Kiva Loans

Cherri - Honduras

Spanish students loaned $50 to Cherri and she is now fully funded!

Cherri is 39 years old, a single mother, she has 3 children and lives with them in a town in the municipality of Tela, Atlántida. She worked for a while at a factory and with her own efforts, 4 years ago she decided to establish her own business that will generate more income for her children. She offers services of haircuts, drying, straightening, hairstyles, dyes, manicures, etc. in addition to selling products such as acrylic nails, combs, make-up and more. This beauty salon is in the market zone in a space she rents. She asks for the quantity of 15,000 lempiras to purchase beauty products such as dyes, shampoo, treatments, makeup, nail polish, creams, and other materials that she uses and sells at her beauty salon. With this investment, she plans to satisfy her customers' needs and offer better service. Her goal is to expand her business and continue educating her children.

Rosa- El Salvador

Spanish students loaned $50 to Rosa and she is now fully funded!

Rosa is 54 years old and works selling pupusas (stuffed corn tortillas) every day. Additionally, she sells sopa de pata (a soup made with cows' feet) on the weekends. This brings her a greater income so that she can offer her family a better quality of life. She is a single mother and lives with her two children, ages 12 and 17.

She would like to build the walls of her home, since being of adobe and damaged, they fell. It is for this that she is requesting a loan through FUSAI in order to buy cement, sand, gravel, bricks, and steel: so that she can build the walls of her home and make her dream a reality.

Pedro - Mexico

Spanish students loaned $50 to Pedro and he is now fully funded!

Pedro and his wife Ivonne own a local convenient store in El Seco in the Mexican state of Puebla. They have been living in their house for over 37 years. It first started as a single room and gradually it has grown to accommodate the family. However, the kitchen and the kids bedroom still has a dirt floor since a rooms and bathrooms were a priority during the last construction work. One of their kids has presented some respiratory illness and the doctor says having a clean house with the least amount of dust possible is essential.

To do so, they need to build a proper floor as soon as possible and that is why they are requesting this credit. They also want to finish off the walls so they can avoid the wind and water coming through the cracks.

Their store is an informal business and income is not guaranteed, so access credit from other institutions is very difficult. Pedro and Ivonne will receive technical assistance and supervision from certified technicians that will make sure the constructions meets all quality and safety standards. Pedro and Ivonne are looking forward to do this final improvements to their home and provide their family with a better health and a better life.

Esther - El Salvador

Spanish students loaned $50 to Esther and she is now fully funded!

Esther, 36, did not have the opportunity to go to school. She is a single mother of two children who live with her and work as a domestic and in agriculture.

Esther sells bread that she makes herself. She has had this occupation for 9 years. She learned it from the woman who raised her. She makes the bread every morning and later goes out to sell it in her community. Her children help her with the work.

She needs a loan to buy flour, eggs, cinnamon, leavening, sugar, milk, etc. to make bread and continue selling it. This loan will be very helpful as she will have all the ingredients for the bread and it will generate profits.

She dreams of building an oven in a different location, as the one she currently has receives a lot of sun light. She hopes to achieve this with the earnings from her work.

Reynitas Group - Mexico

Spanish students loaned $50 to the Reynitas group and they are now fully funded!

In this Group: Irene , Margarita Victoria , Rosa Maria , Jose *, Rosalinda , Dulce Maria , Eva , Alba Delia , Alma Delia , Alma Yadira *

* not pictured

The main agricultural products found in Veracruz are sugar cane, lemon, corn, sorghum, beans, rice, green chiles, mangos, papayas, plantains etc. But it is known for sugar cane, since in some communities most of the residents work planting or harvesting it.

In one town a group called "Reynitas" (little queens) was formed, as the members consider themselves the queens of their homes. The members are: Irene, who sells clothes; Margarita, plants; Eva and Dulce, food; Jose, electrician; Rasalinda and Amva V., shoes, Alba, zapatos and cosmetics and Alma R., a machine shop.

Everybody calls Margarita Mago, she is the mother of four children, three of whom still depend on her and her husband Noel. Because of that, four years ago she earned her degree in forensics and now works as a medical forensic in Veracruz; and in partnership with her mother she opened a nursery. "The nursery was my mother's idea, when she retired she decided to spend her time on something productive, and what could be better than doing something she had always enjoyed," she comments proudly. That business has prospered, their customer demand grew, as well as the need to offer a greater variety of plants and flowers, and to produce their own compost and organic manure, assuring improved quality and beauty for each of their plants. The business has become a family affair, as her sister also helps caring for and selling the plants. They are all well-organized and manage the process carefully, so their customers will recommend the business and they will increase their earnings. Among their goals is to "introduce exotic, unusual plants to the community, and offer greater variety to our customers is the first thing I want to do," said Mago, who will use the loan to buy palm trees, orange trees, lemon trees and orchids.

*The photo was taken in their town. Mago is wearing a white scarf on her head.