We visited Don Juan Maria Sigcho on the 1st August 2012 at his farm in Nambacola, some miles south-west of the town of Catamayo. He received his loan earlier this year and has started making repayments. He was with his youngest son - his wife is a teacher and was at school in Nambacola about one mile away while the elder two children are students at the Catholic University in Ecuador's third largest city Cuenca, 250 kilometres to the north. This is Juan's greatest expense as he must not only pay both their fees but also accommodation and travel costs. Don Juan is a farmer and grows a range of crops on his five hectares. He is currently growing maize, beans (which are often intercropped, but he grows separately), cassava, peas, potatoes, sugar cane, garlic and tomatoes. He also has several fruit trees including oranges and bananas. Interestingly, he informed us that he makes and sells wine from oranges - it takes around 300 oranges to make 30 bottles which are sold for US$5 each. There is actually an association of orange wine producers from Nambacola with their own labels. Don Juan has made three small reservoirs where he stores water which are then connected with pipes to irrigate the land. Irrigation is absolutely vital for the crops as there is insufficient rainfall in the region for the crops to grow otherwise. He keeps tilapia fish in the pools which are also sold periodically. He sells the crops directly at the regular farmers market locally - he has his own pick up truck which he uses to transport the crops to market. Buyers tend to be shopkeepers and market stall holders who buy in bulk. Since Don Juan has a range of crops, one is always in harvest and this ensures that he has sales throughout the year. Additionally, he has around ten cows from which he sells the milk, and keeps chickens for their eggs. Don Juan used the loan to buy organic fertiliser but also he used some of the funds to buy carrots, tomatoes, maize and other vegetables from Cuenca which he brought to Catamayo and sold on at a profit.