Miguel Tiquiram Túm

In a space of 18 thousand square meters of land, Don Miguel Tiquiram takes care of his harvest of green beans, tomatoes and jocote or jobo - as it is known in others      countries-, he raises pigs, sheep, chickens and has a horse, which he uses to travel to some communities.

 

Together with his wife and children, they are in charge of planting and selling the product that has sustained them for more than a decade. Achieving everything they have now was not easy, especially because the land they have is in a valley that is difficult to access.

 

The harvest that his land gives him is so abundant that he sells and exports through the Cuatro Pinos Cooperative, where he sells the product for 400 quetzales (51.2 dollars) per quintal and manages to harvest 300 quintals of vegetables. Feliz tells how what he sows in his land reaches other countries.

 

His relationship with microcredits began in 2006. Together with a group of people, he made his first loan of Q1,000 ($129 dollars) to the Centavo Foundation -FUNDACEN-. Acquiring that money allowed them to buy seeds, plant and sell green beans, tomatoes and corn.  for 16 years.

 

Don Miguel completed 12 credits with the institution, received training, bought a little more land and began to prosper. His highest credit has been Q11,000 ($1,400 dollars). His last credit was from 2021 to 2022.

 

2020 was challenging because Covid-19 affected sales. Little by little he recovered and is a microentrepreneur who stays up to date on his quotas. He comments that despite the fact that corn prices and bad weather affect the harvest, his land has not stopped bearing fruit.

 

When some people ask him how he makes money, he responds that he has grown thanks to the trust that FUNDACEN has given him through microfinancing and encourages people to also produce for the well-being of their families.