Adding to basket
For hundreds of years, corn has been an essential part of the Guatemalan diet and culture. It takes ten months to mature and is usually harvested in early winter.
Rosario is a 42-year-old mother of seven children who range in age from 8 to 23. She sells the corn that her husband grows on their property. They have a small plot of land where they also grow trees for harvesting firewood. Rosario also makes tamales and sells them two or three times each month. She shares that she hopes God will help her increase sales because she needs more income. Rosario is requesting her second Kiva loan to buy more corn to sell, which will last until her husband can harvest corn from their land. She will put aside funds for the continuing education of her children who all attend school. Rosario shares that she left school after the second grade because she was very shy and afraid to hand in her homework.
Rosario has joined seven other women who live in the Department of Suchitepequez and formed the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “San Juan”. Some of them sell corn, tamales, and firewood, while others sell chicken meat. They appreciate the monthly meetings when a facilitator conducts educational training about a relevant topic relating to business, health, family, and women’s issues. Also crucial to their success are the bi-monthly visits from a traveling nurse who offers all types of exams, consultations, and other services. This combination of loans, education, and health care is called “Microcredit Plus”.
Thank you, Kiva!
In this group: Rosario , Elena , Candelaria , Rosario , Olga Marina, Juana Liliana, Rosario Cristina, Maria Roselia
