Nikolay Vasilev

Since he was a teenager, Nikolay has been supporting himself and his two children through light construction work. He maintained good relations with many of the construction companies and general contractors in Sliven and has often been able to get hired on for day work. We got to know Nikolay about six months ago when he was part of a team working on a project at our offices. We were impressed with his workmanship and dedication and are now helping him to strike out on his own.

In order to do this, Nikolay needed a set of fairly basic tools, which he was unable to afford. Two weeks ago, he came across an opportunity that would provide him the ability to kick-start his business: the renovation of a room for a Bingo hall. To help him take advantage of this break, we advanced Nikolay the cash for some of his tools so that he could get started. He is now at work making the Bingo hall happen. The proceeds of this loan will pay for his tools and provide a small amount of working capital. When I visited Nikolay yesterday at the worksite, he was proud to show off what he had done. He is looking forward to growing quickly and eventually having employees himself. But what he is most excited about is the independence these tools give him… rather than depending on someone to hire him to work on their job site, he is now empowered to look for jobs to take on himself.