{"id":42129,"date":"2018-12-14T16:14:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T21:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging21.finca.org\/uncategorized-en-ca\/her-familys-new-breadwinner"},"modified":"2024-11-04T02:21:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T07:21:10","slug":"her-familys-new-breadwinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finca.org\/en-ca\/her-familys-new-breadwinner","title":{"rendered":"Her Family’s New Breadwinner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rosa Us Zacarias found her calling at 51. Today, the hardworking mother of five from Santa Cruz del Quich\u00e9, Guatemala<\/a> is a successful businesswoman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa spent the better part of her life sewing clothes by candlelight, but by the time she reached her fifties, she knew she needed a new career. The constant use of her feet, smoke fumes and dim lighting were making her ill. Equally as important, sewing never yielded enough profit to better her family\u2019s living situation. Her family lived in a dirt-floored home without electricity and running water. Rosa knew she needed a new business idea quickly<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany years ago my late husband used to run a small flour mill in another part of the country. Living here, I had noticed the families nearby had to travel quite far to find a mill, so I thought it\u2019d
be a good business opportunity,\u201d said Rosa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was only one problem: the grinding machines used in flour mills are quite expensive when you\u2019re living on a limited income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa had heard about FINCA’s small loans<\/a> and decided to apply for one. Shortly thereafter, Rosa received her initial FINCA loan of 5,000 Quetzales (about $681 today) to purchase her very first machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"rosa