CREDATEC Helps Local Pastor Seize Opportunity for Growth

In El Salvador, the protestant church has grown rapidly over the last several years, and with new churches, the number of pastors has also grown. Although the majority of these pastors depend on the offerings of their congregations without being active agents in the country’s labor market, there is a small number of pastors who make the difficult decision to seek additional employment. For these pastors, supplementary income can facilitate their ability to become agents of transformation as they may be better able to provide a home for their family and even help support their own church.
Carlos is a native to Panchimalco, and he is proud to have indigenous roots in the area. His relaxed nature and huge smile are contagious.

Carlos Cruz is both talented and a visionary. A year ago he became the pastor of his local church. Before that he had studied to be a mechanic at the Industrial Technical Institute (ITI) and continues his work with a local co-op of microbuses. Additionally, to supplement his family’s income, he and his wife also raise pigs, chickens, and hens in a small pen behind their house.

A few months ago, Carlos recognized the need to improve his pig pen to create better living conditions for his family and prevent problems with his neighbor, but he did not have the cash. After applying for a small loan from CREDATEC (the organization that handles all of ENLACE’s microfinancing projects), he received invaluable training from Financial Coach Israel Melendez. Through the coaching, Carlos was able make and execute plans for a new and improved pig farm. He used the financing he receive to invest in paving the pen, making a wall of bricks, and building a septic tank in which animal waste would drain.

The farm currently has two adult pigs, two piglets, and a sow that will soon birth seven to eight piglets. Each pig can result in a two-fold profit. Like other CREDATEC entrepreneurs, Carlos looks for ways to maximize his resources. For Carlos, this means collecting leftover market produce and corn from the local tortilla-maker to feed his pigs, reducing his costs. Creativity and hard work can make the difference between failure and success.

“[Pig farming] is a difficult job that many people don’t want to do because it requires a lot of effort. So...here there is high demand for pork, but no competition for breeding pigs.”

Carlos and his wife began rasing pigs when their son was born. They are successfully raising and selling pigs.

Although Carlos lives a simple life with his mother, wife, and three children, his hard work and access to microloans and business support ensures that his family has everything they need. And while it is rather common for adults to seek more than two jobs to make a living in El Salvador, Carlos is unique in the way he combines working for himself and his family with caring for his community.



Your donation of $100 will be leant nearly 30 times in the next 15 years totaling more than $1500 of credit for ambitious entrepreneurs like Carlos!

The 'Bread of Life' Providing Light to Its Neighbors

Nestled in the mountains just south of San Salvador sits the colonial town of Panchimalco. Panchimalco is one of the few towns in El Salvador where the indigenous culture and language have been preserved. It is not uncommon to hear the native Mayan-based language, Nahuat, and see elderly women with colorful clothing along the steep and winding streets.

Located in an adobe building built around 1950, La Iglesias Pan de Vida (Bread of Life Church) is a thriving congregation that has found a renewed sense of motivation since it began to work with ENLACE a little over a year ago. The church's extremely strong leadership group is working hard to find ways to connect with its community and make a lasting impact. One of the first Community Members working on the electricity initiative. initiatives identified by the church and community is an electricity project that will benefit the hamlet of Amatitan with more than 60 families (500 people). It is a project that the community dreamed of implementing for years but was never able to gather the resources on their own, nor were they able to organize themselves in such a way to link to the local government.

However, over the past year ENLACE's church advisor to the region, Gerson Ramirez, along with ENLACE technical staff,  have been working hard to train the church and help organize the community implement this Juan Carlos, Community Association President and church leader, working along with other community members on the initiative.vital initiative. The community members are excited about the prospect of a safe, well-lit community where children will be able to study in their homes at night and families will be able to store food in a refrigerator. The importance of the initiative will not only be seen by the light of the first light bulbs in Amatitan but also in the growth of trust, collaboration and the church and community's ability to be able to resolve their own needs. According to Juan Carlos Deodanes, President of the Community Association, “Our community is motivated and this is the first time I have ever seen a church become part of the development of its community."