Mohammad Qadomi in Palestine
Mohammad is 27 years old, married, and has two children aged 3 years and 3 months. He is living in the same house as his father, mother and four of his brothers.
Mohammad’s business is the only source of income for the family since his mother is suffering problems with her heart while the cost for such things is very expensive. He started his business four years ago and his mother’s sickness was the main drive for him to work harder, especially since he lives in Qalqilia, which is surrounded by the wall (Israel established this wall for security reasons and a huge amount land was confiscated for it. Qalqilia was much affected since it is a border town and very famous for its agriculture).
This is Mohammad’s first loan with FATEN. He has asked for $1,500 to buy clothes for the summer season. Mohammad’s shop sells clothes for children, not expensive clothes, to suit the economic status of the poor people.
Central Asian men (particularly with cows) tend to be the slowest to fund — this one expires quite soon, despite its nice writup.
Aslan Juraev, 24, lives in the Qurgan-Tube district. He is married and has two young children. By training Aslan is an economist. For over 8 years he has been working in sales. He sells children’s toys and school supplies. He is requesting a loan to buy groceries to expand his inventory into foods. He wants to use the profit earned to pay for his son’s circumcision. ONLY FOUR DAYS LEFT UNTIL THIS LOAN EXPIRES!
But then you see a wonderful writup like this and understand why the ubiquitous man-with-cow loans tend to go slowly (this MFI has a Kiva intern working for them currently, greatly expanding their ability to make nifty writeups):
Luz Cerito Group in the Dominican Republic
To call Carmen Ramires anything less than an artist would be a misnomer as she is a talented craftsman of jewelry. The bracelets, necklaces and earring sets that she makes are both unique and beautiful. While she has occasionally sold her products in the past, this is the first time that she is trying to truly scale up her efforts. She is moving her sporadically lucrative hobby to a developed business venture.
Carmen Ramires (far left) is a bright and engaging 50-year-old woman. She is both passionate and a true leader as evidenced by the fact that she is one of the coordinators of group Luz Cerito. Resting at the base of the tropical hills of the Los Alcarrizos barrio (community), La Pared, Carmen lives with her husband and two grown sons.
One of the main barriers that prevented Carmen from previously scaling up her work was lack of capital. She simply did not have the means to purchase the supplies she needed to make her jewelry. With this loan, she will be able to purchase these materials from a supplier in Santo Domingo, the capital, which is about an hour away from her home. Carmen plans to sell her jewelry from her house and her sister’s salon as she figures women who have just had their hair done will be feeling beautiful and will be more willing to purchase jewelry to complement their new style.
Carmen is excited about the opportunities that this loan will provide. She thinks it is wonderful that her hobby is becoming her profession and looks forward to a life that is more stable, tranquil, and peaceful. On behalf of Carmen Ramirez, the bank Luz Cerito, and the microfinance institute Esperanza International, thank you for providing opportunities to those who need them most.
And then you have loans like this where you say, “oh, that’s a nice short loan, and what a great smile, but the description is a bit generic”. And then you do the math and realize that she’s 20 or 21. And has a school-aged child:
Mildred Neksea in Kenya
Mildred Nekesa was born in 1988 and married while still quite young to a man who works as a mechanic in Likoni, Mombasa. They are blessed with one school-age child. Nekesa went into business last year as supplier of industrial chemicals used in making detergents such as soap. She has applied for a loan for $600 to improver her business.
