Oloniu Pusa

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Oloniu Pusa by South Pacific Business Development in Samoa. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 - 16 months, South Pacific Business Development will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Oloniu is doing well! Aside from her mat-weaving business, she also runs a small store, a plantation, and a flower garden. She ended up using her loan mostly for restocking her store and on gas for her car (which she uses to transport goods to her store). She is now making 500 tala ($200 US) a week from her store, up from the 150-200 tala ($60-80 US) that she made before. Nonetheless, her fine mats remain her most profitable product. Although they take a VERY long time to weave, they can be sold for 1500-2000 ($600-800) per mat!

She uses her earnings to support her family, and especially for school kids for her 4 kids, aged 3, 6, 8, and 12. A big financial obligation is the cost of fa’alavelave, a traditional Samoan ceremony that accompanies big events like weddings and funerals, and her business has helped her to meet this obligation. Not content with running 4 businesses, Oloniu wants to grow her store and plantation, and even open a restaurant! She plans to do this by applying for larger loans in the future.