In a rural farming community on a picturesque hillside outside of Cuenca, Ecuador, María Carmen Nieves Nieves has industriously built a home for herself and her five children. María received her first loan nine years ago from Fundación Espoir, a Global Partnerships partner. With that loan she established a business raising and selling pigs and cuys (guinea pigs), a trade she’s now grown to include reselling milk gathered from neighboring dairy farms.

Thanks to Espoir, Maria now has a home and much more—she has tools to keep her family healthier. Espoir, like many GP partners, provides low-cost preventive health care and education to its borrowers, a life-changing addition to microloans. María speaks eloquently about the difference these services have made. “I have learned better nutrition and that has helped my children get sick less,” explains María.

With a third of Ecuador’s 13.7 million people living in poverty, and a persistence of malnutrition among women and children, opportunities to generate income and access health services can bring great relief to families.

María speaks with confidence and courage as she talks about what has clearly been a difficult life, raising five children on her own. “I am a widow, and I am very grateful to Espoir. They have supported me 100 percent. Before I worked with them I didn’t have my house. But bit by bit I have been able to save and build my home.”