BORROWERS SPOTLIGHT
Each year, WCCN supports thousands of small business owners throughout Latin America. Microfinance enables them to grow their businesses, purchase medicine, send their children to school, build homes, and improve their quality of life.
Click on the countries below to meet some of our incredible end borrowers!
ECUADOR
LOCAL PARTNERS
ESPOIR | FACES | IMPAQTO CAPITAL
GLORIA GAMAY
AMBATO
Gloria Gamay and her mother Fidelia (pictured) were harvesting hundreds of pounds of coffee by hand in a light rain when we met them. When asked how long she has been growing coffee, Fidelia responded, "Always."​
The coffee field has been in the Gamay family for generations before Gloria underwent the rigorous application process to have Gamay coffee certified as fair trade and organic. Now, Gloria and Fidelia's hard work is rewarded with a higher price for the coffee. Certified Fair Trade and Organic coffee receives a premium of 30c a pound more when sold on the international fair trade market. Growing coffee organically has additional ecological benefits. The shade trees planted to protect the coffee promote biodiversity by providing habitat for birds and other species.
EL SALVADOR
LOCAL PARTNERS
ASEI-COOPHEL | PADECOM | CRECECREDITO
ROSA MELIDA DIAZ
SANTA RITA
Rosa has been selling tortillas for 18 years. Before receiving loans from ASEI, she sold about 100 tortillas daily. Now, she sells approximately 1,000. Her business has grown so much that she has hired employees to help flatten and cook the tortillas.
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She joined ASEI 14 years ago with an $11 loan to buy corn. In the early days, there were times when she didn’t have enough to eat—but now she does. Currently, she has running water and electricity in her home. She has also witnessed improvements in her community thanks to ASEI.
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Rosa is grandmother to three grandchildren, aged 28, 26, and 24, and she has helped cover their high school and college expenses.
GUATEMALA
LOCAL PARTNERS
SERVIGUA | REFICOM | ADISA | ADIGUA | ADICLA | CRECECREDITO | ALBEDO SOLAR
MARTINA MUXTAYCOT
CHOQUEC
Martina and her husband grow snow peas and are part of Las Canoas, a fair-trade-certified cooperative. They have a strong vision for expanding their business, and with each loan they take out, they have built their capacity to run it.
Their first loan was to build a cement block home instead of the wood panel house they had. Then they invested in land to expand their farm. The couple now has 5 cuerdas (a unit of land) and hopes to expand to 8-9 cuerdas.
During harvest time, they employ local workers to help them. Martina also sells flowers that she grows in their yard.
HONDURAS
LOCAL PARTNERS
AMC HONDURAS | AHSETFIN
MIRIAM RIVERA
VALLE DE ANGELES
Miriam is an artist who specializes in painting on canvas and on wood. Her first loan with AHSETFIN was in 2015 for 15,000 lempiras ($664) to buy supplies, enabling her to produce and sell more art to boost her income. Before her loan, she earned 1,000 lempiras ($44) weekly, and now she earns 5,000 lempiras ($224) weekly.
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She has three children, all female, and all of them are college graduates, partly thanks to the loans. Her dream is to build an amphitheater on her property where local artists can showcase their work.
NICARAGUA
LOCAL PARTNERS
ALDEA GLOBAL | MI CRÉDITO | PRO MUJER NICARAGUA | FUNDENUSE | FUNDEMUJER
FUNDESER | FDL | PRODESA
MERY VALLE
NICARAGUA
After leaving an unsafe job as a domestic worker—where her employer tried to abuse her—Mery had to look for new opportunities. That’s when she discovered MiCrédito’s Mujer Emprende program, a financial product created to support low-income women entrepreneurs.
With her first loan, Mery started a small business selling perfumes and beauty products. A second loan helped her expand her inventory and even buy a horse, enabling her to reach more customers in nearby rural communities.
Today, Mery and her husband run two growing businesses: her retail shop and a small hauling service.
Thanks to her determination and timely support, Mery now covers her five children’s education, ensures food security at home, and recently bought her first washing machine.
