March 5th

Tonight, I spent time filming a woman in the nearby neighborhood of Warnes. For the purpose of this blog, I will call her Maria. Maria used her loan to buy a sewing machine and now she works as a seamstress, repairing clothes and making orders. I visited her business in order to interview her about her business and how SWAN-CISNE has helped her life. I arrived as dusk approached to find Maria looking comfortable behind the sewing machine, finishing an order for a waiting client. Despite my weak Spanish, we talked comfortably throughout the interview. She spoke of new found independence and busy days. Maria is one of CISNE’s newer loan recipients and has faithfully completed each payment on time. I also spoke with her father and daughter, learning much about how the business is helping her family. After I finished filming, I sat down to enjoy some Mate and bread with the family and neighbors. I left at sundown, making a mental goal to meet more people like Maria.