Micro-credits for Baru Island entrepreneurs

Dear donors,

Candelaria, one of the entrepreneurs you supported, wants to thank you for your donations and to tell you how you helped her made her dream come true and what are her plans moving forward.

Please watch the following video (Translation below):

https://youtu.be/X9TYwKq1Jxc

"Hi! I am Candelaria. I am 30 years old and I live in Santa Ana. I am now going to tell you my story.

When I was a little girl I really enjoyed hand sewing, pasting buttons and sewing clothes to my neighbors.

I studied clothing at the National Learning Institution for a year and a half.

Someone gave me a small sewing machine so I started sewing small things because with the machine I could not sew big things.

I went to a Foundation that was lending money and I asked them for a loan. They gave me the credit I asked for so I bought this beautiful sewing machine and now I can sew uniforms, jeans etc.

I want to thank all the people who donated. I thank you from my soul because you made my dream come true.

I now want to ask for a new loan to buy another machine so that I can improve my product’s quality.

Thank you!"

Links:

• Our website
• Candelaria's video

Dear Donors,

One again, thank you for all your donations and support to the Project “Microcredits for Baru island Young entrepreneurs”.

Baru Island is one of Cartagena’s most wanted tourist destinations because of its beautiful beaches. This is why the Project you have supported is so important, as it help the community to improve their businesses in order to provide the tourists that visit the island with what they need during their stay and therefore increases its inhabitant’s quality of life as they have better incomes.

In this report, we wanted to let you know Ana’s impressions of the Project. Ana is Victor’s mother, a 25 years old beneficiary who has received 2 credits now, because of his commitment and the way he has dedicated to work in order to grow his business.

Ana told us that a few years ago with 2 million Colombian pesos (about 700 dollars), her son and her decided to start selling seafood. At the beginning, they did not have many clients but thanks to the quality of the products they sold and to the fact that they opened 24 / 7, more clients started coming. They didn’t have enough products for all of them. At this time, they heard about the Foundation’s project, they applied and received their first credit.

Ana said that thanks to the loan and to the low monthly payments they were able to grow their business and the clients have multiplied. They always have orders to deliver. Victor even has thought of sleeping with his mother in the same bedroom in order to transform his bedroom in a cold room, so that they can keep more products.

Victor and Ana are examples of dedication and perseverance. They both motivate us to keep working. Thank you again for helping us to do it.

With gratitude,

Ana Milena Ordosgoitia and the Hernan Echavarria team