Adding to basket
Alicia is 70 years old. From a young age, she worked with her parents cleaning coffee to help support her family financially. Due to her family’s financial limitations, she could not attend school.
She married at 17, and while her husband worked in agriculture, she started raising pigs to help with household expenses. She has seven children, who completed only primary school because she couldn’t afford their secondary education. Her children are doing well now; they have their own families, work in agriculture, and run their own businesses.
Through friends, Alicia learned about women’s loans offered by the Chajulense Association of United Women for Life. This year, Alicia received her sixth loan, which she has used for planting and cultivating coffee, buying and selling coffee, and buying and fattening pigs. This year, she plans to invest in coffee planting and buying and selling coffee.
Alicia leads a group called La Bendición 1, consisting of five women—one from the Maya Ixil ethnicity and four from the Ladino ethnicity. The group will invest 100% of their loan in agriculture. On average, each member of the group has seven children, and the average age of the group members is 50 years. About 80% are illiterate, while 20% have completed up to fifth grade in primary school.
In this group: Alicia Augusta, Ana Leticia, Ana, Ana, Angela María
Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteer Russ Sprinkle. View original language description.
