Over the last two years we have made a number of loans to Quechua women that live in the mountains surrounding Andahuaylas. These loans are made to groups of up to 4 women who will buy small hand tools, seed potatoes, and fertilizer. They plant in the spring and have a potato harvest in the fall. This will likely be a typical O4H loan in Peru. The other type of loan is to purchase infant guinea pigs (Cuy) which are bred and raised for food. Their meat is a local favorite in Peru. We are using a more cooperative approach in making these loans to a group of women and the initial group of 8 to 10 loans have been quite successful with strong harvests and expansion of the number of Cuy held for breeding.
