Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The youngest member of our Mombachito family, Angelita de los Milagros, passed away yesterday morning at 1:00 a.m. at her home in Mombachito, Boaco. It was shocking news after all the efforts that were made in order to help Gloria and Angelita over the past several months. Gloria had an emergency c-section to deliver Angelita in early March. They remained in the hospital for more than 2 months before returning to Mombachito earlier this month. Her situation was delicate in the hospital but since returning home she was doing well, gaining weight and seemed to be out of danger.The photo above was taken when Rolando and Yessenia visited them last week Monday. They said that she looked healthy and strong, so her sudden death was a surprise to everyone.

For families from rural Nicaragua, good health care is difficult to find and often times the farmers struggle to understand the medical terms and explanations given by the doctors. Although Angelita seemed to be in good health, we are unsure of her exact situation caused by her early birth. Rolando believes she may have had a birth defect in her heart that caused her death.

"The most important of life's battles is the one we fight daily 
in the silent chambers of the soul." -David O. McKay

As a Farmer to Farmer family we are fighting that battle today as Rolando, Yessenia and Freddy are attending the funeral of that precious baby girl. We ask you for your prayers so that the Holy Spirit will comfort the hearts of Gloria, Lukitas and their relatives. Lukitas and Gloria are new Christians, so pray that the enemy and his lies will be driven far away from them and that these trials and heartaches will draw them into the Lord's arms.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012

Luis Narvaez - Dinnerware


It is said that success comes on the heels of hard work.  However, many people give up after a few errors or as time depletes their drive for excellence.  That is the exact opposite of the story of Luis Narvaez, who has proven that hard work and perseverance have their rewards.  After giving up an earlier business in a similar line of work, Luis started nearly from scratch to build up a business of selling imported dinnerware.  Drawing from his training in a PCD-Ecuador business class and from his list of contacts from his previous business, Luis began to regain clients and build a distribution network. 

Not only did he start over from the beginning, but he also put in long days of hard work.  While others who are self-employed often take a couple extra days off around holidays, Luis takes advantage of that time to visit restaurants that are open for business and have more time to talk to him because many of their customers have left Quito for the beach.

In this way, Luis has grown his business over the past two years while also improving its management.  When Luis began, he did not even own a computer, but now he not only owns one, but has taken courses to learn to manage his accounting, payments, and government declarations online.  With all this progress, Luis has not let it keep him from dreaming bigger.  He continues to add more clients each month, offer new products and services, and connect with people who offer complementary services.  Luis is truly an entrepreneur who has worked hard to achieve success.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Flor Escalante- Pulperia Keren


Pulpería Keren es una tienda de conveniencia de Nueva Suyapa.

Flor es beneficiaria de un préstamo de la Ministerios Cristianos de Mayordomía. Su negocio está bien situado en un barrio con una gran cantidad de demanda de sus productos. Ella es también miembro AA del programa de créditos, lo que significa que ella ha entregado todos sus pagos a tiempo. Ella ha utilizado su crédito para invertir en mercadería para su pulpería, y cuenta con suministros suficientes para la venta. Su marido también es un hombre de negocios que trabaja fuera de la casa, pero también ayuda a Flor en el negocio, al igual que lo hace su hija.



Visión:
Flor siempre ha soñado en tener una pulpería más grande para enseñar a sus hijas la importancia de trabajar en un negocio. Ella también tiene previsto ampliar el espacio en su pulpería actual, debido a la falta de espacio para organizar toda su mercadería. Esto le permitirá tener un pequeño inventario de productos y tener suficiente inventario de los productos en  demanda.

Áreas de Crecimiento:
Flor sigue creciendo y aprendiendo más acerca de su negocio. Sin embargo, ella necesita ayuda en el inventario. En saber cómo gestionar y organizar bien su mercancía, así como para dar un seguimiento de la contabilidad de costos de algunos de sus productos.

Flor Escalante- Keren Convenient Store

Pulperia Keren is a small convenient store located in the town of Nueva Suyapa.

Flor is a loan recipient from Stewardship Christian Ministries. Her business is well located in a neighborhood with a lot of demand for her products. She is also a top AA member of the program, meaning she has made all of her loan payments on time.  She has used her loan to invest in merchandise for her store, in order to have enough supplies for sale. Her husband is also a businessman who works out of their home, while also helping Flor and their daughter with the business.

Vision:
Flor has always dreamed on having a larger store to better teach her daughters the importance of working in a business. She also plans to expand the space of her current store due to the lack of space to organize all of her merchandise. This allows her to have a small inventory of products without being able to have enough stock of products on demand.

Areas of Growth:
Flor continues to grow and learn more about her business. However, she needs help in inventory. In knowing how to manage it and organize well her merchandise, as well as to keep track on cost accounting of some of her products.