Afia Amankwah

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Afia Amankwah by Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) in Ghana. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 7 months of this loan, Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Afia’s life is not easy. From the bits and pieces that she tells me, I gather that it has never been easy. Afia is married, and has six children. Her husband is quite old, and cannot work. Therefore, all the responsibility for the home and family falls on Afia’s shoulders. She has been the only breadwinner for the past fourteen years. Three of Afia’s children are now living at home. She cares for them, and for three grandchildren. They all live in a home that Afia inherited from her father, but it has not been kept up well and has been in need of many repairs. Since Afia started borrowing from Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT), she has been able to have many of the repairs done, and for that she is grateful.

Afia’s fish vending business is a little slow now. Afia says the market is slow, and this is affecting sales. Afia has a table in the local market from which she sells smoked and salted fish, which you can see in the short video below. Because the market is slow, Afia only borrowed 400 cedis, less than half of what she was eligible for. With this amount, she purchased more fish, which comes from the northern lakes of Ghana. With her profits, Afia paid for the children’s school fees, books and uniforms, and all the household expenses. She also had some household repairs done.

SAT has helped her in so many ways, Afia tells me. Since borrowing from SAT, she can take care of her children and grandchildren. They are all eating better, and Afia is proud that she can pay for their school fees. Her grandson was accepted into SAT’s young apprenticeship program, and he is now learning the shoe making business. Her home is in better shape than it has been in a long time. Because of SAT and her Kiva lenders, Afia now believes that life will get better. She dreams of building her own home that she can leave to her children when she dies. On behalf of Afia and her family, I thank you for helping Afia to weather the storms of poverty and for giving her hope for the future.

About Sinapi Aba Trust:

Sinapi Aba Trust is an autonomous NGO established in 1994 to support the poorest of the economically active poor to enhance their lives through microfinance and basic business training. SAT has 40 branches spread throughout ten regions of Ghana, serving over 76,000 clients. It is SAT’s mission to serve as a mustard seed through which opportunities for enterprise development and income generation are given to the economically disadvantaged in society. To learn more about Sinapi Aba Trust, click here.

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