The group is made up of eight members, led by Soledad, who is the president. Members of the association have various kinds of businesses. Among them are: selling fish, weaving blankets, sewing blouses, selling cheese, selling prepared food and selling fruit.
This loan will benefit all the small businesswomen, including Soledad. She says that this is the first time she has been a member of Pro Mujer. She joined at the invitation of a counselor from the institution who visited her at home and told her about the program.
Soledad has a business selling salchipapa, a dish commonly consumed as street food throughout Latin America. Salchipapas typically consist of thinly sliced pan-fried beef sausage and french fries, with a savory coleslaw on the side. The dish is served with lettuce and tomato, ketchup and mayonnaise and chili peppers. Sometimes a fried egg or cheese is added on top.
Soledad says that she began her business several years ago when she saw that shoppers in the market had no place to buy lunch. This work allows her to support herself and her son. But until now she has had little capital and has had to buy her ingredients in the local market, paying retail prices, leaving her with very little profit. Her part of the loan will allow her to increase her profit margin by giving her the capital to buy potatoes and meat from wholesale markets in the city of La Paz.
You can help a group of hard-working small business women too, simply visit KIVA.org and lend $25.00. It's a wonderful experience. You get monthly reports on your borrowers, and the satisfaction of having reached out and made another person's life a little easier.
*One woman is missing from the photograph because she went to pick up her son at daycare.
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