Olga’s New World

Just blocks away from Christopher Columbus’ house in Santo Domingo in the Domincan Republic, Olga Vargas is exploring her own new world of economic opportunity. For a poor single mom, her dream of sending her son to college was as visionary, and as difficult to imagine, as sailing off on uncharted seas and discovering another country.

Olga struggled for years, earning just enough money from her home beauty salon to send her son to the local school. She told him to study hard, for she would find a way to send him to college. With one salon chair and a handheld hair dryer, she persevered in faith that she would find a way to keep her promise. Mornings were hopeful, for her appointment book was usually full. Afternoons were discouraging. Water is supplied to her neighborhood only in the morning, so every afternoon she had to close. After years of working part time, she heard a woman on a neighbor’s TV talking about the small loan that had turned her struggling snack stall into a thriving restaurant.

Olga became a microcredit client and soon had a water tank and an electric pump for a constant water supply. She also bought a washbasin and two professional hairdryers. Now she is open morning, afternoon, and several evenings a week. In addition to the loans, the microcredit agency taught her the basic accounting skills. She opened a bank account and said, “Finally, I fell like a real businesswoman.” She still lives in one small room behind her shop, but these days that is all the room she needs.

Her son has moved on, not to the local college, but to a university in Florida. Olga enjoys sending him little surprises. One surprise was a videotape of her TV interview. The program profiled her as a successful businesswoman who discovered her new world of opportunity through microcredit.