On a humid rainy afternoon on a small street in the Dominican Republic, the tantalizing spice of chicken on the grill is reaching out into the barrio luring customers into Sazon de Mama for dinner. Even stray dogs have arrived and patiently endure the rain outside for a handout. Bienvenida offers a glowing smile under the soft shine of a bare incandescent bulb as she takes the constant stream of orders. At first glance, this is like any other restaurant except that it almost never existed....
more »On a humid rainy afternoon on a small street in the Dominican Republic, the tantalizing spice of chicken on the grill is reaching out into the barrio luring customers into Sazon de Mama for dinner. Even stray dogs have arrived and patiently endure the rain outside for a handout. Bienvenida offers a glowing smile under the soft shine of a bare incandescent bulb as she takes the constant stream of orders. At first glance, this is like any other restaurant except that it almost never existed.
Many years ago, after her husband died suddenly, Bienvenida Santo had to find a way to feed her four young daughters and repay suffocating loans her husband had accumulated. So Bienvenida set to selling grilled chicken from her house. Not just any chicken, she followed her mother's special seasoning recipe. Although she found that the chickens sold quickly, Bienvenida was caught in a dilemma. The proceeds from selling chicken were barely enough to feed her children and buy the same amount of chicken again. There was never enough left to begin repaying loans let alone tend to the many other needs of her family or save. This is the situation many face in the Dominican Republic. For Bienvenida, when a friend at her church told her about Esperanza, hope in Spanish. They provided a small seed loan beginning at $150 dollars [the average monthly salary in the DR] to buy more chickens. That was enough for Bienvenida to begin repaying loans. As she consistently repaid her loans, Esperanza would increase the size of the loans, always at a very low interest rate. Little by little, Bienvenida began purchasing more equipment, and eventually was able to move the chicken grilling to a little restaurant on the street.
For more information about esperanza's work in the dr: www.esperanza.org
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