Like many microfinance clients, Norma Luz Guerrerro learned about the opportunity to receive microloans from a friend who had already done so. Thanks to her friends' introduction four years ago, Norma joined a 14-person communal bank organized by Enlace, one of Global Partnerships' partner organizations in El Salvador, which specializes in reaching poorer clients in more remote areas.

Norma's first loan was for $100, to help her jumpstart businesses in recycling and in reselling vegetables. She buys used plastic bottles at low cost and resells them in larger quantities to recyclers; and also buys bushels of limes and other produce and sells them in the market. For her resale business, her loan funds have enabled her to purchase additional products for resale and have also helped her be more effective in reaching clientele. Before receiving microcredit, to resell her produce, Norma would walk a few miles each day with a heavy basket on her head selling on the streets. But thanks to her loans, she is now able to pay for her own spot in the local market where she sells fruit each morning.

With her most recent loan of $500, Norma is advancing a new business: to make and sell hammocks. Her grandmother taught her how to make them, and now she is using this skill to create an additional source of income for her family. With her success, Norma has been able to better support her family, buying medicine and clothes for her five children when they need them. In addition, three of her five kids are currently able to attend school.