Juan Antonio López Guzmán is a 42 year old baker living in San Jose Villanueva in El Salvador, one of the poorest countries in the world. He learned his trade in the family business run by his father, but when his father died Juan Antonio and his brothers were left in charge of the business. With his own family Juan Antonio began his own business to support his six children and his wife, who works with him in his small bakery.

Juan Antonio had the opportunity to grow his small bakery business through contact with a local Micro-Finance Institute (MFI), Fundacion Mentores Empresariales para El Salvador.

He received his first loan in March of this year, an amount of $500 with which he expanded the area where he has his oven and therefore expand his output. 

He was able to pay off his loan early and improve the capability of his six children to attend school. Because of his good loan management, he was able to secure a second microcredit loan to reinvest in his bakery by planting and harvesting corn for bread. His business is now larger and he says that microcredit has provided the opportunity to receive training to expand his vision and help him see how to improve his business and increase his income without having to incur larger debts, but rather only debts that are manageable with his budget. 

Juan Antonio now employs five additional employees in addition to two family workers who are able to go out to sell and distribute the bread. The money Juan Antonio paid back is now available to others to borrow to improve their lives. His success story is a good example of the potential of micro credit to improve the lives of people who otherwise might never get out of their cycle of poverty. 

The Rotary Club of North Renfrew has provided cash to two microcredit banks in El Salvador, which support dozens of families starting small businesses. See the club's website at rotarynr.ca. for more details.