Giving Back: Ecuador

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, you’ll remember that we pledged to give a $25 Kiva loan in every single country we visit. You can read that post here. As our time in Ecuador is coming to an end, we sat down earlier this week and made the really hard choice of who will receive our $25.

Choosing an individual to donate to on Kiva is hard no matter where you are. But after living and traveling here for a month and seeing how people really live, and not just the “polished up for the tourists” version, it’s even more difficult to select just one person to help. Everyone on Kiva is deserving of attention and assistance, and we urge you to participate in their programs.

Here in Ecuador, we decided that we wanted to provide assistance to a woman, and we selected Maritza Elizabeth. Maritza Elizabeth is a resident of Quito, and she supports her family by selling fruits and vegetables in one of the local mercados here in town. She requested a loan in order to expand her business now that her daughter is grown and requires less time. Maritza Elizabeth believes that by growing her business she can make more money and one day afford to purchase a home for her family. Read more of Maritza Elizabeth’s story & add to her loan here.

While we haven’t met Maritza Elizabeth personally, we have spent a lot of time shopping in the local mercados. Usually, we are the only gringos there, and we’ve had the chance to talk with many wonderful people, including a lot of women just like Maritza Elizabeth, who work very hard to provide for their families, and sell some of the freshest and most delicious produce we’ve ever had. We’re happy to provide assistance to one of these women.

You can learn more about Kiva, and their process and programs, here.