Leticia sells cortes, the traditional fabric Maya women wear as skirts. Before that, over eight years ago, she took out her first Friendship Bridge loan of 500 quetzales (about $65) to sell tamales. Step by step, she moved up through loan levels across multiple growing ventures: selling tamales, then limes, and about three years ago, cortes. Today, the loan size she’s earned is 30,000 quetzales (about $3,900), an astounding 60 times the size of her first.
Leticia has years of experience managing and repaying loans, and she has seen what else is out there. “These days, there are other institutions handing out money,” she says, “but it’s not the same as working with Friendship Bridge.”
“From the beginning, before giving you a loan, Friendship Bridge talks with you. But in other places, they don’t ask any questions—they just give you the loan, and then you have to see for yourself how it works out.” She adds, “I’m very grateful to Friendship Bridge, because from the beginning I didn’t have any knowledge. Today, thank God, I know about the loans and the benefits they give us with those loans.”
Every month at her Trust Bank meeting, Leticia receives Non-Formal Education on subjects such as managing money and savings. “Friendship Bridge gives talks about debt, about how you have to be mindful of what you’re taking out,” she says. “It’s not about taking out a loan here and then another somewhere else.” Today she is her Trust Bank’s president. If the group falls behind, members pull together to catch up—according to Leticia, no one in her Trust Bank has ever been left behind. With the support of Friendship Bridge, Leticia recently completed a savings certificate program, and those savings helped her make a down payment on a plot of land where she plans to build a shop with her husband.
Leticia shows off her new plot of land, which her savings helped purchase.
Any lender can provide funds. But before money changed hands, Friendship Bridge had an honest discussion with Leticia about what she was taking on. Since then, she has kept learning through education sessions, received alongside groupmates who support one another.
This kind of support creates the conditions for women to believe in themselves, and Leticia’s confidence is evident in the way she speaks about what women can achieve: “Being a woman doesn’t mean hanging your head and saying only a man can do it. No, we women can get ahead. I’d tell every woman to take heart, even with a small business, because that’s how you start to move up.”
A loan that works for her
For more than eight years, Leticia has borrowed, repaid, and grown. Here are the barriers that Guatemalan women face when borrowing, and how Friendship Bridge helps women overcome them:
BARRIER: Leticia began without knowing how credit worked. Banks consider rural women like her too high-risk to serve, and women may face pressure from unscrupulous lenders.
SOLUTION: Before lending, Friendship Bridge checks credit history and visits each woman’s business to confirm she can afford the payments. 87% of Friendship Bridge clients demonstrate a strong understanding of their loans, including fees, interest rates, and penalties.
BARRIER: Understanding a loan at the start isn’t enough; borrowing well over the years takes guidance, and it’s easy to take out multiple loans and become overindebted.
SOLUTION: Monthly education sessions taught her to manage her money, borrow responsibly, and compare lending options. 93% of surveyed clients credit Friendship Bridge with improving their ability to make financial decisions.
BARRIER: “Many times we never put it into our minds to save,” Leticia says. When there’s a little left over, it’s easy to spend it, especially when money is otherwise tight.
SOLUTION: A savings certificate program helped her set a goal and keep to it. She saved enough to help fund a down payment on land for her future shop.
BARRIER: Banks ask for property or savings as collateral, and rural women like Leticia often have neither. Without it, credit stays out of reach.
SOLUTION: In a Trust Bank, members guarantee each other’s loans, so solidarity takes the place of collateral. Leticia leads her group, and no one has been left behind.
Leticia started with 500 quetzales and a plan to sell tamales. Today, she leads her Trust Bank, runs her own businesses, and is saving for a shop of her own. Supporters like you have helped make room for her, and many other women in Guatemala, to thrive.
Your gift will help ensure that women who follow have the same support when they, too, take their first steps.
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Help women like Leticia start with more than just a loan.
By giving to Friendship Bridge, you are supporting microcredit that begins with respect, builds knowledge and financial stability, and keeps every woman connected with a group that stands together.
