For many years Magali has been a member of one of the community banks that make up Fondo Esperanza, the BBVAMF institution in Chile. She has faith in the other small traders in her group, and is aware that she is responsible for her colleagues, as they are for her because, because although they develop their projects independently, they jointly guarantee each other’s loan payments. “When we go through any sort of crisis, is when we feel most united. We all prove that we value one another and we have always been able to move on”, she explains.
Magali started her dressmaking business with just two sewing machines. Over time and with the support of other entrepreneurs like herself, now she has a workshop in her home and a stall in one of the best markets in Chile. “My community bank is everything for me and for a group of us because we have reached many goals and made many dreams come true with it”, she continues.
This feeling of belonging spurs the members of community banks to meet their payments, secure in the knowledge that if there is a problem, they are not going to face it alone: “We have learned to know and respect each other and we have seen over time how every business has grown”, this entrepreneur tells us.
