Felix Gaspar Tembe

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Felix Gaspar Tembe by Hluvuku-Adsema in Mozambique. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 16 months, Hluvuku-Adsema will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

With a smile on his face Feliz friendly welcomed us today to talk about his second loan with Hluvuku, first one with Kiva!

Feliz used the money to keep improving and expanding his house, where he lives with his wife, 5 children and one grandchild. With both loans Feliz was able to expand the 2 bedrooms and 1 living room house into a 3-bedroom and 2-living room home. This loan was mainly used to finish the floor and the walls, paint the outside and buy some missing doors and windows.

Feliz works as a mechanic for Kodaco, a company that produces citric fruits such as oranges and lemons, since 1975. He has seen the once Portuguese founder loose his company to the government soon after the independence, the government privatizing once again in 2002 and now this current owner considering selling to a new group. Feliz takes care of all the tractors and cars around, working from 7:00am to 4:00pm, with a 1-hour lunch break at 12:00pm. He ears a monthly salary of MTn 5,700 (approximately US$ 228) and is very happy with his work. Feliz is already considering retiring, but still has to wait a few more years. As a private employee Feliz can only retire at the age of 60 years old and he will turn 56 years old this year. If he were a public employee he would have retired after 30 years of work.

On top of this work, Feliz has 2 machambas (small agricultural fields) where his wife Teresa works during the day. They plant beans, tomatoes and corn, among other occasional vegetables. Corn is the most lucrative product, but takes around 4 months to be ready.

Feliz is very grateful for this loan and intends to keep asking more loans in the future. He would like to keep improving his house, build a new adjacent house for his children and improving the comfort of his family. Feliz believes that an accomplish father is the one that provides as much possible for their children. Feliz knows that one day they will leave home, but he wants them to know they have a place to come back if they want.

The picture shows Feliz with Teresa and Gaspar, the second oldest child with 21 years old.