other month, they have access to health care screenings like blood pressure and blood sugar check, breast exams, PAP smears, and more. Friendship Bridge calls this helpful combination of loans, education and health care “Microcredit Plus.”
Thank you, Kiva investors, for the essential role you play in the lives of Catarina and her friends!
In this group: Pascuala , Maria , Manuela , Micaela , Catarina Jessica, Manuela , Maricela
