Roxana has a tortilla business and each day before she starts the cooking process, she gets up very early to make breakfast to her family. She then prepares to cook the corn and while it’s boiling, she does housework. Later she takes the corn to the mill to grind it. She pays $2.50 for this service. At 11:00 am, on time, she starts making tortillas. She has a lot of clients and has been able to generate more through word of mouth. At 2pm she finishes and has her lunch. At 4pm, she’ll start the process again for dinner and will end at 7pm. She always goes to sleep at 9:30 so that she is well rested for the next day of hard work.
An important piece of encouragement that the Women’s Empowerment Project offers is for the women to build in time for themselves and their own needs. For Roxana, her time off are Tuesdays in the afternoon and Sundays. She has not always had flexibility in her work schedule. Years ago she worked in an underwear factory and the hours and work were very demanding. The company suffered a massive layoff and she lost her job. At which point, she decided to start her own business, where she could take care of her household tasks and spend time with their family. With all her effort that she puts into her work and her family, she hopes to teach her daughters to value everything they have.
Roxana is in her first year of the Women’s Empowerment Project and so far she has learned to value herself and to appreciate her friendship with other women in the group. She has also expanded her knowledge on how to manage her money and she has improved her bookkeeping skills. These new skills have led her to think about expanding her business to raising chickens. She believes that both arms of her business – selling chickens and her tortillas would give her more economic stability. A more sustainable business could lead to her supporting her daughters in their education. She also wants to save more money from her business so she can live without economic dependence on “pay-day loans”.
We are happy to help Roxana work toward her goals! Thanks to your contributions these changes are possible! You can sponsor a woman entrepreneur! Find out how by clicking here.
