Adding to basket
The word, “Aguacatán” means a place where there is an abundance of avocados and those grown in Guatemala are huge and flavorful. It is also the name of a town southeast of Huehuetenango in the northeastern part of Guatemala. The area is quite mountainous and lush and one can find many natural springs that are the headwaters to rivers in the area.. Poor economic conditions have prompted some of the people who live here to travel elsewhere in Guatemala to work while many have gone to Mexico and the United States.
Seven women who strive to conserve their beautiful traditional clothing have decided to fortify themselves and formed the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “Mujeres de Chichuj”. The ladies are hardworking and driven to achieve success. They have various businesses such as farming (growing and selling onions and tomatoes), selling tortillas and tamales, and animal husbandry and in their “free time”, the women embroider beautiful and colorful typical blouses….all to increase income.
Celeste is a member of the Trust Bank. She is 33 years old with one child. She was able to attend school until the fifth grade. Celeste grows onions and tomatoes. With the earnings from her sales of produce, she buys baby chicks to raise and sell. In addition, she embroiders typical blouses! She is requesting a loan to buy a large quantity of onion seeds, 400 small tomato plants and fertilizer so that all will flourish in the ground and produce high quality tomatoes and onions.
The ladies in the “Aguacatan” Trust Bank look forward to their monthly meetings when they make payments on their loans and participate in educational trainings. Friendship Bridge calls the combination of microcredit and education “Microcredit Plus” and it is very effective. A facilitator from the organization shares relevant information with the women on a variety of topics including health, hygiene and nutrition, setting goals and realizing dreams as well as how to get their children ready for school. Also discussed are effective business tools including planning, budgeting, pricing, marketing and customer service.
Each Kiva lender who decides to fund loans for Celeste and her friends is truly appreciated. Thank you for your compassion and your generosity!
In this group: Angela, Celeste Fabiola, Ernestina, Cristina, Maria, Juana, Elsa Carmela
