Tata Kenedy Awa

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

Tata is a primary school teacher by profession which he was certified for in 2004. For the moment, he is a GHAPE member as well in one of their more rural branch centers. To travel there takes an hour and a half on bumpy roads on motorcycles through the beautiful North West Province of Cameroon. This is Tata’s seventh year in GHAPE and his sixth Empowerment Credit (loan). This largest and most recent loan is for 300,000 CFA ($750 USD) and he’s using it between buying produce for his market stall and investing in pigs that he will raise and sell at a later date.

There are two parts to Tata’s market selling business. Firstly, he has a farm that he rents to plant cassava to sell and secondly, he buys cocoyams and plantains from another producer to sell in his stand. The market earns up to 30,000 CFA ($75 USD) per week. He must pay for his market seller fee and for transit for the goods he buys from another town. He says he doesn’t have trouble paying back his loan, however, and is grateful to have access to this type of financial service.

Tata is no longer married and lives with his mother, who he supports along with his six year old son. He wants his son to study in the medical field and he himself wants to return to school to study law. He’s thinking that maybe he can do a correspondence course in neighboring Nigeria. The best thing about GHAPE, says Tata, is the “training in meetings about how to manage loan projects and invest personally.” GHAPE has helped Tata in business training, it has increased his standard of living, given his an enjoyable outlet for community, and helped him educate himself for his career.