“The best experience I have had is with Self-Help”

By Edelia Aracelly Cruz Torrez | Empowering Women Project Officer

By teaching Martha a new skill, Self-Help International’s Women’s Empowerment Program in Nicaragua provided her with a business opportunity that has allowed her to generate her own income that has helped her provide for her son’s education and with household expenses.

Martha, 30, is married and has a 7-year-old son. She lives in Los Chiles, which is approximately 23-and-a-half miles from Self-Help Nicaragua’s headquarters in San Carlos.

Martha grew up with many economic limitations and her mother decided to emigrate to Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s southern neighbor, to generate more income so she could provide her children with a better quality of life. While Martha’s mother was working in Costa Rica, Martha and her siblings were cared for by their maternal grandmother. This meant that Martha also had to work to support her grandmother and, when Martha was in high school, her mother returned from Costa Rica and set up a small grocery business. When Martha graduated from high school, she decided not to pursue more education and got married.

Martha and her husband have worked hard to buy their own land. To help achieve their goal, Martha worked in her sister-in-law’s bakery and Martha’s husband was a masonry assistant. Their next goal was to build a house and, to achieve this, Martha had to look for options to improve her knowledge and skills. A friend told her about Self-Help’s Women’s Empowerment Program and, at first, Martha hesitated to be part of the program. But eventually she decided to join the Women’s Empowerment Program because she thought she could gain knowledge that was practical to implement.

The first training topic that Martha took was “Poverty and its Causes and the Power of the Mind.” The training made her realize that, sometimes, people are poor because of their way of thinking. Sometimes, she realized, people are stuck in a job that doesn’t pay well because they don’t realize they can create their own business and be their own boss.

From that day on, Martha began brainstorming what kind of business she could operate from her home. She continued to attend all the Women’s Empowerment meetings, training sessions, and activities that the program promoted. “I decided I wanted to make my own business,” Martha states, “because I already knew how to bake bread and so, because I did not want to harm my sister-in-law’s business, I decided to improve my skills on baking bread cakes that I could sell from my home. At first, it was difficult, but with the support of Self-Help, I was able to improve the quality of both the flavor and the presentation of the cakes. I have learned a lot, and, in addition to the knowledge I have received from Self-Help, I also received financing to start my baking business. With the first financing, I bought materials and ingredients to start making cakes. With the profits, I paid off the loan in installments and I have continued working like this since 2023. At the beginning of my business, I used a traditional oven, but my goal is to obtain an improved oven that Self-Help is promoting. Now, every time I set a goal, I look for a way to achieve it. Although I know that it might take me a while to reach my goals, I know that I can achieve it with the support of Self-Help’s Women’s Empowerment Program.”

With the proceeds from the sale of her cakes, Martha has been able to buy necessities for her home that improves her family’s quality of life. One of the changes she has been able to make is switching from a wood stove to a gas stove, which helps her family’s health. To promote her business, Martha also has learned to use the communications program WhatsApp so people can order cakes from her using the app. “This is how I have become known, little by little,” Martha reports, “and I am currently making one to two pounds of cakes a day. For each pound of cake, I earn 300 córdobas, which means that I earn approximately 9,000 córdobas ($243) a month.” Martha is currently paying off her third loan of 18,000 córdobas ($486), in monthly installments.

She also has learned through Self-Help’s financial training that ordering ingredients online is cheaper than having to travel to San Carlos or Managua to buy ingredients. “By ordering online, the ingredients I order are delivered to my house. That saves money because I don’t have to travel to buy the ingredients,” Martha notes. “I learned that lesson from Self-Help’s commercial business training.”

Martha says that she now feels like an empowered woman who has moving forward to achieve her goals. “I want to continue growing my business so I will be able to generate employment for other women who want to improve themselves like I have,” Martha states. “To achieve this, I will meet the challenge by standing firm, learning everything related to improving the quality of my products, and providing a good service. I am committed to continuing learning from the training sessions provided by Self-Help, and I hope that Self-Help will always be able to train the women who want to get ahead like I have. I hope that Self-Help will continue to support us because in Nicaragua there are many women who want to improve themselves. The only thing they need is a boost like the one Self-Help has given me.

“In my case, even my family has benefited because I help my husband with our household expenses, such as paying rent on the place where we are living while we build our house. I also can offer my son a better life by buying him everything he needs for school and his other needs. I am grateful for all the support Self-Help has given me, both emotionally and financially. I personally have improved my self-esteem, leaving my shyness behind. I am more open to interpersonal relationships with other people, as are the other women in the Women’s Empowerment Program.”

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