Two of our most recent loan recipients are Gerson and Angie Velasquez. And their loan came at a critical moment in their lives, in answer to their prayers. Let me introduce you to them.
Gerson and Angie met at a church youth group eight years ago and were married a few years later. Gerson teaches social studies at a local high school in Siguatepeque. Gerson’s father is a former pastor, but he is now in his seventies and has to go to dialysis every other day. So he and his wife live on the same property with Gerson and Angie, as they require a lot of physical and financial help from them. Two years ago, Gerson and Angie were blessed with a daughter, Damari. At that time, Angie’s widowed mother moved in with them to help take care of Damari. Having Angie’s mother with them is a huge blessing. However, it means that Gerson now has to try to support his wife and daughter—plus three aged parents with health needs—all on his teacher’s salary.
Most families in Honduras find that it takes two incomes to make ends meet, particularly when they are supporting their elderly parents. So Angie has been studying nursing. Up until this year, Angie was working during the day while going to school in the evenings. But now, as part of her schooling, she is working full time at the hospital in Comayagua (about 45 minutes away by bus). She does not get paid for this work, as it is part of her nurse’s training. Not only does she not get paid, but she has to continue paying tuition to the university.
A few months ago, Gerson and Angie shared their tight financial situation as a prayer request at their church. It so happens that one of our directors, Dixy Barahona, attends the same church. So he told them about the ministry of the Society of the Good Shepherd, and they received an interest-free loan from the Society to help Angie with a part-time business she had started.
Angie is a very resourceful person, and she had learned that she could purchase various items inexpensively from an importer in the large industrial city of San Pedro Sula. She carefully selects various items that are offered at huge discounts by this importer. She purchases a carton-load of mixed items from time to time and has them shipped to her town of Siguatepeque by bus. She then sells them locally to a set clientele through WhatsApp.
Angie has studied the kinds of things people are interested in, and she knows what will sell easily. Some of the items that Angie sells are shoes, lotions, clothes organizers, shirts, wallets, school supplies, and bed sheets. But she picks whatever items are available that she knows will interest her clients. For privacy purposes, she advertises her inventory on her WhatsApp status. Likewise, her clients communicate with her through WhatsApp status. She has found this to be the easiest and safest way to sell things for this type of e-business.
When she began her business, it was vastly under-capitalized, so her inventory was very small. Also, she often didn’t have the funds to take advantage of various special bargains available from the importer. Now, with the loan, she has been able both to expand her inventory and to take advantage of special bargains when they become available. She still carefully manages the size of her inventory, and she tries to sell most of her current inventory before buying more products. By carefully managing both her inventory and her pricing, she has made the business successful, and it has enabled her husband and her to make ends meet with their many financial obligations. Somehow Angie is able to do all this while working full-time and taking night classes!
Once she has finished nursing school, Angie has a job offer at the local evangelical hospital, where she has helped out on many occasions. She feels called to the public health field, in which there is such a desperate need in Honduras. Meanwhile, she is so very grateful to the brothers and sisters who have made her loan possible.
Julie Nyhoff de Valladares
The Society of the Good Shepherd, P. O. Box 122, Amberson, PA 17210 • (717) 349-7033
Click on the following link if you would care to make a donation to the work in Honduras: Honduras Donations