Borrower Spotlight: Hilda García | Guatemala

Working Capital for Community Needs
2 hours ago
2 min read

We met Hilda as she was carefully stitching the final details of a traditional K’iche’ blouse. Her small workshop was full of color and quiet energy: the hum of sewing machines, neatly stacked fabric, and a sense of purpose in every corner.

We were joined by Juana and Florinda, two loan officers at Reficom -WCCN’s local partner, who have supported Hilda’s journey and watched her grow into the entrepreneur she is today.

Hilda learned to sew at just 11 years old, under her mother's instruction on a pedal-powered machine. Her first creations were traditional aprons with soutache embroidery. In early 2024, she enrolled in a course to learn to design and assemble K’iche’ blouses. Just a month after completing the training, she received her first significant order, and her business began to grow.

Today, Hilda leads a team of five women from her community. Together, they create beautiful blouses that carry both cultural heritage and economic opportunity.

Hilda is also a mother of two young boys, and every decision she makes is rooted in care for her family’s future. With support from Reficom, she’s accessed microloans that helped her improve her home, purchase professional sewing machines, and buy a small plot of land where she now grows corn.

“These loans helped us move forward... Without them, we wouldn’t have the land, the machines, or the harvest.”

Hilda's weekly income has grown significantly (from about $25 to as much as $160), allowing her to meet her family’s basic needs, invest in her children’s education, and start saving.

Her dream is to continue growing her business, to create more jobs for women in her community, and to keep building a better future for her children. When we asked what advice she’d give to other women with a dream, she didn’t hesitate: