Silvia Cabrera received a loan of $2,500 about three months ago and has started making the first repayments. She earns a living from raising poultry, specifically chickens (she sells both the eggs and the meat), geese as well as guinea pigs which are a popular food throughout the Andes region of Peru and Ecuador in particular. The eggs from the hens sell generally for 25 cents each while the chickens are sold for $2 per pound of meat. However, the eggs from the geese she can sell for up to $7 each (retailers can sell them for up to $11 each) because they are believed to have particular health benefits. With the loan Silvia bought twenty more hens and five geese, but also bought her daughter (who works as a seamstress making sportswear) a new sewing machine for $600. However, she spent most of the money on part building the second floor to her home - she used the money to buy materials and pay the builders. The second floor of her home is not yet complete - when she has money she finances construction work and then halts the work when she runs out of money. In addition to raising poultry Silvia makes traditional Ecuadorian food such as 'tamales' which are made from maize to sell on Sundays - she can earn up $30 per Sunday. She has received several loans already which she has used to build up her both her business and improve her home and has never been more than a day late with her repayments. Unfortunately, her husband who is a driver has been ill of late and Silvia and her elder two children (a son works in a car paint workshop) have been meeting the household's expenses.