Maria Mendez
Maria Mendez owns a weaving business in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. Every day, she kneels on a concrete floor for eight hours and weaves colorful and intricately-designed shirts called güipils. Güipils take up to five months to complete and weavers can only advance about four inches a day. In the past, she would sell a shirt for $300 and make a $90 profit, which enabled her to eat tortillas and salt daily. With a Mentors loan, Maria has employed two women (her employee Yolanda is pictured here on her right) to speed up her weaving process. Now, she makes an additional $85 profit. Maria is so grateful that she can reach out to women from her own community and that Mentors has improved their lifestyles and nutritional health.