We spent just a few months with these wonderful women and we will remember them forever. As a result of a partnership between Friendship Bridge and the innovative organization Kiva.org, we were sent to Guatemala as volunteers to interview these women about their businesses, write their stories, and post them on the Kiva website, where individual investors in the developed world made loans to them. Each of these women received a Kiva loan via Friendship Bridge.

Many of the women have been working with Friendship Bridge for a number of years and show great results in the development of their micro-businesses. Others are just starting out and are terrified, wondering if they'll be able to make the payments. All of them amazed us with their dignity, industriousness, and commitment to what they call their lucha, the struggle to survive.

This book tells just a few of the inspiring stories we encountered in Guatemala.