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| Arelys outside her home |
Arelys started to work as a young girl selling
fruits, vegetables, and pastries with her mother. When she started elementary
school, she would attend school in the mornings and her afternoons would be
spent selling produce and pastries with her mother. She kept this schedule
throughout high school, and now she is continuing her education at UDO in León.
She is currently studying business administration and is hoping to find a job
in her field upon getting her degree.
When she was
in elementary school she never thought she would be able to attend university,
so she is now very proud to be doing so. However, it is very expensive for her
to travel to León every weekend to attend classes, so she has started her own
business in order to finance her education. Every weekday night, Arelys sells
fritanga, or traditional Nicaraguan food, outside her home. On Sundays, she
walks the 10 minutes to the baseball stadium with her grill in order to sell
her food to more people. Although Arelys has a lot of competition from other
fritangas, she is successful because her food and her prices are often better.
Although her
business was doing well, she needed more capital in order to grow her business
further, especially since sales are low during the rainy season. Arelys applied
for a U$200 loan from Enlace that allowed her to purchase a cooler to transport
her food, more beef and chicken to grill, and some chairs to make her customers
more comfortable. Her training from Enlace also taught her how to get the most
money for her products, and to save for the future, for which she is very
grateful.
--Written by Jessica Kroenert and Cameron Houser
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