¡¡1st Kiva Loan - CONFRAS - El Salvador!!

Buenos dias a todos mis amigos. For the past two weeks I've been working with a tremendous new field partner in San Salvador, El Salvador called CONFRAS. CONFRAS (Confederation of Federations for Agrarian Reform in El Salvador in English) was founded in the 1980's during the El Salvadorean Civil War to further land reform efforts. Since then, it has grown to represent 100+ cooperatives that provide various services to over 4,000 farmers throughtout El Salvador.

One cooperative with whom I've been working directly is ACAF. ACAF provides not only microcredit, but technical assistance and financial advice to nearly 1,000 farmers throughout the southern and western parts of the country. Through a partnership with Kiva, they are hoping to expand their loan portfolio and impact more farmers (in more remote areas) who are otherwise unable to obtain loans. They do tremendous work and now we are proud to announce their FIRST KIVA BORROWER! (click here to lend).

Congrats Maritzka - CONFRAS / Kiva Borrower #1

Congrats Maritza - CONFRAS / Kiva Borrower #1

After visiting with Maritza several times I can tell you 1) she is a very hard worker 2) a great mother (and grandmother) 3) She knows 1,000x more about farming and corn than I will ever know and 4) she farms on some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen.

Beautiful! 2 manzanas (~3 acres) of corn!

Not a bad view!

None of this would be possible without the hardwork and dedication of the ACAF team. Thanks for finding an amazing first client and we are excited to work together in the future! Best of luck Maritza! Saludos!

Thanks to Maria (Kiva) and Orlando, Morena and Reynaldo (ACAF). Bien hecho amigos!!!

Kiva and ACAF unite forces in the field! Bien hecho amigos!!!

To support additional ACAF and CONFRAS loans, please click here.

About the author

Bob Luchsinger

Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, Bob has had the opportunity to call a lot of places home in the past decade - Nashville, Washington DC, New York City, Mendoza, Argentina, Lima, Peru, Chicago and most recently San Francisco. After graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2006 with dual degrees in Political Science and Human & Organizational, Bob spent 3.5 years working as a data analytics consultant for FTI Consulting in Washington, DC. During this time, he acquired his first passport, an experience that would come to change his life. Passport-in-hand he spent the next year traveling and doing nonprofit work in Argentina and Peru. It was during this time that he developed a curiosity and passion for sustainable economic development, social entrepreneurship and innovative ways to reduce poverty. After rejoining the consulting world in 2012, Bob realized that his true passion and interests remained abroad in Latin America. As a member of KF22, Bob hopes to work closely with the local communities in Guatemala and El Salvador to gain a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship and how it can be used to create sustainable businesses in an effort to reduce poverty.