Rose Laker

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Rose Laker by Life in Africa Foundation (LiA) in Uganda. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 6 - 12 months, Life in Africa Foundation (LiA) will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Rose is now proud to call her business her own! Before getting access to startup capital from Kiva, Rose was working for another woman in the rock quarry business. Her wages were very low and her family was struggling because her husband does not work and she was bringing in very little income. After receiving her loan, she bought her own plot of land and stones to quarry. Fortunately, because she had already been working in the quarry business she had the equipment needed. At first her business was doing very well and she would sell 150 buckets of rocks on a good day, which was about 120,000 UGX. She was able to pay back two months on her loan and save for her family.

Due to market fluctuating, her income has not been consistent. During the summer, the rock quarry business does well, however when school starts again it seems to go down. Rose thinks it may be due to less building happening after the summer. It is also difficult for her to market herself because she must wait for people to come to her plot of land, it is not possible for her to go to them, which she finds frustrating especially when business is not good. At times, she fears that her stones will run out and she will not have income to buy more or people will stop buying. She said she doesn’t want to go back to the life she had before the loan, so she hopes her fears never come true.

Rose is 30 years old and has four children, ages 13-4 yrs, who keep her very busy! Before starting her own business, her children were not in school. Now three of her children are in school, although the children are behind for their age due to the lapse in school for many years, but she is so happy that they are now able to attend. The profits have given her enough income to cover the rent for their house and put 2 meals on the table a day. She enjoys cooking for the family and usually makes beans, cassava, and rice. Her children’s health has been good and she is glad that if they are to get sick she can now afford to get them the medicine they need.

Her dream is to continue in the rock quarry business, send all of her children to school, and own a house of their own. If they are able to resettle in the north, she hopes to return to their land and live their in peace.