Adding to basket
Healthcare can be challenging to access for impoverished people in rural Guatemala because there is a shortage of clinics, hospitals, and medical personnel. Forty-five year old Amalia, a widow who gave birth to six children, lost three of them when they were babies. Her three grown children now range in age from twenty-two to twenty-seven years, and she has three grandchildren. Amalia only attended school for three years because her family lacked financial resources, and her father was an alcoholic.
Fifteen years ago, she opened her convenience store from a room in her home in the department/state of Totonicapan. Two years ago, she began selling shoes in the local market. Amallia requests her fifth Kiva loan to buy basic products for the store, as well as snack foods and beverages. Her goals are to increase the size of the store and be better positioned to cover household and family expenses.
Amalia joined six other Maya K’iche women to participate in the Friendship Bridge “Microcredit Plus” program of loans, monthly educational training (health, business, family, women), and bi-monthly healthcare services (exams, consults, family planning). Recent topics for the training have been about self-esteem, women’s health, and how to be an effective entrepreneur.
They send gratitude to Kiva lenders from all parts of the world who fund their much-needed loans!
In this group: Amalia , Santos , Santos Lucrecia , Miriam Suleima, Landy Maribel , Maria Elena , Santos Eugenia
