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Patrociña has recently expanded her business. She now makes cheese and grows plots of local organic chayote squash. Photo: Marlon García
When Patrociña Cristal Ventura first heard from a neighbor about a microloan and skills training program, she wondered what it could mean for her. Could a loan to purchase a single cow really change anything? Like generations of women before her, Patrociña had viewed herself primarily as a housewife and a mother. But she was curious. Maybe she could be an entrepreneur? Maybe a cow was not just a cow but also a way to provide for her family?
The Start Of A Dream
At her neighbor’s urging Patrociña attended a meeting sponsored by APROSADSE, a partner of IDEX in Guatemala. The more she learned, the more it became clear. If she took a loan to buy a cow, the milk could give her five growing children much needed nutrition. And with the income from leftover milk she could send her children to school.
And if you were to ask Patrociña about her dreams, a woman who never learned how to read or write and married young, she would be quick to tell you. What she wants most in life is to see her children go to school.
A Choice Between School And Food
Maybe a cow was not just a cow, but also a way to provide for her family?
Few cars make it to El Carmen, Guatemala, Patrociña’s tiny community of 30 families. There are no paved roads. Patrociña has a long and dusty walk to the market in San Martín Jilotepeque. Even there, staples like eggs and milk and fresh produce are often too expensive. Her family lives on a small, arid plot of land in a two-room house, the walls patched together with maize stalks and steel plates. One room is where she sleeps with her five children. The other is a kitchen with a wood-burning stove.
Many of the indigenous Maya Cak’chiquel people in this region, like Patrociña’s family, practice subsistence agriculture. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to survive on their crops alone. In the dry season, many farmers migrate temporarily to the coast to work on coffee and sugar cane plantations. More frequently, men now migrate permanently to urban areas. Even then it is a struggle for many families like Patrociña’s to cover basic necessities and children are often unable to attend school.
A Knack For Business
Patrociña never envisioned a life where she was the family breadwinner. But through a combination of small loans and training in livestock rearing, she has discovered a real knack for business.
First, she sold her original cow. With the proceeds, she paid back her loan and bought another cow. She was able to sell that cow and buy a bull, which she calculated would yield an even higher profit at market. She then bought more cows.
Her children now have plenty of milk to drink. Plus her renewed source of income is also providing milk for neighboring families. And, as she will proudly tell you, she can now afford to purchase uniforms, school supplies and pay tuition fees for her three school-age children.
