Nine entrepreneurial women make up Las Cumplidoras Trust Bank. They are neighbors and friends from Olintepeque City, a 20-minute drive from Quetzaltenango in western Guatemala. Since the group was formed a few years ago, these ingenious women have expanded their businesses and increased their income, which has allowed them to support their families in ways they formerly thought impossible.

As a new member of the group, Eva Maria, is starting her first loan cycle. She is 20 years old and a mother of two boys (a three year-old toddler and a five month-old baby). Both Eva Maria and her husband work to earn money for their family. Her husband is a toy merchant and Eva Maria raises pigs. She currently owns four pigs, but has plans to double that number with the loan she obtained from her involvement in the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank. The increased income will further Eva Maria’s dream of going back to school. Her formal education was interrupted with the birth of her first son when she was in 8th grade, but she is excited about the non-formal education that Friendship Bridge provides with the loans. In the meantime, the money she earns will help ensure her own children complete school.

Along with Eva Maria, the ladies of Las Cumplidoras Trust Bank are engaged in various enterprises including sewing, the sale of chickens, fruit, food, and traditional clothing; and the management of a convenience store. On average these women have four children, each of whom they hope to provide a good education and continued good health. These important goals are now in reach because of the monthly training they receive from Friendship Bridge along with their loans. Lessons cover topics such as self-esteem, children's rights, business management, money management, budgeting, and savings.