José Manuel Machado
My name is José Manuel Machado, I am from the Bacdía community, a village in Taulabe where I cultivate coffee and bring up my three children alongside my wife.
In the year 2003, due to a change in coffee prices and lack of opportunities in the country, I decided to travel to the US in search of the American dream. A terrible accident in Mexico caused me to lose both of my legs and to be hospitalised in this country until I could return to Honduras in 2004.
Upon my return, the community helped me to construct my house and to satisfy my economic needs. I am a barber, so I opened a barber's shop in order to support my family.
The coffee plantation that I had left when I went to Mexico was totally unkempt and I needed funds in order to restore it. For this reason, I vistied the offices of ODEF Financiera S.A. and applied for a loan for L. 50,000.00. Thanks to improved coffee prices and loans from ODEF Financiera S.A., I have cultivated 9.5 acres. I can attend to these well and I hope to harvest 120 hundredweights this year. I have also exchanged the barber's shop for a grocery store that I work in at home with my family.
The credits from ODEF Financiera S.A. helped me to improve production on my land and to start my own grocery store business. With my earnings from these, I have bought a vehicle in order to travel to the plantation and to purchase products for the store. I give thanks to God that ODEF Financiera S.A. opened the doors to me and granted me this credit that has allowed me to improve my home, to support my family and to pay health and education bills.