Shu Godlove Funwi

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Shu Godlove Funwi by GHAPE in Cameroon. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 18 - 24 months, GHAPE will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Godlove has dreams of buying a new motorcycle and expanding his bamboo business. Before he gets there, he deals with the daily struggle of caring for his 85-year-old father, an older brother, and two children, ages four and eight. His wife also supports the family as a farmer. They eat meat twice a week, and vegetables from their garden continue to keep their health stable.

This loan was his fourth with GHAPE, and the 250,000 CFA ($600) went towards his current business, his children, and future sideline opportunities. First, he bought bamboo and a machete (with a file to sharpen) for his main source of income: supplying customers with cut bamboo for fence building and other multipurpose uses. The loan also helped with the 40,000 CFA in annual school fees ($50 per child for primary school). The biggest investment of 100,200 CFA went for the purchase of a driver’s license. Driving holds the potential for supplemental income, but Godlove has yet for find work in this area.

Making payments on his loan hasn’t been a problem; nor is finding uses for the capital. Channeling bamboo metaphors, he says: “My loan is growing very well. But I have other ideas and want to make it higher.” As he awaits a new line of credit to arrive, he talks of his dream: replacing his current motorcycle with a 350-400,000 CFA motorbike. His older bike will be a moneymaking opportunity of nearly 50,000 CFA a month, as he will continue to hire a young male to drive it in Bamenda as a motor taxi (a typical ride is $0.25).

Godlove hopes for a future in which his children go to universities, surpassing himself and his wife, who he describes as “primary school leavers,” finishing primary Class 7, but not going to secondary school or beyond. “If clever, I hope they reach universities, and work hard for a degree,” he says as he stands next to a door with “50 Cent” painted on it, celebrating the American rags-to-riches hip-hop star. He adds that without the Kiva lenders, poverty would be growing in his community, and so he deeply appreciates how the loans help businesses like his progress.