Jacqueline Esmilda Centeno Aguilera

Being a young, single mother is a challenging role in rural Nicaragua, but 23-year old Jacqueline Esmilda Centeno Aguilera has not only risen to the challenge of raising her family, but has simultaneously grown one of the most successful small businesses in El Sauce.

Several years ago, Jacqueline began selling candy and cookies out of her home to children on their way to and from a nearby school. Little by little, she built up her corner store, which she named La Bendición, or “the blessing,” and began taking out loans from the Mayor’s Office and microfinance creditors to buy new products such as sugar, soap and daily essentials. With the profits of her business, she purchased a fridge and a printer to further the variety of products she offered, including cold drinks, snacks, and photocopies.

When Jacqueline heard about the microloan program at Enlace Project, she had the idea to invest in a new type of merchandise for her ever-growing store: women’s clothing and shoes. She signed up for the program, completed the course and said she thinks the training plan was very useful in teaching her more about savings and the differences in costs and investments. Jacqueline is grateful to Enlace Project and its donors for offering a program that makes credit accessible to people who otherwise may not qualify.

Jacqueline is now successfully selling a wide variety of apparel, and says her loan from Enlace has increased her store’s profits to a level where she is able to put aside an emergency savings fund – a safety net that became very needed recently when her 4-year old son, Hencil, fell ill and needed special medication. Jacqueline will continue investing in shoes and clothing for the store, and is looking to expand her merchandise into school supplies, to meet the demand of her many student customers.

--Originally Written in October 2012