Today is life so much better…
Cecilio and Fiol live in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Cecilio worked as a gardener at a school before it was shut down due to COVID precautions. He was blessed to be able to find another job working for a security company watching over businesses. Fiol stayed home and helped take care of their three children, one of whom has special needs.
Cecilio and Fiol were always struggling to have enough money to meet their needs. They were renting a small home, that was in very poor condition, and oftentimes they couldn’t even afford the rent.
Fiol started making and selling sweets to bring in extra income. Fiol was grateful for the mentoring and support from her mentor Ruth as she was growing her new business. Being dedicated to these new self-reliance lessons she received Fiol started saving part of her earnings. Her dream was to have their own home one day, one that would keep out the rain and insects.
They had a small piece of land that they purchased with their savings. The community had given them some construction materials to get them started. Cecilio and his 16-year old son started preparing the land to build a new home.
With the support of Mentors International and a micro-loan of only $700, Cecilio and Fiol were able to purchase additional construction building supplies and an oven for her business. Cecilio and his son built their new home together.
Today their family has a safe place to sleep every night. Fiol can work from home making her sweets while taking care of their children.
Cecilio is grateful that because of the support of Mentors International he was able to better take care of his family. The opportunity to build their home with his son was a blessing.
TODAY Fiol and Cecilio still are still being mentored. They are saving for the future. They are keeping a budget for their business, and their personal expenses. They have almost paid back all of their micro-loan, and are on schedule to pay it off early. They are much happier now and look forward to the future.
