Maria Mwanisunje

Mambo from Tanzania! This is 33-year-old Maria Mwanisunje from Mbeya. She is married and has four children who are between the ages of 10 and 14. Since 1996, Maria has made a living selling used clothing. The clothing comes from America and Europe, and is washed, ironed and sold in bulk by wholesalers in Tanzania to people like Maria, who in turn sell it on the streets and in surrounding towns and villages. This type of clothing is becoming increasingly popular, especially among younger people because of its low cost and the general appeal of anything modern.

She works at her business for 9-12 hours per day, six days a week. Maria earns about $150 from her work, and is applying for this loan to buy more clothes in bulk to sell. In the future, she hopes to improve the quality and range of the products she sells. Maria thanks you for your support!

SELFINA has taken a lead role as a pioneer of micro-credit in Tanzania through Micro-Leasing. The organization is engaged in the economic empowerment of women in Tanzania through the provision of a leasing and leaseback microfinance facility. Customs and traditions in Tanzania make it difficult for women to own land and assets, thus they are termed non-creditworthy by financial institutions. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic needs and services for women with low incomes. One of the primary advantages of microleasing is that is allows clients to use the equipment as collateral for future loans with SELFINA, thus enabling them to borrow larger sums in the future.

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