Small Business Transforms a Life
In just one year, Mayra has experienced a complete reversal of fortunes thanks to a micro loan and small-business training. She’d been scraping by as a farmer, but said that the three-year drought made her almost entirely dependent on remittances from a daughter who works in Costa Rica. That’s when local partner San Lucas offered her training on raising poultry and running a small business. They provided a loan to buy 50 chicks and the feed, equipment and medication necessary to get started.
Since then, she’s raised, butchered and sold four cycles each of 50 chickens, and two cycles of 100. She and another daughter keep busy producing, processing and marketing them. They now sell chicken, by the piece or whole, to customers in their own community and three others. Timing is critical, so Mayra used some of her profits to buy a refrigerator to keep the meat fresh.
According to San Lucas, “Mayra feels happy to be filling a niche in the local economy and supporting other small business owners with her purchases. Her next plan is to set up a stall at a market in the city. Small businesses like Mayra’s are providing a livable alternative to the farming so drastically affected by drought in the region.”
World Renew and San Lucas ask your prayers for peace and a just resolution to the conflict in Nicaragua that is currently affecting the communities in this program
Story credit: Juan Carlos Bonillo
Nicaragua Conquista Program
Led by World Renew and Local Partner Fundacion San Lucas