Maria Elena

 At 49 years old, Maria Elena Espinoza lives in the small community of San Ramon within the municipality of El Sauce. The government established San Ramon in efforts to provide land and housing to the victims of Hurricane Mitch whose homes were destroyed by the storm. Maria Elena grew up in Ocotal before moving to work in Costa Rica doing domesticity labor. She is the daughter of Norma Salazar, another Enlace client; Maria Elena has 6 children, the youngest of which is now 16 and the oldest is 29. Today she is married, lives with her youngest child, and enjoys spending time with her relatives who live in El Sauce.

Maria Elena has had to work hard throughout her entire life, as she was only 7 years old when she began selling tortillas, clothing, and cosmetics in Ocotal in order to help support her family. As the oldest of her siblings, she took responsibility at a young age in taking care of her younger brothers and sisters.

Today Maria Elena owns her own business and travels to nearby communities selling jewelry, shoes, and clothing. She began this business in El Sauce after returning from Costa Rica 17 years ago. She learned to make the clothing that she sells in a 6-month technical program; the program was paid by a scholarship. Maria Elena works independently in her practice and loves her job because of the satisfaction she gets out of doing it.

Maria Elena identifies her economic situation as having been greatest challenge throughout her life. Despite this continuous struggle, one of her happiest times is when she is working because it provides her with the resources she needs to bring home to be able to provide for her children. Maria Elena prides herself on honesty and is most gratified that she is able to work and support her family responsibly. Her biggest dream is to own and operate a very successful business in El Sauce. She wishes to be able to sell more without having to travel as much, especially considering a previous accident while traveling in which she fell and injured her spine.

Maria Elena chose to seek a loan through Enlace instead of a bank because with the latter she would have had to put her house at stake as collateral in order to receive the funds. She also would need to acquire expensive documents like official deed to her property, which is complicated due to the government’s provision of the land to the people of San Roman. She used the loan from Enlace to buy more products to sell and as a result her profits have increased significantly. For Maria Elena, knowledge about proper bookkeeping practices has been the most valuable thing that Enlace has taught her through its business training courses. Maria Elena plans to apply for another loan through Enlace soon so that she can continue to expand her business and care for her family.

--Written by Clarisol Salcedo, Carolyn Engelhardt, & Luke Quinlan