Adding to basket
Sonia is a 42-year-old woman, she lives with her partner, and she has three children, ages two, five, and fourteen. Her business is selling traditional food. She is a good mother, and she is optimistic, understanding, persevering, supportive, responsible, and very hardworking.
She carries out her business in a market in the “Mutualista” Zone; a place very sought after by merchants who want to open a store or any type of business. It’s a market that is much visited by shoppers from the entire city. It has a warm sub-tropical climate, with a daytime temperature that varies between 21 and 35 degrees Centigrade.
Sonia has tan skin, brown eyes, and long, straight, black hair that she wears tied back at the nape of her neck, and her height and build are medium. Her maternal language is Guaraní, which she speaks at home; she speaks Spanish with the general public and for business. She is on the left, wearing a green t-shirt.
She shares her life with her partner, who is a chauffeur, and with her children. The oldest is studying in school and the younger ones are not yet school-age. They live in a rented home built of brick and cement, with a corrugated iron roof and a cement floor. It has potable water, electricity, and a sewerage system.
Her need to pay her children’s medical expenses led her to organize a group of people with businesses such as, selling natural medicines; weaving, making straw hats; selling coca leaves; selling second hand clothing; a neighborhood store, and selling shoes, in order to request a loan and improve their businesses.
Her business is selling traditional food such as, majadito de charque (dried beef, rice, fried egg, and fried plantain); sopa de remojado (egg soup), locotos rellenos (peppers, ground beef, and onion); arroz con queso (rice, milk, and cheese), and ají de panza (tripe, onions, and tomato, with rice).
She works week days in her stationary, covered, sales stand. She says, “Cooking at a low temperature gives tasty results, in terms of flavor, aroma, and texture, because the foods don’t lose their juices that way”. Her business’s advantage is that she makes sales every day, and its disadvantage is the lack of capital to invest in the purchase of cooking supplies.
Her dream is to be the most popular food stand, and she wants to expand her business through the purchase of cooking supplies, such as oil, rice, noodles, potatoes, cheese, meat, and other items. This is the 12th loan cycle with the institution in the 15 years that she has been doing this work.
That is why Sonia is requesting a loan: to purchase cooking supplies in order to be the most popular food sales stand.
In this group: Sonia, Raquel, Gloria, Neydi, Martha Sonia, Carolina, Maria Cristina, Estela
Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteer anonymized. View original language description.
