José Benito Mairena Arostegui

José, his wife Martha, and their two sons, ages 11 and 9

Born and raised in El Sauce, José completed elementary school and half of high school here. Wanting to continue his education, José traveled to León to finish high school. He then moved to the city of Estelli to attend Agriculture school, which he completed with a degree in Plant Biology. José is very proud that he and his siblings all have professional degrees, for which he thanks his mother, a former teacher.

After college, José began to work for the Institute for Agriculture Technology (INTA), and then the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAGFOR), which were both jobs that he enjoyed very much. Following that, José found it difficult to find work so he travelled to the region of Rio San Juan near Costa Rica, where more jobs were available. While there, José narrowly avoided being drafted for military service; as he puts it, “they handed me a gun.” Instead, he spent his time in Rio San Juan doing odd jobs for different farmers. Since this was during the Contra War, he recalls seeing a few dead bodies in some of the fields he worked in.

From that point on, it was very difficult for José to find work; the last job he had was vaccinating pigs from hog cholera 10 years ago. Since he is a member of the current opposition political party, he finds that many places will not employ him. However, José has six children with a seventh on the way, so he had to find a way to support his family.

José and his bicycle

Currently, José and his wife Martha, also a microloan program participant, have a small business selling food in El Sauce. Every morning, he and Martha wake up at 5am to make empanadas and frescoes (fruit juices). Then, at 6:30, José goes out on his bicycle with a cooler to sell what they have made. On the weekends, they also sell soups and nacatamales, a traditional Sunday meal. José finds som9opoe of his best clients at mechanic shops, which he visits daily. Additionally, his food is gaining popularity through word of mouth.

Before taking a loan from Enlace, José says that he didn’t always have the necessary materials to make his food every day. With his loan of U$200, José was able to buy many of the ingredients he needs, such as rice, sugar, and oil, in bulk, allowing him to sell his products every day.  He is grateful that Enlace’s training has also taught him how to manage his business more effectively. According to José, the most useful thing he learned was to keep track of his profits and expenses, and to account for marginal loss, or how much money he loses if he doesn’t sell all of his products. In the future, José hopes to apply for another loan to buy more raw materials for his business. 

--Written by Jessica Kroenert and Cameron Houser