Meet some of our Borrowers!

Wendy is married with three children under ten and lives in the community of Comalapa. With her first loan of $380, she bought a loom and immediately set to work weaving the traditional Mayan crafts as an assistant to other weavers. As her sales increased, she found it easy to make her payments while adding to her family’s income. Now she is on her second loan, and her husband helps her with her new orders. They work together now, and have been making all of her payments on time. 
Lorenza, a 60-year-old weaver and small business owner from Comalapa, has been able to grow her store and tortilla factory with the help of Neo FUND. Living with her husband and daughter, she first heard about the program through her church and took out a small loan to buy threads for her weaving and store inventory. As more customers came in, her delicious tortillas gained popularity, leading her to take a second loan to buy more corn and boost production. She’s grateful for the support, as traditional banks never approved her for loans due to strict requirements and high interest rates. She especially values the training sessions, which have helped her improve her sales and expand her business successfully.
Esquivel, 33, is a married mother of two children (9 and 6) living in Cristo Rey, Tipitapa. In 2015, she and her husband moved from Somoto, Madriz, and she started a small convenience store. Struggling with high-interest "daily loans," she switched to Neo Fund in December 2024. Within two months, her business blossomed. Her first $300 loan allowed her to buy more products. Now, she can place orders directly with suppliers who deliver to her store—something she couldn’t do before. **"Now, I restock daily, and I can buy my boys' school supplies. They can even take 50 cents instead of five cents for school snacks! I wish I had known about NEO sooner. May God bless them!"**
Cristobalina lives with her husband and three children in Chipoc Comalapa, a village in Chimaltenango. She weaves traditional Mayan textiles and makes some into souvenirs and others into traditional Huipiles (traditional Mayan blouses) and the traditional belts worn with them. When she heard that the NEO Fund offers free training, she was so enthusiastic because, “no other microfinance group worries about us.” With her first loan of $300, she will buy materials and hire someone to help make her products — which means more than one family will benefit from that loan!
Mopidevi is from a village in Andhra Pradesh, India. She is part of one of our women’s credit cooperatives. She used her loan of $100 to purchase some sheep so she can harvest and sell wool. Before her loan, her family was able to bring in 5,000 rupees per month ($60). Now, with her sheep she is bringing in 8,000 rupees ($100), almost doubling the family’s resources. She would like to add to her small herd and is looking forward to future loans with the NEO Fund which she finds affordable. 
This is Rosa! She lives outside Cristo Rey at the edge of a cattle ranch where her husband is a laborer. So far, she has taken (and repaid) two loans to build a small resale business. She buys rice and clothing in the village of Tipitapa, 5 miles away, to resell locally — a real convenience for her neighbors! With her latest loan of $500 she purchased a freezer and added frozen chicken to her lineup. This addition is her most profitable so far and has helped her provide better meals for her family and school supplies for her young son Osmani. Thanks to NEO training, she's now saving a little each month to purchase a small plot of land in the center of Cristo Rey. She believes this location will help her business grow even more! Thank you to our NEO Nica staff for coaching Rosa along the way, and thank YOU, our donors, for making loans like this possible!
Veronica has been building her pulperia in Cristo Rey for 9 years, little by little to help support her family of 7. Her best products are staples: rice, sugar, and oil. She has taken 5 loans to increase her inventory and improve her store, the most recent for $600.
Maria Isabel from Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, needed to find a way to work from home and care for her six children. She started a small grocery store selling candy, bread and coffee. But the exorbitant fees from everyday money lenders kept her barely able to stay afloat. A friend told her about the NEO Fund, and she says NEO Fund training has taught her to understand inventory, save money, reinvest in her business, and keep good financial records. Her three loans helped save her business. With NEO help, she has been able to expand to basic groceries and health care products — even sewing supplies. Her neighbors appreciate buying these items from her and saving the precious bus money they would spend going into town.
Vilma is a single mother with 2 young children, ages 2 and 5. They live with her parents in the Mayan community of Chuaqixaqui, Comalapa. She met the NEO Fund through another borrower. Her initial ask is for 2500 quetzels ($300). She wants to use it to buy materials and hire an assistant to make additional weavings. She wants to save for the future and be able to add a room on to her parents' home for her and her children.