Peace of Mind for under $50

Ziomara Matos lives with her five children in a two-room house in one of Santo Domingo’s densely populated barrios. She is a skilled seamstress, but her sewing machine broke and she was out of business. She could not afford to have it repaired or to buy fabric. She ran out of hope the day she ran out of food.

An Opportunity loan officer was working in Ziomara’s community and heard of her plight. She was quickly issued a $230 loan. The loan paid for repairing her sewing machine and provided enough working capital to buy fabric. Now her tiny home bustles with productive activity despite challenging working conditions, which include poor electrical service that goes off and on all day. She measures and cuts fabric on her kitchen table beneath a window so she can keep working when the power is off.

She buys old, torn pants in the central market, paying $55 for 250 pair. She cuts off the legs and hems them, making “cut-offs” (shorts) that she sells in the same market. She used her first profits to buy fabric so she could make bedspreads, too

Next she invested in her peace of mind by opening a savings account. Her passbook records what to her is an incredible sum: $43. This is her “safety net” for repairs, medical bills, and other emergencies, which often overwhelm poor families. She knows that without a little savings, she could be out of business again.