The tiny town of Mama Tingo lies in the beautiful green hills north of Santo Domingo, and is so remote that it requires loan officer Martin Ubri to travel two hours from his office in Los Alcarrizos to conduct his biweekly meetings with Bank of Esperanza David.   Despite being located far off the beaten track, David associates have established businesses in order to fulfill the needs that they have identified among their neighbors. The only male in this solidarity group of fifteen members is Ambiorix Lucas Munoz, a young 28-year-old whose business, an Agroveterinaria called “The Ranch,” would be most closely translated as a combination feed store, hardware store, and veterinary supply store. 

Ambiorix began his business about two years ago when he realized that many of his neighbors were making long trips to the capital to buy products for their farms, homes, and animals.  He correctly figured that stocking products such as farming tools and implements, horse and cattle feed, dog food, fertilizer, and a variety of animal treatments and medicines would be a viable way to earn a living.  He joined the bank David last March, by taking out an 8,000 peso loan and using the money to further invest in merchandise.  Currently, he travels to the capital to buy various products roughly twice a month, and uses the income from his sales to make the payments on his second Esperanza loan of 12,000 pesos (roughly $285 USD). 

About a year ago, a similar supply store opened up a couple of minutes down the road, after seeing Ambiorix’s success.  Since then, he has seen sales drop somewhat with the competition, but there is still sufficient demand in the community to sustain his business. Ambiorix calls his one-year-old son and wife to come and stand with him in front of his business as he shares how grateful he is to have access to a savings account and banking services through Esperanza, and how he hopes to continue in the program in order to provide for his young family.