Entrepreneurship training for precarious women

Dear Difters,
Today we'd like to tell you about Jovana, a woman with a journey as strong as it is inspiring.

She's single and the mother of four sons. The first, was raised by his mother, as Jovana had him at 17. Her second son died six years ago, she named her restaurant after him in tribute. Her two youngest sons, aged 17 and 10, live with her and are educated. She also looks after her 15-year-old niece and her 2-year-old daughter.

For the past three years, Jovana has rented a small premises in Lamas, where she prepares and sells homemade dishes. Every morning, she gets up at 2am to cook at home before heading to her premises to serve a loyal clientele. In the afternoon, she heads back to the market to prepare for the next day.

The first beneficiary the volunteers met, Jovana made a particularly strong impression on their mission. They worked with her on accounting management so that she knew her costs and break-even point. Together, they simplified her method: from now on, she writes down her sales every day in a notebook.

To develop her business, the volunteers created a portable menu, a banner for the storefront and added background music to make the place more welcoming. They also helped her with the electricity connection, so she could cook on site and diversify her dishes.

Her story is one of a woman moving forward with strength and determination.

We'd like to introduce you to Yeni, an entrepreneur from Guatemala accompanied by Agathe and Inès, our volunteers, with the support of our microfinance partner ASDIR.

Yeni runs a tienda of traditional outfits called Traje. Every week, she innovates with new designs and works hand-in-hand with seamstresses from her village. For her, growing her business with other women is essential.

Her story is marked by difficult ordeals: a victim of domestic violence, she is now raising her two children alone. Despite this painful past, Yeni forges ahead with courage, energy and infectious good humor.

The aim of Agathe and Inès' support was to make her business more visible and professional. As her sales are mainly via Facebook, they helped her strengthen her communication and management.

Together, they produced:

- a logo,

- a advertising poster,

- a business card,

- an Instagram account,

- a shop inventory to enhance her stock and optimize her sales.

Every Thursday in Totonicapán, volunteers saw Yeni transform her project and affirm her ambition. A fine example of resilience and solidarity!