Kelly lives in the community of Los Monos, in the municipality of Lorica, Colombia, where our partner FUNDAEC implements the Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program. She is 25 years old and is part of the PSA group for which her older sister is the tutor. 

She started raising chickens a year and a half ago. This experience has given her the technical and administrative skills to support the project. She also had the support of her family, who worked as a team so that everyone could benefit from the fruits of this labor. 

Unfortunately, the project was abandoned due to rising costs and unstable weather. Kelly decided to start two new activities: pig farming and a store. Both activities are doing well and serving the community by providing food and meeting some of the needs of the people:

“I decided to create a small store, because my neighborhood did not have one that was accessible to people, and so I could provide basic products to families. It’s a great experience because I see that everyone benefits, since they don’t have to travel to buy certain things. Little by little, with the profits, I was able to invest and expand my store and meet the basic needs of the community. I have had the store and the pigs for more than a year now, and my wish is to continue and to teach others by example that one can start with little and advance little by little.

Kelly’s small store.

Currently, I have invested my own funds and I have a small loan from the bank that I am about to finish paying back. With the profits from these two projects and the help of my husband, we were able to buy a motorcycle, because we needed this means of transportation for errands. Later on, we plan to build our own house and expand the store to offer more products to the community.

There are several reasons why I decided to start these initiatives. One was seeing others who have gone through the PSA program create their businesses and do very well. The second was the need to earn money, because I didn’t have a job and neither did my husband. We realized that it was viable to start our own business, even if it was small, and that we could earn money to help us meet our household expenses. The third was to develop skills that I didn’t think I had, which were hidden inside me because of fear and lack of experience.

Thank God, I can attest that if you want to do something, you can. There is no excuse for not starting a business in the community. There is a lot to do, and we need to take action and take the first steps to start our own business and contribute to the economy of all.”

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