Delia Rogriguez lives in a good home with her husband Jose and 5 children, has a good job and is a leader in her community in Cartagena, Colombia. This wasn’t always the case however. There was a time when things were not so pleasant.

Delia runs a t-shirt business focusing on sales to tourists and there was a time when she was just struggling to make ends meet. She had been forced to take out some loans from “loan sharks” and felt like a victim because of the extremely high interest rates charged to her. Then, a friend of hers told her about a local organization that provides loans at reasonable rates to people like Delia to start or expand their businesses. That was how Delia found out about Opportunity International.

Using the money from her small loan of just 300,000 pesos (CDN $161), Delia was able to purchase raw materials like fabrics and dye to make more of her screen printed t-shirts at a lesser cost. Since her first loan, she has doubled her average daily income, reinvested the profits into her business and began saving for the future.

Delia believes that her life has changed and she is experiencing a better quality of life. When Delia was asked what Opportunity has meant to her she responded, “I feel so glad because my quality of life is improving day by day. I hope Opportunity can go all over the world to others like me.” With tears in her eyes, she continued, “Opportunity gives poor people like me a chance to live with dignity.”

Delia’s dream now is to modernize her business to fuel growth and use the profits to pay for a college education for her three boys. A dream that she believes is now within reach.

Find out how you can make an impact in the life of an entrepreneur like Delia.

Watch "5 Minutes with Mrs. Delia Rodriguez"