Posted on 12/12/2004 2:03:49 PM PST by 4.1O dana super trac pak
CONSUELO,D.R. - It's late afternoon in a neighborhood called El Cachipero, in Sammy Sosa's hometown. Gisiene Salamon is behind the counter at her place of business, 12 square feet of beaten-up boards topped by a rusted tin roof. She is wearing a frayed flowered house dress and a comb in her hair. Two half-clad toddlers are clamped around her ankles.
On the shelves behind Salamon are 21 eggs that she sells individually, a few canned goods and bags of snacks. Hanging in front are four bags of rolls. The neighborhood gets its name from the ashes that spew from nearby sugar mills. It is one of the poorest parts of the country, at the end of a rutted dirt road that never sees cars, only destitute people in desperate circumstances, living without water or electricity, a colony of the forgotten an hour east of Santo Domingo.
Salamon, a 34-year-old Haitian-Dominican, cannot read or write. She began her mini-bodega 3 months ago, with a 1,500 peso ($55) loan that traces its roots to Bangledesh and Bayside, Queens, and to a former big-league ballplayer with a long memory and big plans. Salamon makes payments of 138 pesos, about $5, every two weeks. She hasn't missed one yet. She clears $25 in a good month. It may not seem like much, but don't try to convince her of that.
"It has given us hope for the future," Gisele Salamon says.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Much better than foreign aid.
Of course, Sicillians have always had their form of Microcredit, although usually with interest of 500% and with one's legs as collateral.
It's 1,000% in this town. Can't imagine the punishment for nonpayment.
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