Paula Katty

The members of the “Progreso Del Mar” communal bank meet every two weeks in the beautiful San Mateo spa in the city of Manta, known for its beautiful beaches which are visited by national and foreign tourists year round. Most of the people here fish or perform other labors of the sea.

Here we meet Paula. She’s 50 years old, married and as a result has four adult children and one 14 year old. Three of them still live at home and two attend university. The youngest is in school. Her husband is a fisherman, but he’s ill and not currently working.

In order to be able to earn some money on her own and help her husband with the household expenses, she sells all types of clothing door to door and also out of her home, where she has some display cases where she can offer her products. She goes out to sell four days a week and on the weekends she sells from her stall where the tourists visit. She sells for cash or offers credit to her best customers and collects every week. She buys her merchandise in Guayaquil based on what she needs. She’s been doing this for three years and things are going well. She started with the money from the first loan she got through the institution.

She will use the money from this loan to buy clothing, especially children’s uniforms and undergarments. She’s been a part of the communal bank for three years and she enjoys it because it provides loans.

She hopes that her husband will get well and that he is able to return to his labors of the sea. It’s difficult for her to pay all the expenses herself.