Fund 43 microloans through Kiva.org

Since I was still logged on and had more credit, I made another loan, this one to Augustina Mensa in Offinsu, Ghana.

Augustina Mensa is twenty-seven years old. She is married and has given birth to four children, all of whom are girls. She says all her daughters are now in basic school. Augustina’s husband is a trader. He trades in second-hand gadgets such as television sets, radios, fridges, etc. She lives with her children and husband in her in-laws’ house in Offinso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Augustina works very hard to support her husband in providing for the family. She is a food vendor. She cooks rice with stew. Augustina sells on a table top in the compound of the local community school. She buys bags of rice from Kumasi. She has been in business for five years. She wants to buy bags of rice on a large scale so that she can cut down on costs, such as frequent trips to procure goods. It is her dream to help her husband so that they can put up their own structure.

^{* loan still open}

There have been a few journal entries from past entrepreneurs I lent to in Kenya, mostly good news, Winfred Mwaniki in Kenya had a baby girl and has moved the location of her computer business, and Jonah Ndirangu has been doing well with the promotion of his music (but sadly lost some of his family members in the post election violence).

I redeemed one of the Kiva certificates I got for Christmas and lent it to Rogelia Villanueva in Isabela, Philippines (my first loan there), and as part of the 43Things team. It has a quick turn around time too, so I should be able to re-lend it to someone else in a few months.

Rogelia is engaged in planting and selling vegetables, which are mostly eggplants harvested from their own back yard. To improve her business, Rogelia would like to ask for financial support amounting to PHP10,000. She will use the loan to buy different kinds of vegetables in the public market which she will sell in their village. She only goes to the market twice or thrice a week, since they have a limited access to transportation. Part of the loan will also be used to buy a variety of vegetable seeds which she will plant in their back yard. Through her business, she can help her husband in meeting the needs of their family and somehow uplift their lives.

She is aware that she is getting old and while she has the strength, she will do her best for their family. Her husband Valeriano is a farmer and they both work as laborers when they are not busy with their own businesses for additional income. They have poor living conditions and keep struggling to live a better way. Their five children are: Rocky – 25 years old, a vocational course graduate; Conrado – 22 years old, grade four; Lorvy – 19 years old, high school graduate; Marlito – 17 years old, who never had the chance to study and Rubelyn – 9 years old, currently in grade two.

They live in a mountainous village of Cabisera in Isabela province. Despite poverty, they manage to have a good relationship in the family and are all hoping to have a progressive life.

^{* She still needs additional funding at the time I’m posting this.}

2 new loans (towards the 43T kiva lending team as well):

Kadiatou Diamoutene Group
SIKASSO, Mali

Jiguiseme is a group of 5 women (four married and one widow) with an average age of 36 and 3 children, living in big traditional extended families in Hamdallaye, one of the neighborhoods of the town of Sikasso (third administrative region of Mali). They met because of bonds of friendship and family. Their principle businesses are, among other things, buying and re-selling bananas, peanut oil, smoked fish, and making manioc into “attièkè” (a traditional Malian dish).

This group is on their 5th solidarity loan (group loan) with the loan program of the microfinance institution Soro Yiriwaso, after having reimbursed all the preceding loans. With this loan, they expect to buy 30 sacks of manioc, 3 tons of bananas, 5 jerry-cans of peanut oil, and 3 cases of smoked fish. Their sources for purchasing their goods are in the town of Sikasso, from wholesalers (for the jerry-cans of oil and the smoked fish,) and the surrounding villages (for the manioc and bananas) where they buy from producers.

The goods are sold at the market where each of them has a stand, with a clientele generally composed of women and especially of big-city merchants who come to the markets to purchase food for re-sale. With this loan they each expect to make an average profit of 42,000 F CFA per month.

Alicia
HUANCAYO, Peru

Alicia is married, and she lives with her husband and three children. She spends every day raising animals, and during the planting season she also grows local crops. Alicia has been doing this work for four years, and she’s very satisfied because it allows her to strengthen her family’s economic situation during hard times when money is scarce.

Alicia sells the animals that she raises, primarily sheep, for their meat. She brings them to the most remote villages in the region. In this way she pays for her children’s education. This is the third time that Alicia has asked for a loan with MFP and from the beginning she’s never stopped working toward repayments. This money will be invested in preparing her fields with fertilizer in time for potato planting.

• Both are still raising funds as I’m posting this.

Yesterday I received an unexpected payment for some work I did a long time ago, and I didn’t want to spend it all on myself. Loan #49 (and the third since joining the 43Things team) goes to Maysa in Beirut, Lebanon, a new country for me to loan in.

Maysa is 27 years old and owns a small mobile phone shop in Beirut. She has requested a loan of $800 from Al Majmoua to purchase a new supply of modern cellular phones and accessories. Maysa is a shrewd businesswoman and is confident that this loan will allow her to effectively diversify her product offerings, and by so doing, attract a broader range of clients. Maysa is grateful for the opportunity provided to her by Kiva and Al Majmoua.

Good luck to you Maysa!

If you haven’t joined the Kiva Lending Team: 43things here’s your chance to nail another great goal in the next 60 seconds.

After joining the team, I used some saved up kiva credit (thanks to that handy new early pay back system) to fund 2 new loans, bringing my total to 48.

Romualda Mejia

Romualda Mejia in La Paz, Bolivia, has a workshop where she makes capes and shawls. She sells them in her stall, located in the San Pedro zone. Romualda has four daughters, all of whom work in her studio and provide great help. In fact, they are responsible for the good economic situation of their mother. Romualda lives in the area of Llojeta in the city of La Paz. The loan will be set aside to purchase wool and yarn. It is the tenth time she has requested a loan from Impro; her record shows that she is an excellent client.

Martha Abakah

Martha Abakah in Cape Coast, Ghana, is married and has 4 children. She has never received any schooling. Martha has been selling maize, groundnuts, beans and other food items in Cape Coast since 2008. Martha uses her income to help her husband pay for their children’s education. Martha will use the loan to increase her stock for sale. With the new profits from her expanded business, Martha plans to help her husband acquire a piece of land for a family house.

Kiva loans: they flow in, they flow out. This one goes to Luci Santamaria Amasifuen in Pucallpa, Peru so she can corral her chickens and educate her children. And I so love chickens and children. Best of luck, Luci!

Luci, 41, is the mother of 3 school-aged children who are the inspiration behind her dreams for getting ahead. She lives with her husband, Carlos, who works independently. Luci’s business is selling chickens and other animals. She gets up very early each day to go to the local port so that she can buy different animals from the breeders there. She takes them to resell to her customers who are, for the most part, cooks in the market.

She’s been operating the business for 4 years now. She works for her daily expenses and to educate her children who are her reason for being. She wants to build a corral for the animals that she buys so that she can more easily transfer them to market. That’s the reason for her loan application.

Loan #45 goes to Mohchehra Usmonova in Istaravshan, Tajikistan. She wants to increase her white salt stock and expand her business to help educate her children.

Mohchehra is 43 years old, is married and the loving mother of 4 children of school age. She is doing her best to ensure that her children have the best future and a good education. Mohchehra’s husband is currently unemployed, thus Mohchehra’s business is the main source of income for her family.

Together with her elder son, who is pictured in the photo, she started her business of selling white salt 5 years ago. She rents a stall in an open air market of Istaravshan, and purchases the white salt wholesale from her suppliers. As time went by, she expanded her business and it now generates a stable income for the family. However, Mohchehra’s children are growing up and the expenses are growing.

Mohchehra dreams of her children being well-educated, but in order to do that Mohchehra is planning to expand her business. With this purpose in mind, she is requesting US$900 to increase stock. Your support will really help this dedicated mother to achieve her dreams.

Go Mohchehra!

(I was able to fund this one with a loan that stalled several months ago & was just unexpectedly paid off in full.)

This week is my first Kiva-versary, so I’m making a few new loans to celebrate. My forty-fourth loan went to Inmacula Fede from the San Luis, community of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Inmacula lives in the San Luis community of Santo Domingo where she runs a small business. She produces a great variety of delicious pastelitos (meat or chicken turnovers) that she sells in the streets, the schools and other places in her neighborhood. Inmacula plans on using her loan to buy more raw materials to keep producing her goods and increase her income. Inmacula is a hard-working woman, and she says she’ll try harder to make her business successful and to improve her family’s living conditions.

I just made loan number 43!

It went to Marhamat Toshmatova in Rudaki, Tajikistan to assist with her tailoring business.

Marhamat Toshmatova lives in the Rudaki region. She sews women’s clothing and Tajik national dresses. She has a big family, but two of her sons are disabled. She has to work a lot to be able to care after her children. Marhamat is 52 years old. In spite her children being sick they all help one another.

The season for her business is here and this is why she wants to increase commodity turnaround by buying new fabrics. This will allow her to increase family income. The local residents will also be able to have a wider selection options and buy modern clothing. She wants to receive a loan for US$725 and pay it off within 10 months.

• Marhamat’s loan is still in need of topping up, if anyone’s so inclined.

So that makes 43. (My lender page.) Wow! I can’t believe I actually managed to complete this goal within a year of joining Kiva! I feel pretty proud to be checking this one off (as completely worth it), and I fully intend to keep making loans when I can. Cheers to everyone with this goal and everyone we’ve loaned to!

Two more in and two more out (one long term, one short term).
One to go!

41: Ernestina Gonzalez Serrano in Chontales, Nicaragua.

Ernestina Gonzalez is a teacher in the urban zone of Acoyapa. She is 53 years old, and is married with two children who are professionals. She has worked in education for 27 years. She has used her previous loans to improve her house, and she will now make her dream of having a dignified dwelling a reality and get some rest once she retires.

With this loan, she will put the final touches on her house, such as changing the floor to tile which will improve her status in the society. The teacher Ernestina has stood out in her municipality as a person who is responsible, honest, and dependable, and for these reasons she is much loved by her colleagues.

• loan still needs additional funding.
  Cheers to Des for joining in on this one!

42: Tatyana Kurennaya in Novomoskovsk, Ukraine.

Tatyana is an entrepreneur who lives in Novomoskovsk, Ukraine, where she sells jeans at a kiosk at the central market. She is married and has one son. Tatyana started her business 13 years ago, and has acquired lots of experience selling merchandise in different price ranges. Through her determination and hard work, Tatyana has built a loyal customer base and makes a stable profit of around $600 per month.

Tatyana has asked for a loan of $525 to help increase her working capital and buy additional merchandise to sell during the summer season. The new selections will help her satisfy her customers’ needs, boost her sales and provide a better living for her family.

One more loan and I can check this off my list!