Dear Lenders,
Mambo (Greetings!) from Tanzania and SELFINA! As you know, your generosity helped a woman in Tanzania obtain a loan this year, providing and opportunity and empowering her to achieve a potential that was unthinkable just a few years ago.
As you may not know, it is very costly to go out to journal about every single entrepreneur at their business as Tanzania is a large country, borrowers are scattered all around, road infrastructure is poor, and petrol prices are very high. In addition, it is also important to note that SELFINA goes through great means of verifying that the entrepreneur has a legitimate business prior to accepting them as a client by (1) requiring the women to have collateral and guarantors (2) receiving letters from the local district council recognizing the legitimacy of the business and (3) conducting surprise visits to verify the nature of their business.
Thus, SELFINA has recently implemented a more sustainable way in which to update the lenders on their individual entrepreneur by interviewing/journaling them when the entrepreneur comes into the office to pay their final monthly loan payment.
However, your loan was paid back prior to the implementation of this process, thus, in order to further reassure you, the lender, that your money is going to the right place, I went into the field to meet some of these borrowers and here are their stories…..
BEATRICE LUOGA’S STORY:
Beatrice obtained a loan of $200 in April 2008 in order to help her run her stationary store and used the loan to purchase additional inventory in bulk such as paper, pencils, books, etc.
I had the great honor of visiting Beatrice at her stationary store in the Tegeta area of Dar es Salaam my first day out journalling. I had heard that it was often difficult to get to these clients, and I hadn’t realized how difficult it was. Dodging cars, buses, bicycles, and people for 30 minutes on the main roads, then going down dirt roads for another 20 minutes, many of which had eroded and many of which had lakes formed in the middle of them from the heavy rains the day before making it very difficult to pass through. And this was just to see one client!
But the journey was definitely worth it. We were greeted with the site of goats running down the street and the laughter of school children as we approached Beatrice’s stationary store on this sunny day. Beatrice’s stationary store is located directly across from the Wazu (Idea) Primary School and in close proximity of the Wazu Secondary School, the Twiga (Giraffe) Secondary School, and the Dynamic Secondary School. As you probably figured, her main customers are the students of those schools who purchase a myriad of items from her store, from pens to candy to photocopies. According to Beatrice, the big business for her stationary store is making photocopies.
Beatrice works at her business 6 days a week, 12 hours a day and is assisted by her sister-in-law who greeted us with a warm smile and a kind greeting. Since she has taken out the loan, Beatrice’s business is doing well and her monthly profits have increased from about $55 to approximately $95. While I was there I could tell her business was doing well as during the course of our 15-minute meeting, girls were running up to have items photocopied and mothers were coming to purchase materials for their children.
With these extra profits she has earned she has used them to successfully repay her loan as well as pay for her child’s school fees, pay electricity and water bills, pay for more and better food for her family (e.g. meat and fruit), and pay the rent for the store.
On a more personal note, her family is doing very well. I was able to meet her husband and their youngest child, Junior (1 year and 10 months old), who is one of the cutest and happiest little boys I have ever seen! The family confided that they dream to one day be able to send both of their children to university. They have actually already opened a bank account for that purpose and have been making contributions, which I found to be very impressive especially considering the young age of their children.
In the future, the family intends to expand the stationary business by purchasing more photocopy machines, a laminating machine, a binding machine, and more counters for additional inventory. I truly believe that this family can make their future dreams professionally and personally come true. This family is VERY entrepreneurial!
In addition to Beatrice’s stationary business, the family also runs a pharmacy and a barbershop in the same complex of cement stores (there were about 6 shops in total in that complex), which her husband proudly showed us.
NEEMA KWEKA’S STORY:
Neema obtained a loan of $700 in January 2008 to help her kuku business and used the loan to purchase 200 chicks and chicken feed.
Raising kuku is a popular micro-business in Tanzania, especially amongst SELFINA clients. Kuku means chickens in Swahili, and raising them for sale is popular for a number of reasons. One of the many reasons is that they require little start-up capital. You can start with one or two, and either add to them as you go, or wait for them to multiply naturally! Another reason is that they require little space, so sometimes you can just let them run around in your garden or compound.
I had the pleasure to meet with Neema on a late afternoon upon which she provided me with more insight into raising kuku, which I learned is a pretty intensive business if you are dealing with as many chickens (400) as Neema. She feeds the chickens twice a day, however she has to constantly monitor the water levels which is a full time job given that she has 400 chickens, the water bowls hold only 5 liters, and the temperatures where she lives is around 35ºC. In addition, she informed me that it takes approximately 5 weeks for a chick to grow to a full-grown chicken ready for sale/consumption. During those 5 weeks, she needs to clean the coop 3 to 5 times. If the chickens are experiencing diarrhea, which apparently is not uncommon, she needs to clean the coop every 3 to 5 days. I was not surprised to learn that cleaning a coop takes almost all day, transferring all of the chickens out, hosing down the coop, and transferring all of the chickens back in.
Neema works at her business for 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. Lately her husband has assisted her with her business as she has been instructed by a doctor to be on bed rest since she almost miscarried her unborn baby recently. Other than that, she is proud to report her family is in good health and her family is doing well. As you may remember she is married and has one doe-eyed daughter who is studying standard 1 in primary school. She hopes that with the continued success of her business she will be able to send her children to school.
According to Neema, her business is doing well and her monthly profits have increased from about $350 to approximately $450. She has used these extra profits to successfully repay her loan as well as help pay for the expansion of her chicken coop, pay for the start-up capital of a new business venture (raising and selling pigs), pay electricity and water bills, and pay for more and better food for her family.
She wanted me to tell you, the lender, that she is very grateful for your generosity and making it possible for women like her to achieve their goals.
SELFINA aims to continue to assist borrowers such as Beatrice, Neema, and other women like them, and empower them towards financial security and increased confidence through microloans. Thank you very much for supporting these women! To continue to support women like Beatrice and Neema and lend to SELFINA borrowers, please click here:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=90&status=All&sortBy=New+to+Old&_tpg=fb
Asante sana (thank you so much) for your support and understanding!
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