Two Inspiring Clients to Warm up Your Winter

On a cold winter day, nothing warms you up like an inspirational story (or two)! For many of our clients around the world, the cold months are a time to work harder to reach more customers, expand their businesses and provide for their families. Here are two enterprising women who are determined to improve their family members’ lives, despite the drop in temperature.

Maria Lucia Potosi Ramirez, Ecuador

Maria Lucia Potosi Ramirez knows the value of a cozy, warm sweater. She has spent her lifetime knitting sweaters that she sells in a local market, but often struggled to save money from her creations. With loans from FINCA, however, she has been able to secure wool in bulk at a lower cost to make more sweaters to sell. With the extra funds in her pocket, not only does Maria help to warm up more customers, but she can now save money to help her family. “I’m so grateful because FINCA trusted me,” she says. “Now I can improve my life and the life of my family.”

Makhpuza Talibaeva, Kyrgyzstan

In the mountainous terrain of Kyrgyzstan, 65-year-old Makhpuza Talibaeva sews thick, wooly quilts to warm up the cold winter months. She wasn’t always a seamstress. For much of her life, she worked as a physician, using her income to pay for her disabled son’s treatment. When her income wasn’t enough anymore, Makhpuza turned to sewing. Today, her son is doing well, happily married with two children. With FINCA, she says, “I am not alone in this big world and I have a big support, which changed my life and made it more positive. The impossible is possible.”