Roberto José Talavera Avilez

Roberto and his mother

Roberto was born in El Sauce and spent the first part of his childhood in the rural community of La Palma, where he lived on a farm with his mother. When he was 9 years old, Roberto moved to Managua to live with his aunt and go to school for the first time. He spent the rest of his youth moving between El Sauce and Managua, which made his education very difficult as he was constantly changing schools.

Roberto eventually finished elementary school and began to study at Centro de Enseñanza Técnica (Center for Technical Education). However, before he could finish his studies, he was drafted into the military, and at age 17 he began his two years of service. The time Roberto spent in the military was one of the biggest challenges of his life because he was in an unfamiliar part of the country and saw many of his friends die.

After finishing his service, Roberto completed his high school education at a military school. He then went on to study at Universidad Nacional Agraria for one year, but unfortunately did not have the money to finish his studies.  After that, he spent some time in Costa Rica working and living with a friend, and learning to raise chickens.

Upon his return to El Sauce, Roberto attempted to start up a business raising and selling chickens like he had learned in Costa Rica. When he applied for a U$200 loan from Enlace, he intended to use it to purchase a new group of chickens, as well as food and vitamins for them. However, due to health department regulations, he was unable to continue to raise chickens within the city limits.

Roberto and some of his products

This was a serious roadblock for Roberto’s business development. However, he responded quickly and used the remainder of his loan to start a new business venture selling shoes, which he had some prior experience in.

Now, Roberto travels around El Sauce with his shoes, selling them door-to-door on his bicycle. So far, he has been able to establish a stable client base in El Sauce, but he would like to expand his business to other communities. In the future, he hopes to apply for another loan from Enlace so that he can have a greater selection of sizes, colors, and styles for his clients to choose from.

Roberto appreciates that Enlace was flexible in helping him change his business proposal.  He is also grateful that his training taught him the skills necessary to identify his best clients and become better than his competition. 

--Written by Jessica Kroenert and Cameron Houser