Veronica´s closet

ACCEDER Hebrew Free Loan
www.acceder.com

By Nicole Grouman

Veronica meets me in Acceder´s office. The neighborhood where she resides, Piedrabuena located in the southern region of the city of Buenos Aires is not safe enough for me to travel with all the filming equipment.

She arrives promptly for our meeting in the foundation despite having to travel far across the city. She gives a very warm impression, along with her four year old daughter who she brings along to the interview. Valentina is a spitting image of her mother just in a smaller version, both have dark hair and big black eyes that make it impossible to distinguish the pupil from the iris.

We live in city housing apartments. We struggle every day financially. I fabricate clothing for children and my husband delivers car parts. We have three children. I contacted Acceder to buy materials to make clothes. I make the clothes in my house and then we sell them to a store.

I read about the foundation in a magazine I saw in a kosher shop. I got the loan seven months ago. They treated us great. It took me less than a month, my friends were my guarantors. They loaned me 2, 000 dollars. Sometimes, it’s difficult to ask people for help, but I didn’t have any problems, she says as Valentina interrupts in hopes of grabbing her mom’s attention.

The situation in the country is difficult, the prices keep going up. I would like to leave the place where I live. I am grateful for the apartment but the area is very insecure, they are slums near by. I don’t take the kids to the park, it’s not safe. Their friends are only from their school, she recounts with traces of sorrow in her voice.

I advise those in a trying situation like me, to try to get the loan. I thought I wasn’t going to get it but I did at last. It’s all worth it, especially if you accomplish what you hope for. I tell the sponsors to keep donating because it’s worth it. I hope to make better clothes in the future to sell them at a better price. I was able to accomplish what I wished to thanks to the loan, she says as we finish our interview.

Her daughter grabs her hand tightly and they walk away to the elevator.