Economic Empowerment for 200 Women in Nicaragua

By teaching Martha a new skill, Self-Help International’s Women's Empowerment Program in Nicaragua provided her with a business opportunity that has allowed her to generate her own income that has helped her provide for her son’s education and with household expenses.

Martha, 30, is married and has a 7-year-old son. She lives in Los Chiles, which is approximately 23-and-a-half miles from Self-Help Nicaragua’s headquarters in San Carlos.

Martha grew up with many economic limitations and her mother decided to emigrate to Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s southern neighbor, to generate more income so she could provide her children with a better quality of life. While Martha's mother was working in Costa Rica, Martha and her siblings were cared for by their maternal grandmother. This meant that Martha also had to work to support her grandmother and, when Martha was in high school, her mother returned from Costa Rica and set up a small grocery business. When Martha graduated from high school, she decided not to pursue more education and got married.

Martha and her husband have worked hard to buy their own land. To help achieve their goal, Martha worked in her sister-in-law's bakery and Martha’s husband was a masonry assistant. Their next goal was to build a house and, to achieve this, Martha had to look for options to improve her knowledge and skills. A friend told her about Self-Help’s Women's Empowerment Program and, at first, Martha hesitated to be part of the program. But eventually she decided to join the Women’s Empowerment Program because she thought she could gain knowledge that was practical to implement.

The first training topic that Martha took was “Poverty and its Causes and the Power of the Mind.” The training made her realize that, sometimes, people are poor because of their way of thinking. Sometimes, she realized, people are stuck in a job that doesn’t pay well because they don’t realize they can create their own business and be their own boss.

From that day on, Martha began brainstorming what kind of business she could operate from her home. She continued to attend all the Women’s Empowerment meetings, training sessions, and activities that the program promoted. “I decided I wanted to make my own business,” Martha states, “because I already knew how to bake bread and so, because I did not want to harm my sister-in-law's business, I decided to improve my skills on baking bread cakes that I could sell from my home. At first, it was difficult, but with the support of Self-Help, I was able to improve the quality of both the flavor and the presentation of the cakes. I have learned a lot, and, in addition to the knowledge I have received from Self-Help, I also received financing to start my baking business. With the first financing, I bought materials and ingredients to start making cakes. With the profits, I paid off the loan in installments and I have continued working like this since 2023. At the beginning of my business, I used a traditional oven, but my goal is to obtain an improved oven that Self-Help is promoting. Now, every time I set a goal, I look for a way to achieve it. Although I know that it might take me a while to reach my goals, I know that I can achieve it with the support of Self-Help’s Women's Empowerment Program.”

With the proceeds from the sale of her cakes, Martha has been able to buy necessities for her home that improves her family’s quality of life. One of the changes she has been able to make is switching from a wood stove to a gas stove, which helps her family’s health. To promote her business, Martha also has learned to use the communications program WhatsApp so people can order cakes from her using the app. “This is how I have become known, little by little,” Martha reports, “and I am currently making one to two pounds of cakes a day. For each pound of cake, I earn 300 córdobas, which means that I earn approximately 9,000 córdobas ($243) a month.” Martha is currently paying off her third loan of 18,000 córdobas ($486), in monthly installments.

She also has learned through Self-Help’s financial training that ordering ingredients online is cheaper than having to travel to San Carlos or Managua to buy ingredients. “By ordering online, the ingredients I order are delivered to my house. That saves money because I don’t have to travel to buy the ingredients,” Martha notes. “I learned that lesson from Self-Help’s commercial business training.”

Martha says that she now feels like an empowered woman who has moving forward to achieve her goals. “I want to continue growing my business so I will be able to generate employment for other women who want to improve themselves like I have,” Martha states. “To achieve this, I will meet the challenge by standing firm, learning everything related to improving the quality of my products, and providing a good service. I am committed to continuing learning from the training sessions provided by Self-Help, and I hope that Self-Help will always be able to train the women who want to get ahead like I have. I hope that Self-Help will continue to support us because in Nicaragua there are many women who want to improve themselves. The only thing they need is a boost like the one Self-Help has given me.

“In my case, even my family has benefited because I help my husband with our household expenses, such as paying rent on the place where we are living while we build our house. I also can offer my son a better life by buying him everything he needs for school and his other needs. I am grateful for all the support Self-Help has given me, both emotionally and financially. I personally have improved my self-esteem, leaving my shyness behind. I am more open to interpersonal relationships with other people, as are the other women in the Women’s Empowerment Program.”

Margarita is grateful to Self- Help International and its women's empowerment program for helping her overcome fear and achieve a successful business that she can run from the comfort of her home with the support of her loved ones.

Margarita is 54 years old, married, and the mother of three children. She and her family live in the community of La Argentina, approximately 10.3 kilometers (6.4 miles) from Self-Help International’s headquarters in San Carlos, Nicaragua.

Before she began working with Self-Help, Margarita's wanted to help her family, but her lack of skills and her low level of education were her main barriers. She wanted to help her husband with household expenses, so she sometimes made products to sell or worked for other people. At one time, she worked for one of her sisters, selling bicycle parts in their community, but she was left without a job when her sister moved to a different community, leaving Margarita unemployed. At times, she earned money by washing and ironing other people's clothes for some income to help pay household expenses.

Margarita learned about Self-Help International from a sister-in-law and some of her neighbors who were part of Self-Help’s Women´s Empowerment Program. Upon hearing of their successful experiences with Self-Help, Margarita understood that this was a place where she should belong. She knew that the Women’s Empowerment Program was precisely what she was looking for: a place that would support her in learning skills that would allow her to move ahead and improve her financial well-being. Once Margarita heard about the financing that Self-Help provides to women who want to start a business or who already have their own business, she wanted intensely to become a member of the program immediately. When she saw the enthusiasm of all the women who were participating in Self-Help’s Women’s Empowerment Program, Margarita couldn’t wait to attend the next meeting that Self-Help held with the women in her community.

The first training that Margarita attended was “Business Management and Entrepreneurship.” At that training, the Women's Empowerment Program officer gave easy-to-understand concepts, and had each woman draw a picture of their dream business. Then, each woman shared their business dreams with the other members of the group, showing what they had drawn. In her drawing, Margarita showed her dream of owning a business selling parts for bicycles and motorcycles. She had never thought of this type of business before, although she had experience helping her sister’s business. But Self-Help’s training helped Margarita realize that her dream could be her business, too. Margarita had never participated in a meeting like this before, and she felt that the training went very fast because she enjoyed sharing her dreams with the rest of the women.

Margarita continued to participate in more training sessions that were required by the Women's Empowerment Program to receive a loan. Three months after those training sessions, she felt ready to put her fear behind her and start her business by investing her savings of approximately 800 córdobas ($25). Six months after being part of the Women’s Empowerment Program, Margarita wrote a letter to Self-Help requesting her first loan of 5,000 córdobas ($135). Her loan request was approved about two months later and, with that money, Margarita was able to buy a display case and began to fill it with bicycle and motorcycle spare parts. From the profits she made, Margarita was able to repay the loan in monthly installments.

After having paid back her first loan, Margarita requested a second one and Self-Help approved her loan request for 10,000 córdobas ($274). With that money, she was able to expand her business, and sales have been very good. “I never thought about having my own business,” Margarita said, “because, in the past, I only focused on being an employee. Now, thanks to Self-Help International’s support, all of us female entrepreneurs have been given words of encouragement and taught new skills. We have been urged to keep going. Self-Help has supported us financially and helped us learn how to care about our health. This opportunity that Self-Help has given me has not only benefited me, but it also has benefited my daughters because I can use the profits from my business to help them with their education expenses. I can help my husband with our household expenses. I also have provided employment for my youngest daughter, who helps me manage the business. With the money she earns, she can pay for her personal needs. I know that my business needs to keep growing, but not everything can be done fast. What I´ve achieved so far makes me feel proud and I plan to continue growing my business.”

With a third loan of 15,000 córdobas ($410) from Self-Help, Margarita has continued to improve her business. She has learned from SHI that to keep making her business grow, she needed to offer a variety of products, so she has increased her product line to include raincoats and helmets. And, since she lives in a rural area where many people use horses for transportation, she now offers equestrian products. Margarita hopes to grow her business so that she can remodel the building where the business is located.

Margarita said that there are many women in her community who want to improve themselves, and she hopes that Self-Help International will always support women who want to get ahead. “There are women who do not have the courage to start a business, like I used to feel before I became aware of Self-Help,” Margarita stated. “There are many women in Nicaragua who feel that, because of a lack of encouragement, they cannot achieve their goals and desires of being a successful woman. But, in my case, thanks to Self-Help, I have grown both economically and personally, because Self-Help International has provided me with the training and encouragement that makes me see life in a different way.”