Adding to basket
Small farms in rural Guatemala are where the aromatic spice, cardamom, is grown. Guatemala supplies the world with this popular spice, known as “the Queen of Spices.”
Twenty-five-year-old Candelaria, a single woman who lives with her parents, is a cardamom farmer. During the planting and harvesting season, she has ten employees. She sells cardamom from her home at wholesale. She also raises chickens.
Candelaria is requesting her second Kiva loan to buy fertilizer for her cardamom plants. Her goals are to increase acreage, grow more cardamom, increase her income, and open a convenience store.
Six women who speak Spanish and Maya Q’eqchi elected Candelaria to be the Treasurer of their Friendship Bridge Trust Bank group, “Las Aguilas” or “The Eagles.” They live in the department of Quiché. Some are cardamom farmers or raise animals, while others have convenience stores. They participate in the “Microcredit Plus” program of loans, monthly educational training, and bi-monthly healthcare services. Recent topics for the training have been about savings, business administration, and managing their loans. Other topics are about health, family, and women. This program is essential to the success of Candelaria and her friends, since they have little or no formal education and healthcare is challenging to access.
Thank you, Kiva lenders, for your kindness in funding these much-appreciated loans!
In this group: Rebeca , Petronila , Teresa, Elena , Roberta , Candelaria , Silvia Seferina
