Maria Isabel Luna Salazar graduated from Perito Contador high school at 18 years old. She has a 13-year-old son named Juan Daniel. She is a single mother and lives with her 62-year-old mother since her father passed away when she was 24. Since then she had to take care of her mother and her two brothers. In February 2000 she started working at FIDESMA, keeping the accounts of the Foundation. She has been in charge of delivering credits and giving training to women’s groups in rural and urban areas, and also working in the sale and repair of bicycles. In 2019 we received our 20th container from Pedals For Progress, and Isabel completed her 20th year of working at FIDESMA.

It is incredible how the donation of a bicycle can change the life of a person, a family, and an entire country. Isabel has had the opportunity to work at FIDESMA and thus has been able to support her family and pay for her son’s studies since second grade. Now that he is a teenager he volunteers to fix bikes at FIDESMA in his spare time. Isabel’s son has been growing along with the Bicycle Project.

During these twenty years the progress of Isabel and her family has been thanks to all those people who donate bicycles, resources no longer used in the U.S. There are many single mothers like Isabel who struggle to support their families doing decent work, and there are many more stories of how bikes can change lives. Isabel has shown that with a good attitude and teamwork it is possible to achieve dreams for both yourself and your family.

That is why Isabel wants to thank with all her heart Pedals For Progress and especially President David for this support, as well as all those who donate their bicycles in the U.S. We know that everyone makes a great effort to collaborate, and the results are very satisfying in the end. THANK YOU!