Guillermo Ramon Salgado Araut

Guillermo outside his workshop today

Guillermo is a 62-year old originally from Managua. When he was young, he learned to work with wood from his father who was a carpenter. His father saw that he was very talented, so he sent him to study carpentry at a school in Managua. He started his career working for Pierson Jackman, a large carpentry company in Managua, where he worked for 20 years. 

Then, during the war Guillermo and his family were taking shelter in their home in Managua when he tragically lost one of his son’s to a stray bullet. After this incident, Guillermo and his family moved to El Sauce to live with his wife, Candida’s, family. During the war, he found it difficult to find work, so he traveled around to León and back to Managua, eventually establishing his own workshop in El Sauce.

Guillermo with a dresser he constructed to showcase

Today, Guillermo still runs the same business, which he calls El Cabo, and has now owned it for 30 years. In his workshop, he, his sons, and a few of his grandsons make “anything you can make from wood,” including chairs, doors, windows, dressers, shelves, and small toys. He likes what he does very much, especially making small toys for children, but he says he does not have as much time to make them as he used to.

Guillermo applied for his first U$200 dollar loan from Enlace because he wanted to make examples of some of his work to showcase in his workshop, and needed the extra capital to do so. After successfully paying off his first loan, he applied for a second, which he is currently paying back. With the capital from both these loans he was able to construct a few example pieces, as well as purchase enough wood and other materials to be able to start all the projects his clients request of him. He is grateful that Enlace taught him how to more efficiently manage his income and expenses.

--Written by Jessica Kroenert and Cameron Houser