It was about ten years ago now that Rosa first discovered microfinance institutions. Struggling to provide for her family, she took out her very first loan for about $100 and bought some baby chicks, intent on starting her own business and giving her daughters something she had never had: formal education. "My only dream is that my daughters have the chance to be professionals," she told volunteers.

      After several years of raising chicks, Rosa had saved enough money to purchase two goats and a few pigs to also raise. She built pens for each and also increased her lot by purchasing a small plot of land behind her home. She began to farm the land and produce flowers, vegetables, and other crops that could be sold in local markets.

        Her newfound success through small loans caught the attention of a local development organization that then sent Rosa to a university in Michigan where she learned advanced farming techniques, gardening, and animal husbandry in a three month program. Upon returning to her village, Rosa in turn taught her neighbors everything she had learned. New concepts like recycling, compost piles, home gardening, and crop rotation were introduced into the community and Rosa was immediately looked to as a village leader because of her experience.

        This success was short lived, however, when the Rosa's world literally shook and destroyed her home and almost all of her belongings. Forced to focus on rebuilding, Rosa's land began to dry up from neglect, her goats died, and she was forced to move into the pen once reserved for her livestock. Undaunted, she looked for help from local relief organizations.

        With the colaboration of HELP International and OEF, two other development organizations working in El Salvador, Meso Development designed a project intent on rebuilding Rosa's community. With help, Rosa and her neighbors designed a simple house plan, and with the help of donations from donors here in the United States, Meso Development, HELP International, and OEF set up a program where local villagers could build a new home and finance half the cost through a small loan program while the remainder of the cost was donated.

         With her new home finished, Rosa is busy rebuilding her life. She agrees, however, that her dreams have come true. Her eldest daughter is a nurse, two are accountants, and the fourth is finishing up college!