I apologize for the delay, everyone! I got sidetracked with a video project for a week but I’m finally ready to post the identities of the lucky entrepreneurs. It looks like all of the entrepreneurs were successful in raising money - all five of the loans have been disbursed! This means the entrepreneurs have received the money and they can begin paying it back.
Slavojka
Slavojka comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is 47, retired and lives with her son who is studying. Her monthly income from pensions is not large and it is not easy for her to pay all costs, especially now that her son is at university.
Slavojka decided to request a loan of 1,200 KM from WWI (Žene za Žene International). She will use this loan to buy more clothes for resale. She hopes to earn additional money to make her life and her son`s life easier.
Gladys
Gladys is a member of the Communal Bank Group “Madres del Futuro” (Mothers of the Future). She is a 41 year old single mother of two children (ages 27 and 26) who work and are independent.
Gladys helped her mother as a cook and after two years studied tailoring, eventually opening a shop in her home. She makes school uniforms. Using her savings she purchased a secondhand minibus, which her son drives. She also sells beauty products by catalog.
Since joining FINCA, Gladys has learned how to organize her business. She is punctual and responsible with her loans. Gladys needs a loan of 3400 soles to fix her car so that it will pass inspection. She will also buy more beauty products. She dreams of growing her business and purchasing another gas-powered minibus.
Victor Illasco
This is Victor and he is at an initial stage of business. This is his first activity in the market, as a beginner entrepreneur. His main activity is to manage a business but not work physically because he has problems with his health so he launched his own business not long ago.
He has requested a loan to purchase goods for a grocery, marketing food wholesale and retail, in the immediate vicinity of the central Ungheni town. Victor is working on licensing in food alimentation.
Currently, he has rented a shop for selling food, non-stop 24/7 selling foodstuffs (meat, spirits, cigarettes, juices) while preparing dinners for customers with a rich assortment, being equipped with a mini kitchen, a hall and booths for customers, and another cold room which is necessary for normal activity in the case our customers are required to stay in a row.
Microinvest is sure that Victor will succeed in his business and KIVA lenders wish him GOOD LUCK.
Mr. Abdoul Karim Diallo is 57 years old, and the father of six. He lives with his wife and children in the Hèrèmakono Nord district of Bougouni City (third administrative region of the Republic of Mali). After Koran school in the village, he decided to get situated in Bougouni City to earn an income. For years, he tried different kinds of work unsuccessfully. In the end, he opted for an eatery business selling coffee, Lipton, and fried meat and liver at the Bougouni bus station. He learned this business from one of his friends. After three years of experience, he has a good command of it and is highly appreciated and in demand by young people, workers at the station, and drivers (travelers, chauffeurs, apprentices, couriers, etc.)
In his search for supplemental financial resources, he decided to join the micro-finance institution Soro Yiriwaso and is now on his first individual loan. Each day, he intends to buy bread, sugar, containers of coffee and milk, mayonnaise, liver, meat, Lipton, etc. Supplies are gotten in Bougouni from wholesalers, and sales are made at the bus station to customers composed of several socio-professional groups.
With this loan, Mr. Diallo plans to realize a monthly profit of 22,500 francs CFA that will enable him to improve not only his enterprise but particularly the care and support of his family. His ambition is to open a general store in Bougouni.
Saleh
Saleh is twenty-eight years old and lives in Saida, in southern Lebanon, with his wife and their two children. Saleh has been working in furniture repair and upholstery since 2002. He requested a loan from Al Majmoua, a Kiva field partner, in order to purchase thread for his work and to repair one of his sewing machines. This is the first time that Saleh has requested a loan.
Saleh is exceptional in his work because he does it well. His clients can be anybody from his region. When he first started his business, things went well. Saleh decided to open this business because he had prior experience. In the future, he plans to improve his business by purchasing a new and bigger sewing machine.
I’ll be posting the every update I get from each of the entrepreneurs. I hope you guys get inspired to donate!
- Chuck