Maria shares how quickly microcredit
loans have empowered her.

The ability to access small business loans enables the entrepreneur to invest in her vision of a viable business, and to make it a reality. Access to credit through traditional channels has not always been available to budding entrepreneurs, like Maria (above), from poor communities with limited resources. Microcredit loans changed this for many individuals, empowering entrepreneurs from rural parts of developing countries to create micro-enterprises that generate income for their families.

Microcredit loans are small loans – usually $300 or less – requiring no collateral or contract. They are offered to the poorest of the poor, with a focus on women, to enable them to finance self-employment projects that will generate income. Whole Planet Foundation, in collaboration with Banrural Grameen Guatemala, have provided the funding for these microcredit loans. For more information, please visit Whole Planet.

Each Aldea artisan has received at least one microcredit loan. She, among others from her community, chose to invest the capital from her loan into her artisan business, in the production and sale of handicrafts. Many of the artisans we work with are primarily weavers who used their loans to buy materials for their weavings. Other Aldea artisans are primarily vendors who invested their loans into handicrafts to sell in local markets.

We foresee many Aldea artisans creating their own opportunities to increase their earning potential. Many will be empowered to pool the capital from microcredit loans with the income generated from selling their handicrafts, so that they can invest in more lucrative business ventures in the future. We believe that when each artisan commands the capacity to pursue and realize greater economic opportunities, she will outgrow Aldea and invest more of her time in other ventures. This will allow us to work with new artisans to empower them to pursue greater economic opportunities as well.

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