Culminating Project e Bailey Reardon
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icture this: 6,090,646 people scurrying around the country of El Salvador which is approximately the size of Massachusetts. With the average annual income of a Salvadorian family being around $4,900, it is obvious that making ends meet is a difficult task for some families in El Salvador. Food and water is considered to be scarce, and a few shirts and a couple pairs of pants are all of the clothing that most people have. Money may be tight, but the love and hope that these people share amongst one another is never-ending.
with making ends meet? What if I were not able to put food on the table for my children? I just stop and think; if this were me, I, too, would want someone nice and caring to come along and lend me the money I needed to get back on my feet. Financial struggles can happen to anyone no matter what country they live in, or how they were raised. It is heartwarming to know fortunate kids like us are able to give back to the less fortunate and make things much easier for someone who couldn’t quite do it for themselves.
In El Salvador, small and medium enterprises account for almost all of Salvadoran businesses, employing more than one-third of El Salvador’s workforce and contributing nearly half of the country’s gross domestic product. Business owners like Dolores Margarita are the people that portray an amazing image of the type of people that live in El Salvador. More specifically, people who are similar to Dolores Margarita are what make El Salvador such a great place to raise a family and a great place to own a business. For the last nine years, our loan recipient, Dolores Margarita, has run a business which sells clothing, shoes, and essential items to the people of her community. Though she learned all of her trade skills from her mother, the way Dolores’ business is currently run, it is not meeting her family’s needs. After qualifying for a Kiva loan, Dolores has decided she will use her loan to purchase clothing, shoes, paper goods, plates, and cups. Purchasing these items will allow her to have more products for sale, improve her income, and benefit the family’s nutrition. Personally, this will help Dolores expand her business, open three stores, meet goals, and realize her dreams of a decent lifestyle.
This experience has not only impacted my feelings toward giving back to others, but I feel that this opportunity goes hand in hand with the career path I have chosen. Becoming a nurse, I know that not a day will go by without helping someone in a positive way, and impacting a person’s life in a positive way, too. Many people fall, and people like me are there to pick them back up when times get tough. Being able to say that about myself is an amazing feeling. As an Avila student, I have been taught to interact with and serve others, and I have learned to value the worth, dignity, and potential of each human being. I know that my loan recipient, Dolores, has potential, and her abilities to help others before helping herself is worth more than anything. I know that providing Dolores with a Kiva loan will be taken far in the best way possible. I know that Dolores will use this money to improve her services in every way possible for the sake of helping others. As I mentioned earlier, this Kiva loan opportunity will definitely become something that I do again. I want be able to help others in places who need it most, in hopes of changing someone’s life.
During the loan selection process, I had a person just like Dolores Margarita in mind. I was hoping to find someone who had a passion for providing the people of their community with necessities. People who have tight funds don’t need extra belongings, but they will always need clothes and clean dining ware with which to eat their food. Dolores, who sells the basic necessities to the people of her village, was struggling. Knowing that people depend on her for their basic needs, I decided to give my Kiva loan to her so she could continuously help people. As I was selecting this loan, I was hoping that I, too, was going to be able help someone in need. It’s an amazing feeling seeing people who are in such a slump, completely turn their lives around with the help of just one person. Though Kiva loans may not be something we personally need, many people depend on these loans just to provide for their families. I know that loan recipients like Dolores wouldn’t be making such an impact on other peoples’ lives with their products, if I wasn’t impacting them with providing them with a loan. Before I had the opportunity to give a Kiva loan, I didn’t exactly understand microfinancing. I didn’t understand what it meant to give a microloan, nor did I understand the purpose. Though giving to charities all over the world has always been a “norm” for me, I will now consider microfinancing to be, as well. When I hear peoples’ heart-wrenching stories, I always try and put myself in their shoes. What if I were struggling
As a person, I feel that this loan process has had a very uplifting impact on my life. It has changed me for the better, to a person who is willing to give to others to better their lives. I have shared the idea of Kiva loans with numerous people in hopes that they, too, will begin providing people in need with small loans to better their business as an entrepreneur. People who are less fortunate have to put in a weeks worth of work just to have dinner on the table, where I, as a very fortunate American, have grown used to a warm dinner every night. After comparing what I have now, to what other people have, I am glad I am finally coming to the realization that every single person, no matter where they are from, deserve to be able to put dinner on their table and provide for their families. The Kiva loan I was able to give may not have been much, but to someone who is close to having nothing, it goes along way, just like the love, hope, and dedication toward their family does, too. Works Cited Kiva.org. April 2004-2013.Web. Date of access: September 30th, 2013. http://www.kiva.org/lend/606296 Central Intelligence Agency. 2001-2013. Web. Date of access: October 4th, 2013. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/ the-world-factbook/geos/es.html
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Major: Nursing Hometown: Liberty, Mo.