Maria Del Trancito, is a single mother and is raising 5 children. Maria has been able to maintain a snack stand for 20 years in an education center. Maria needs a loan of $800 but only needs less than $400 remaining. She needs the loan because, she needs ingredients to sell food and snacks in her stand. Maria dreams of expanding her stand, employing more people, and seeing her children become professionals in the future.
The weather in El Salvador can change drastically, from rainy to completely dry in a couple of months. A micro-loan from Smith School would help her catastrophically. The tropical weather creates a very high chance of major infectious diseases. If Maria was infected with a disease that caused her to not be able to work; her children would be affected by not being able to afford things that they could when Maria was working. Maria and her children, are daily eating and drinking foods that can possibly infect them with a contagious disease. Maria needs the money to be able to support her family and continue to let her children go to school.
El Salvador is a republic country. The voting age is 18 and each president serves a term of five years. The current president is Sanchez Ceren. Although the government does have its strengths, it has not been able to stop many gang violence that has taken place in the country. If Maria's kids continue to go to school, then they will be able to be educated on who to vote for as president when they are older. If they cannot continue their education, they will not be ever fully informed on who will be better leaders for their country.
After the civil war in El Salvador from 1980-1992, the country relied on foreign aid which brought down the country's economy. Then in 2001, an earthquake destroyed what was left of the country's economy. Now gang violence has caused many of El Salvador's citizens to leave the country and move to other countries like the US. This makes it important that small business like Maria's still exist in the country because they can help bring the country out of its poor economic state which can create more jobs and eventually minimize the poverty within the country.
A micro loan from Smith School would benefit Maria and her family greatly. With the extra ingredients and snacks at her stand Maria can afford to continue her children's schooling. By giving her children this education she is allowing them to get out of the “Cycle of Poverty”. With an education her children will be able to find a well paying profession and live better lives and provide for their future children and so on. On the other hand, if she does not get the loan she will not be able to send all of her children to school. They will not get the same education as other children and they will have less opportunities. With the loan from Smith María and her family’s lives will change for the better forever.
