Nancy del Rocio

Nancy is 34 years old and lives in a rural neighbourhood of Loja, in the south of Ecuador. She is married to Milton, who works as a bricklayer in various parts of the province. They have 3 children - 16, 13 and a 1 year old, the first two of whom are in high school.

Nancy has a small business raising small animals such as pigs, chickens, and guinea pigs. When she married, her mother-in-law gave her and her husband a piece of land where they could build their house and adapt a place to raise small animals, They took advantage of this because sometimes her husband was out of work, and they had no way to cover their needs. To begin with, Nancy bought 10 chickens, which she used for home consumption and for sale. Gradually she increased the number of chickens and bought guinea pigs and pigs, which she then sold at the free fairs and to the inhabitants of the area.

Thanks to her microenterprise, Nancy and her husband have managed to build the house where they live, pay for their children's schooling, and contribute to the household expenses. Nancy currently has two wooden pigsties in which she can raise up to 8 pigs, a large guinea pig house where she can raise up to 200 guinea pigs, and an enclosure for raising hens. She already has regular customers, and makes deliveries to their homes and sometimes sells at the free fairs. From the sale of pigs, chickens, and guinea pigs she obtains an average monthly income of $1,740 (£1,370), which, after deducting costs, leaves her with a profit of $400 (£315).

Nancy del Rocio currently needs a loan of $3,000 (£2,361) to buy food for her animals, and also to repair the pigsties. She will repay the loan in 15 monthly instalments.