2009 - Peru - Ebenezer Group (Kiva)

Ever since he was young, Mr. Adrian has been dedicated to making and selling crafts like woodwind instruments. He started this business 15 years ago, and it has brought him the satisfaction of being able to build part of his house and to provide income for the household costs.

He is the president of the Alcancía Comunal EBENEZER group, and is a person who inspires respect much like how the rest of the members are responsible people who make punctual payments.


Nelly is the treasurer of the group, and she has a small store that she has been keeping for more than 5 years. This helped with the tuition prices for her children, and now she realizes that while the situation is very difficult, if she wants to make progress she must continue working.


The group's secretary is Elena, a woman who is very dedicated to her work. She makes crochet products which she sells in the market, and she also does large orders, but when she doesn't have orders she sells sweets and candies . Even though she gets few sales, she continues to persevere.


The members all have different kinds of businesses so the loan will be for buying products and inputs that allow them to augment the capital that their work earns.

2009 - Bolivia - Evelin Medrano (Kiva)

I recently took up providing small loans via Kiva. I received the following update from one of the areas I supplied loans to. It is reproduced below...

Dear Colin,
This is an update on your loan to Evelin Brandy Almanza Medrano in
Bolivia.

Señorita Evelin B. Salazar Medrano is 19 years old. She is a single
woman and lives at the home of her parents. They live in a dairy-farm
zone not very far away from the city.

This morning, I had the opportunity to stop over at Evelin’s home to
see how this loan cycle has been going for her. Unfortunately, Evelin
was away from the house, but her mother Rosario was able to update me on Evelin’s loan.

With the loan from CIDRE, Evelin purchased a new dairy cow and more cattle feed, such as soy husks, for the livestock. The soy is very much needed, because Cochabamba has been suffering from a drought that has caused cattle feed prices to skyrocket. Evelin’s dairy cows have been doing great in their production, and she has had no trouble making her loan repayments in a timely fashion.

The loan has helped Evelin to grow her earnings, which helps as their
dairy cooperative is currently in the process of purchasing a
‘modulo’ (large, metal milk container and preserver). Evelin is
contributing some of her earnings, along with the other cooperative
members, so that they can purchase this tank. The ‘modulo’ will help
all members of the dairy cooperative preserve their milk and maintain a higher quality of milk when selling to the local dairy company, Pil.