Anara is the group leader. She is 57 and divorced; her son and daughter are adults. They work and live separately from her. Usually women of her age are already retired and do not work, they depend on their children. However, Anara is not like that – all her life she depended only on herself and got used to it. Now, she earns her living by selling milk from her cows. Sometimes, her children come from the city to help her around the house. Six years ago, her relatives advised her to buy a cow. Now, keeping this cow lets her live an independent humble life. Now she courageously seeks a loan to help her two grandchildren pay for their college education. After having some experience with keeping cows, she seriously got interested in raising cattle. Her ultimate dream is to buy a big house outside the capital to be near her children, so that her grandchildren could visit her more often.

Anara’s partners in the group are Lyubov, Ainakan, Nazgul and Jiparkul. Lyubov is 51. She and her husband work at school. All their children live separately. Two sons are in Russia, while other two sons work as drivers, and their daughter works at school. Lyubov needs a loan to buy a new fridge.

Ainakan is divorced; she raised three children. She works as a tailor, receiving orders for manufactured or ready-made garments. She then distributes products to clothing stores. This was her friend’s suggestion. Now she feels ready to try cattle-raising and therefore needs a loan to buy a calf.

Nazgul is a mother of four children. She makes a living by selling hay and milk. What she earns is not sufficient, so she wants to obtain a loan to send her daughter to work in Russia, so that her daughter can help her mother financially.

Jipargul is 50. She is divorced and has one daughter. She makes a living by selling hay. Jipargul needs a loan to prepare her daughter’s dowry.