Entrepreneurship empowers women

International Women’s Day, 8 March, aims to inspire women around the world to reach their full potential. Women in Limoncito, Bolivia, are improving their lives and the lives of their children by developing thriving micro-businesses.

The community of Limoncito is located about 38 km from the city of Santa Cruz. It is made up of 350 families and is a meeting point for the surrounding communities.

Nelly, a native of the community and the president of the Micro-business Association, sells meals from a project-built cabin located beside the main highway to El Torno.

The Association is made up of 24 women who work in food preparation (meals, baked goods, jams) as well as woven handicrafts and clothing, among other things. 

Plan’s micro-finance programme has helped to increase incomes for these families by enabling the 25 participants to develop new activities that complement their traditional work.

“We’ve been trained and now we have better income from selling our products. This money helps to improve the quality of our children’s lives,” says Nelly.

“We have organised the Micro-business Association with branches in each community and have our central office here in El Torno. Plan has helped us to transform our lives.”

As well as direct financial benefits, the project has had a positive impact on the women’s decision-making capacity and their status in the community.

As Nelly says, “We have learned to work, thanks to Plan. With their training we’ve not only learned to transform our natural resources and make products that are widely consumed by families, but we now know how to market our products and sell our food each day, making up to Bs. 900 (around £60) every week.

“We set aside some money for upkeep on the cabin, to fix things that get broken, lost or used up. We fix or replace things immediately, so that we can keep working and growing.

“Me and the other ladies who have more experience in micro-business train women in other communities or municipalities when they ask us to do it on subjects that we’re good at. We’ve travelled to municipalities in the Chiquitania where they are just starting to implement similar projects.”

Plan’s support has now ended and the organisation functions on its own. There is an internal dynamic that lets the work continue and benefits all of the participants.

“The Association in Limoncito has been noticed by the Municipal Government and other institutions, inviting us to participate in fairs and other business activities. On many occasions we have won contests or prizes for what we’ve done with our work and the way we present our products.

“All of these things encourage us to stay together and develop ourselves a little more each day.”