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Meaningful Microloan Meetings in December 2023
The microloan groups gathered in December for a special time of celebration and reflection on the year. They started with a time of gratitude where each woman wrote down everything for which she was grateful. Then they were invited to place that list in a special place where it would serve as an ongoing reminder of the good things in life.
In Morelia, an activity called “Our Qualities” was used. Each woman had a sheet of paper adhered to her back where the others wrote the positive qualities that they recognized in her. At the end, each one read what the other women had written. It was an activity that filled the group with much love, joy, and encouragement, as Sheny beautifully expresses in this video.
The women also shared the benefits they have received from the Microloan Project and workshops. (See videos of Viviana and Mayda). The participants expressed their gratitude and deeply thanked the Microloan Task Force, prayer partners, Microloan Staff, and all those who make this project possible.
Finally, Microloan Staff demonstrated how to make a healthy meal, discussed the nutritional benefits, and they enjoyed sharing the meal together. Each participant was given a gift of a 2024 calendar personalized with photos of their group.
​Monica
Mónica raises chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigs, and tilapia. Recently she set up a small store outside her home where she began selling granitas, fruit, smoothies, and other foods.
Her business is doing so well that she plans to add another location at the local market. It is worth noting that in many cases it is family participation that enables the expansion of businesses; the businesses would not grow so much if it were not for the involvement and support of the husband and children.
Deysi
Deysi, who has completed 2 cycles in the microloan project, sells food at the local market.
The market is in town on the main road, where at one end there is a large Roman Catholic Church and park. There people set up their businesses each day, selling meats, vegetables, prepared food, used and new clothing, plastic containers, and most anything you need! Women or children come to the market to buy what they need for their meals and household items.
In the video, Deysi is preparing empanadas with cheese or chicken and plantains with creme.
Susana
Susana, who sold new and used clothing in the local market, had been living with a relative. Now, thanks to her participation in the microloan project, she is achieving her goal of living alone with her 3 children and starting her business.
She saw an opportunity to set up a store at a strategic place to have good sales. She is very happy for the possibility of struggling for her family and for doing what she loves, working in sales.
Deysi
Deysi, though a new participant in the microloan project, is very experienced in business. She was given a larger loan to purchase a molino to grind corn. Tortillas are typically eaten at every meal in Guatemala, so the grinding of corn for tortillas is a daily necessity. Deysi is available daily from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM to grind the corn that people from the community bring to her. The molino can also be used to grind coffee beans, cacao beans, and corn for pigs.
Sebastiana
Sebastiana has been in the microloan project for 2 years. Last year when the microloan delegation visited her community, she was selling prepared food like tostadas and ganaches from her home on Saturdays and Sundays.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, she has now added a store of basic supplies in her home. She started with just a few items and little by little the number of products she sells continues to grow.
Sebastiana has 5 children and is the leader of her microloan group.
Irma
Irma is a very active woman. Together with her husband they sell different types ceviches in the area around the park in their city. This is a way of supporting their family for more than 15 years.
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With the money from the microloan project, Irma and her husband were able to buy a second cart and expand their business.
Irma says the secret to winning customers is in the preparation. She makes mixtures of vinegars with spices in order to give a better flavor to their products.
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Irma is very happy because her children are progressing in school and her daughter will soon graduate.
Magalí
Magalí, 29 years old, is a very kind person, her family as well, and the children are quite active and lively. When the staff goes to see her activity, the children always tell us how the pigs, ducks and chickens are doing or about how their mother’s sale of meat and vegetables is going. The children show us where to find each of the animals and tell us what they do during the day.
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Magalí and her husband have 3 children: a 7-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old and 2-year-old sons. Her husband works on a farm, and also cuts and sells firewood and grows corn.
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Magalí uses her loan to do such things as raise pigs, hens, and ducks; on Wednesdays each week she buys meats and vegetables at the market in a nearby town and sells these to families in her community.
Last year, her husband lost his full-time position at work and now only has a part time job. Previously he earned the equivalent of $150.00, now he earns $75, so the economic situation of the family became very difficult for them. Magalí was able to buy more chickens and pigs and also sell more meat and vegetables to families in the community, so she has been able to provide more income for the family.
Magalí is responsible and participates in both the activities of the training project and meetings of the microcredit project. Her young children, who are not yet in school, always accompany her to meetings.
Any
Any, a member of the microloan group "Women Uniting Efforts", is the mother of two children, ages 5 and 2, and is 7 months pregnant with their third child. Any is a very strong woman. She and her husband, who works on a farm, are both 28 years old.
Until last November, Any and her family lived in a wooden house where they experienced many problems, especially in the winter. There was a lot of mud and rain, and the outhouse was far from their house. It was very dangerous for their children because there was an old well on the property. She and her husband talked and concluded it was necessary to make some changes in where and how they lived, especially for their children.
Any and her family were given a one room cement block building on her grandmother's property where several families live. They decided to add on an additional room with a shower and toilet. Future goals are to add a pila (for washing clothes and dishes), a stove, and a dining area with table and chairs.
It makes Any very happy that their children no longer have to make the dangerous walk to go to the bathroom or to take a bath. Microloan staff say that Any is a very intelligent woman with good ideas on how to run her business and minimize risks. Even though she is two months away from giving birth, she is very active, has already invested her loan, and continues selling clothes that her clients request.
Marcia
When Marcia began as a member of the microloan project there were many needs in her family as neither she nor her husband had work. They made a family decision to put a small store in their home to sell things people use on a daily basis. They began with simple wooden shelves and a few items during the first cycle of the project. They saved wisely so they could invest more money into the store. In the second micro loan cycle the store tripled its growth and now even Marcia's 11 year-old son helps in the store. He carefully arranges items on the shelves and delivers items the families that placed orders. The goal of the family is that their store will generate enough income so that Marcia’s children will not have to work and can totally concentrate on their studies.
Lesvia and Debora
Debora is 21 years old and is single. She had to stop studying when she was 14 years old to help her family, because her father died and her mother was left alone to care for them.
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Because there were no other opportunities in her community, Debora did domestic work. She studied until the 6th grade, but her desire is to continue studying. Now she is a part of the microloan project, hoping to save money to fulfill her dream.
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Lesvia is the treasurer of the microloan group, a very responsible and fine woman. She is a great treasurer and her leadership is very positive, as is the leadership of the others who lead the microloan group. For their business, both Lesvia and Debora raise pigs, chickens and turkeys to sell, and sell food as well. Lesvia has three other daughters who live at home who also help with the work of the business.
Olga
Olga is a 43-year-old woman who is part of the "Servants of Jesus" women's society. Olga, along with the 24 other members of her microloan group, are now beginning the third cycle.
Olga's microloan activity is planting and harvesting corn for their family consumption and for their livestock. They rent 7 plots of land (about an acre each) on a private farm for a good price in exchange for providing livestock feed. They are trying a new variety of seed that is more productive, and hope to harvest approximately 50,000 lbs. of corn.
Olga and her husband have 7 daughters, three who are still in school, and 7 grandchildren.
Evelia
Evelia is a 51 year old woman who lives in a small settlement. She has very limited reading and writing skills. As she tells her story, she shares that she only went to 1st grade and only learned to write her name. She is very pleasant, and tells us in great detail all about her business – when, how much, and how she bought supplies.
We were surprised when we did the evaluation at the end of the second cycle (which was the first cycle for her) that she came with a paper and said, “I don’t know how to write, but I asked my granddaughter to write down everything that I did and here it is. You are going to see that everything went very well for me.” And indeed, it went very well. Evelia has everything well planned and organized in her house. She has a fenced in area for pigs, and another for chickens, ducks, and turkeys. She has them closed in so they do not get sick, and everything is very clean.
Reyna
Reyna has 2 children and is the leader of her microloan group.
She sells food - ganaches, papusas, grilled meat - that she prepares in her kitchen and sells in a room built at the front of her house.
Mayda
Mayda is a young woman with three children. She studied to be a dressmaker but did not have the resources to begin her business. She had a sewing machine but did not have the funds to buy the fabrics she needed. She could only work when the women who came to ask for her services brought the cloth with them to make the garment. Many women who came to her wanted Mayda to show them fabrics so they could choose the one they wanted for their garment. Mayda decided to become part of the microloan project in order to buy fabrics and strengthen her clothing business.
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Now Mayda does more than make clothing for women; in this fifth cycle of working with the group she decided to start a project making Christmas decorations, tablecloths, curtains, and chair covers.
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Mayda is grateful to participate in the microloan project because it has given her the opportunity to have independence, to strengthen her business and to achieve her dreams.
