Sad stories

[Guest]

.

[Mona]

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=78085&_tpos=1&_tpg=1


The Belen (Bethlehem) Village Bank is beginning its seventh loan cycle with 21 group members. The women are involved in a variety of activities: they sell sweets, clothing, meat, fruit, prepared meals, cosmetics, and work as artisans. They sell their wares from home, in the marketplace, and on foot, making door-to-door deliveries. Julia, Nélida, Carmen, Yusly and Maritza are five of the 21 group members. Julia is a 53-year-old widow with two children. She has a stand in the newly-opened Americas Market, where she sells alfalfa and vegetables. She will use her loan to offer a wider variety of products. Nélida is 24 years old and lives with her partner and their daughter. Nélida and her husband sell cleaning products, which they sell in the stores of the Ayacuchan jungle towns. She buys her wares in Lima. Carmen is 35 years old and lives with her common-law husband and their five children. She currently sells tripe from a mobile cart. She plans to use her loan to buy tables and chairs for the small restaurant she plans to open.

Yusly is 21 years old and lives with her common-law husband and their 3-year-old son. She sells haberdashery like necklaces and earrings, which she buys wholesale in the markets of Ayacucho City. She is using this loan to start anew: Yusly and her husband lost a lot of money when his household appliance store was robbed three months ago. Yusly thought about leaving FINCA, since she didn’t think she would have the money to keep making loan payments. Instead, she’s decided to stay in the group, but to start over with a small loan of 300 soles. Maritza is single and 21 years old. She and her sister run a ceviche restaurant, which they just recently opened. She used to run a small stand, but now the restaurant has moved into a more central location. She plans to use her loan to buy television spots to promote her restaurant. The women are requesting different loan amounts (300, 450 or 600 soles) and the group as a whole is requesting a total of 12,000 soles. They will use their loans to buy vegetables, pasta, sugar, fruits, cookies, and animals.

4 months loan from FINCA Peru (5*)
3900 $ left to fund

[Jan & John]

Welcome back Mona...

we've missed you...

I saved a few $$ while you were not around tempting me 

jan

[Mona]

Thank you, Jan. I'll do my very best to wheedle the saved $$ out of you. 


Maybe I had too much red wine yesterday, but all I can find for the moment is another sad story. But on the other hand all of these stories are not only sad but also stories of great strength and the will to start once more no matter how hard life has been to you:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=78429&_tpos=1&_tpg=1


Tabitha is 46 years old, married and a mother of six children. With inadequate parental support during her own childhood, she could not make it through secondary education. She was also emotionally disturbed when her father died. Finally, Tabitha was seriously ill and she struggled to recover from it. She them decided to do work in pig farming, which is less strenuous, and operate a medicine store at the same time. She joined GHAPE at this juncture in her life and, after obtaining training in business management, she obtained his first loan in 1999. Since that time, she has taken and repaid several loans, built a pig farm, and been able to raise money to provide basic needs for her family. Given a loan, she plans to continue rearing piglets and buy feeds for them. With the profit she will be able to maintain her house and expand the medicine store.

She plans to pay the loan in 24 months and the first installment of repayment shall be made on the fourth month from the date of disbursement.

Loan from GHAPE, Cameroon (2*)
550 $ left to fund

[Mona]

Also a single parent loan:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=78498&_tpos=1&_tpg=1


Born in 1960, Mama Bi (Theresia) was married but her husband died some ten years ago. Before his death they had five children. Unable to care for the family single-handedly and needing capital to expand her business (sale of cooked food), she joined GHAPE in 2003. She’s been having a lot of problems with her late husband’s brothers, and this made her sad all the time but she is appreciative of the fact that she is alive. Her desire is to give her children love and education.
Mama Bi states that she feels better each time she provides something small for her children. Her inability to get investment capital which could constantly generate income for her to meet her children’s needs is what motivated her to obtain a loan from GHAPE. With her previous loan of US$ 600, she succeeded in running a restaurant that provided her community with good food.

Given a loan, she plans to buy a two-wheeled motorcycle, koki beans, and palm oil. She knows this business will succeed because she is located at a good business site and she has a good rider for the motorcycle. She plans to use the profits generated to pay for her children's schooling and to cater for the basic needs of her family.

She plans to repay her loan in 24 months. The first installment of the repayment shall be due on the fourth month after the loan disbursement.

Loan from GHAPE, Cameroon (2*); 850 $ left to fund

[Mona]

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=78608&_tpos=2&_tpg=1


Marceline is a very hard-working woman with five children. Since childhood, she has faced many obstacles in life because her parents were poor and could not send her to school after class six of primary school. Instead she had to go to work on the family farm and help to pay for the education of her younger sibling. She cannot read and write. Despite these limitations, she has set out to overcome poverty and provide her children with the education she did not have. She also hopes someday to go back to school herself.
With these goals in mind, Marceline joined GHAPE one year ago. So determined was she with her previous loan, which she used to buy land, that she has been able to build a house for herself and her children.
Given a loan, she plans to buy chicks, fowl feed, feeders, medication for fowls and seedlings for her farm. She is contributing 100,000frs CFA from her personal savings to the success of this her project. She plans to repay her loan in 12 months from the date of disbursement.

11 months loan from GHAPE, Cameroon (2*)
200 $ left to fund

[Jan & John]

I was first attracted to these ladies because of the bright colours...

Mariam Tangara Group



Then I read about their lives and found out that...
"On average these women are 50 years old, have five children each and live in traditional extended families with their husbands and other relatives. They buy and sell condiments, and prepare and sell meals."

I also noticed that the MFI is still in pilot stage so I went there to look around and found among other facts...
their Life Expectancy: 49.51 years

I am so very thankful for the quality of my life.
jan

[Jan & John]

These 3 men from Benin are all looking for help for the same reason...
...it took me a while to see and understand the water mark on the wall.

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=79041
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=79045
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=79090


"The inhabitants of this village work as farmers when the Ouémé River is low. Their land is rich and gives them a good harvest. Their principal crops are maize (corn), hot peppers, vegetables, okra, tomatoes, and manioc. The problem for these people who dwell along the river is that when the river is in flood, they have no more work and spend all the money they earned during the last farming season on foodstuffs. When the waters recede, they have no money left to pay laborers who are indispensible to them in getting their land sown."

"The custom of borrowing against the new harvest does not make them more secure and indeed leaves them worse off. They sell their future harvest at a laughable price to weathier persons so that they have the cash needed to do their farming.  Weary of this practice, Samuel Meko has requested a loan of 170,000 F CFA which will allow him to farm about 2 hectares, growing the aforementioned crops."

[Mona]

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=78251&_tpos=2&_tpg=1


Carmen Beatriz is an enterprising young woman who has found the opportunity to do business without neglecting the care of her home and her small son. She sells women's sweaters and traditional clothing. She buys the clothing wholesale in the capital and then sells them to neighbors, friends and fellow church-goers near her home in the Cruz Blanca village near the city of San Juan Sacatepeques. She sells the clothing on credit. Her husband helps her whenever he can. He works as an accountant in a company in Guatemala City and travels their daily. Carmen Beatriz has a 2 year old son and is very happy because she trusts in God that she will be able to provide her son a good education so he can progress in life. She needs this loan to invest in the purchase of new clothing. In November 2008, she and her husband were victims of the violence that is always present in Guatemala--leaving they bank, they were assaulted and robbed and lost a large amount of money. Nonetheless, she is confident that she will be able to keep growing her business with God's help and her husband's support.

11 months loan frmo FAPE, Guatemala (3*)
975 $ left to fund

[Mona]

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=79072&_tpos=1&_tpg=1


Cornelia Malazzab is married to Pedro, a simple farmer. They had five children, but one of them died in an accident. Cornelia says this inspired her to work even harder to provide for her remaining 4 children: Judy Mae -- 9 months old, Jaypee -- 6 years old and in elementary, Joan -- 16 years old and in high school, and the eldest daughter Kate Lyn-- 18 years old and a high school graduate. Cornelia is a resident of Barangay of Tumauini, Isabela where the clean and green project is one of the major projects of the Barangay Council. Every resident is encouraged to have their own backyard garden planting different kinds of vegetables for food sustainability. Cornelia describes their community as small but probably the cleanest Barangay in their municipality. Cornelia sells rice and her well-known, homemade rice cakes in her community. She is requesting a loan to buy rice, coconut, and brown sugar for her rice business and to buy a piglet for her backyard pig raising business. “I dream that all my children will finish college so they will have a better opportunity for a good future," she says. Expanding her business will help this dream come true.

5 months loan from ASKI, Philippines (4*)
75 of 75$ left to fund

[Elizabeth]

This story could go into multiple threads. I can't even begin to name all the emotions it stirred in me.
Valentino Galang

Valentino Galang is a widower. His wife died earlier this year; she was killed by a gun shot in the head. His wife was formerly an active adviser in SAFARI (the name of their group in the Microfinance Institution where they borrow money). She was also an active leader in their community in Rizal Quirino, Isabela. He has been left taking care of their two children, Jhon Mark (13 years old) and Donabel (11 years old). Both of them already study at the high school level. Their house is located among their rice fields. Their neighbors live far from their house.

Valentino makes a living farming. He is requesting a loan of PHP 18,000.00, which he will use for farm maintenance. He hopes that he can improve his livelihood so he can provide a better life for his children and afford to send them to school.

He also plans to improve their house and make it safer to protect his children from what happened to his wife.

Valentino is thankful for this opportunity because through the Microfinance Institute he can acquire a loan so he does not have to borrow from traders. The traders charge higher interest rates.

According to Valentino, one should be patient in achieving one's goals in life and God will do the rest.