Wonderful Women’s Stories

 Promoting possibilities for abundance

At DHF, we honor the value and the amazing potential in every person we work with.  We believe in organic development—from the roots up—beginning with the dreams and desires of the women we work.

DHF borrows some of our development values from the Sirolli Model of Enterprise Facilitation:

Enterprise Facilitation is based on the passion, entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and the fundamental needs for love, respect, quality and beauty found in every community. It maintains that every object we use…is the result of passionate people transforming their talents and visions into good work.  Hence, the “economy” is nothing less than millions of people doing beautifully what they love doing. The better they are at it, the better the economy! This model of development supports the creation of wealth from within your community by nurturing the intelligence and resourcefulness of your people. We champion the development of community pride through the passionate mentoring of local talent (www.sirolli.com).

We hope you'll enjoy reading some of the profiles of amazing women we've work with:

Click here to see other 2008 Bank Profiles:

Trinfo village bank

Perlita village bank

Rebecca Carillo Rudas, 35 yrs.

Rebecca is part of the village bank “Senor de los Milagros.”  She has two children, 16 yr. old and a 5 yr. old. Her husband is a police man and they live in a community outside of Cajamarca called “Los Banos.”  Rebecca travels to Lima every other month to buy clothes and then travels back to Los Banos to sell them in her community.   She has been doing this for the past 7 years.  Her first loan pf nearly $100 allowed her can purchase clothes in Lima and increase her income for her family.

Rosa Remila Infant Antiaga, 63 yrs.

Rosa is involved in a village bank with her daughter.  She sells natural medicines in Chiclayo, a coastal Peruvian city.  She travels to Chiclayo because there is a greater demand for natural medicines there.   She wasn’t working before receiving her first loan, but since she became a widow she needs to work to support herself.  She has 5 children that live close by and help her when they can.  She is pictured with her grandson, Anderson, who is 4 yrs old.

Aida Maria Llaque Tirado, 30 yrs.

Aida is the treasurer of the village bank, “Senor de los Milagros.”  She has 3 children (10, 9, and 3 yrs. old)  Aida makes handicrafts and sells them from her home.  She has been making handicrafts ever since she was little.  She has learned from others, but also enjoys discovering how to make new handicrafts on her own.  Her first loan of nearly $100 was used to invest in more material to make handicrafts for more people.  Aida dreams of being able to export her handicrafts to the U.S.  She enjoys being part of the village bank because the group is very united and helps one another out if there is a health problem or family problem.

Precila Huaripata Sanchez, 25 yrs.

Precila is part of the village bank “Jehova es mi Pastor.”  She lives with her 7yr. son in the countryside of Cajamarca and knits and crochets sweaters and other items for friends and neighbors. She has been knitting since she was very young and it helps bring in income for her home.  Precila also sells pigs.  She buys them when they are young and raises them to sell in the market.  She can buy a little pig for 70 soles ($24) when it is 1 month old, and then sell it when it is 6 months for 300 soles ($103).  She is hoping the pig she has right now will give birth to piglets to maximize her loan. 

Maria Lorenza Bardales Sandoval. 35 yrs.

Lorenza was just elected president of our village bank “Triunfo” and received her first loan. She was part of a different bank before, but had to leave because the bank was too far away from her house.  But, because she was still interested in receiving loans and being involved in village banking, she decided to form her own, closer to her house.  She has pigs, but would like to have a cow.  If she owns a cow she can make more money by selling milk. Her hope is to maintain good credit with DHF so that in the next year she can afford to buy a cow. Her husband works in construction and makes s/250, or $85 a month. Here she is pictured with her kids in front of her house. 

Maria Antonia Novoa Tanta, 22 yrs.

Antonia is a first time loan borrower.  She is a member of our new village bank, “Triunfo” and received her first loan.  She lives with her husband and her two kids in a small adobe house.  Her husband works in construction and makes s/200 a month, or $70.  She can make s/350, or $120, a month selling chickens. With her new loan she bought a pig for s/200.  In a couple of months after it grows big, she can sell it and make s/100, or $35 profit.  Antonia hasn’t finished elementary school and has expressed interested in taking literacy classes to learn to read and write.

Rosa Angelica Bardales Sandoval, 23 yrs.

Rosa is part of the new bank “Truinfo” that recently formed this month.  She lives with her parents and her husband and 2 children.  Her husband works when he is able to find day labor jobs.  She plans on selling salchipollo (French fries with fried chicken) in front of her house.  She wants to have some income to help increase her household income.   Her first loan is just over $100.  She plans to sell salchipollo for s/1 ($0.30) each, and hopes to sell 5-10 plates a day, which would be a total of $2-3 a day depending on sales. However, in order to sell every day, her mom will help her with the cooking and the kids.