Kiva - lending to a Julias, weavers, and ladies wearing hats

I made 3 kiva loans today - to Julia in Puno, Peru for her clothing business, and to Pteronila for her weaving and to Ysabel for her crafts business.

Lots of Kiva loans

There were 1666 loans to choose from on Kiva today. I found two to Julia's - one to Julia Magaly Briceño Medina in La Esperanza - Trujillo, Peru. She is looking for a loan to purchase more inventory, clothing and candy. She is setting up a store in her house.





I also loaned to Julia Aurelia Par Par in Totonicapan, Guatemala, she makes traditional clothing. I love this picture with her loam. I am a weaver myself, I do tablet weaving. So its great to lend to a Julia who is a weaver in Guatemala. I wish I could purchase from her.

Reaching very far

The Kiva loan I made today was to the women of the Patzutzun 2 Group in Guatemala. I am going to post the entire KIVA story, because it really shows how Kiva (and the Microfinance institutute Friendship Bridge) are reaching out to people and really changing their lives. I'm sure they have a different world view now, knowing how many gringos are helping them.

The women of the Patzuntzun II group live in the remote village of Concepcion in the Solola province. Only a few of the women in this group can speak Spanish. This however does not hinder them in their success of their businesses, since they do speak the local language Maya Kachikel very well. Many of the women were intimidated by my presence at the beginning of the interview and they were shy since they had never seen a “gringo” in their village before, but as time went by and thanks to credit agent Marta Julia they were more trusting and were able to share some of their experiences.

Six of the women in this group are businesswomen, and they will invest their credit loan in their small convenience stores. One of the women, Maria Tereza Solis is going to invest her loan in the sale of firewood. Thanks to her loan she will be able to buy twice the amount she used to buy and hopes that this way her business can grow.

The other women in the group work in the textile sector. They weave traditional fabrics. Of the four artisans, two of the women hire weavers as help. Marcela Solis actually has three employees in order to meet with the demand of her clients. Meanwhile, Lucia Lupic, is one of the oldest women, hires six weavers.

Friendship Bridge is currently offering all the women a savings account. The women told me that they were thankful to the institution for finally being able to have a place where they could keep their money. They will use their money to invest in their businesses. They want to reinvest their entire money into their businesses. Another reason why they are so happy with the institution is that it is one of the few or the only one that offers their community financial services. When the women were asked why they chose to work with Friendship Bridge they said because they had never heard of other institutions in their community.

The women wish that their businesses will be able to grow and this way they can have a stable business that will support them and their families.

Weaving

I found a weaving loan by searching on Julia, Balbina makes beautiful chullos (Peruvian Andean hats), gloves and scarves that are sold wholesale in the market San Jose of the city of Juliaca.

More Weaving loans in Guatemala

I found two more Kiva loans to weavers in Guatemala, though one of the loans is to help the weaver Maria Tipaz Ramirez with her grocery store business.

Maria Cedillo Ceto is also a beautiful weaver. She never learned to read or write, speaks just a little bit of Spanish, and signs her name with a thumbprint impression. Her native language is Ixil. Maria's adobe home has a dirt floor and has electricity and water but the water must be boiled before consuming.

More Weavers

I just stopped by KIVA and found some more weavers to lend to. I saw Elena Gomez Brito loan and made a bid. She is helping her mother expand the business, while she is going to high school on Sundays. I hope this loan helps her end up at the University if she wants. I am also lending to Magdalena Brito Brito who I think is her mother. She has the same name and similar history. I hope they make lots of lovely clothes.
I did a search on weaving at Kiva and found another loan, to Cambodia.

Sophal Sim weaves silk and this is her first loan for supplies. She's also getting a motorbike.

Makes me want to do some weaving. Real weaving, not second life weaving like I've been doing!