Mrs. Carla Acuña is an impoverished young artisan who lives in the rural community of La Poma, in the municipality of Masaya. The village has a bad road, and is almost inaccessible in the rainy season. The nearest health center is in the city of Masaya. People have running water only two or three times a week. The frequent interruption of electricity does not allow artisans like Carla to run their modest equipment and machines reg­ularly. Despite these adverse conditions, the León 2000 Foundation is pro­viding microfinance services to many microentrepreneurs and artisans like Carla’s family in La Poma and the surrounding communities.

Carla makes beautiful cotton purses and other needlecrafts. She also raises pigs and sells wood handicrafts made by her brothers. Her extended family is made up of one sister and two brothers. All four are married and have families. Carla is 28 years old and has three children between five and twelve years old. All of them are studying, thanks to the hard work of Carla and her husband.

Carla and her sister and brothers inherited a small plot from their mother, though they are not agricultural producers, because the parcel is too small. Carla works closely with all the members of her family, and there is an equitable distribution of labor and income among them. A large portion of the products are sold to a Costa Rican merchant who then sells these products as Costa Rican-made handicrafts to tourists and exporters in Costa Rica (which is common).

Carla has been working with the León 2000 Foundation since 2004. She obtained a seven-month loan for $500 when it opened a new branch in Masaya. One of her brothers also obtained a loan to produce wood handicrafts.

The success of Carla and her humble family has required great efforts. They have many children and require ever-larger loans to operate their microenterprises. Carla employs several members of her family and four additional people to run her handicraft business.

Since 2004, Carla has had four loans that have helped her not only to run her microenterprise but also to improve the social and economic conditions of her family. Before working with the León 2000 Foundation, she and their children lived in a house built of plastic and scavenged wood. She did not have a TV or a telephone.

Carla expressed great satisfaction and gratitude to the León 2000 Foundation. She said that it has progressively increased her loan amounts. She obtained a loan of approximately $2,000 in September 2007. Finally, she expressed special thanks to organizations like WCCN that are helping León 2000 obtain funds in order to meet he financial needs of poor women like her.