Aracely Mendoza

Aracely with some products in her store

29-year-old Aracely grew up in El Sauce and has worked in a store for as long as she can remember. At a very young age, she began working with her mother selling vegetables and bread, which she continued to do as she started elementary school. After completing two years of high school, Aracely decided to begin working full time.


First, she traveled to León to work and live with a friend that owns a small store at the market. Then, after moving back to El Sauce, Aracely decided to start her own business with the money she had earned in León. Today, she has been running her store for six years and it is now doing better than ever.


Aracely, who is an excellent cook, has become famous in her neighborhood for her delicious pastries and candies. Every day she will make a variety of sweets including coconut and banana candies, cakes, and buñuelos (pastries). She also sells more savory foods such as enchiladas, cheese, and chancho con yuca (a traditional meal), all of which she makes herself. In addition to selling at her own store, Aracely sells her candies to other stores in town, and her 12 year old daughter Josmary will sell her mother’s food throughout El Sauce. She enjoys cooking so much that on days she doesn’t cook, she claims to get a headache.

Aracely applied for an Enlace loan because she wanted to expand her business. With her U$200 loan, she was able to purchase more products for her store, such as rice, beans, oil, and yucca, as well as construction materials such as bricks and iron to build a sturdier storefront. Because she had the extra capital to keep her store well stocked, Aracely was able to increase the profits from her business.

Aracely with her newly constructed brick walls

After paying back her first loan, Aracely applied for a second loan to expand her store, which serves the dual purpose of also being the home of herself and her daughter. She feels that the most important thing she learned in her training from Enlace is to save money, because with the capital from the second loan, along with the money she saved from her store, Aracely was able to reconstruct her store/home with sturdy brick walls.

In the future, once she pays off her second loan, Aracely hopes to apply for a third loan from Enlace in order to expand her business further. She hopes to save up more money and build a stand outside her store to display her products in a more inviting fashion and attract more customers.

--Written by Jessica Kroenert and Cameron Houser