Ashurov Ravshan

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Ashurov Ravshan by MLF MicroInvest-Tajikistan in Tajikistan. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 12 months, MLF MicroInvest-Tajikistan will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Ravshan, like many people in Tajikistan, has supplements his day job by fattening livestock. He drives a truck during the day, hauling various goods around the region of Spitamen in northern Tajikistan and then uses the rest of his time to take care of his sheep, cattle, and goats that he keeps at his home. He now has 9 sheep and 10 goats that he feeds during the summer, fall, and winter, and then sells in the early spring when the prices are highest. With his Kiva loan he was able to buy two milk cows from which Ravshan is able to make dairy products such as kefir (a yogurt-like product) and sour cream. He keeps some of these products for himself and his family and sells the rest to his neighbors, making a small profit. Ravshan told me that he buys the sheep for about $150 apiece and usually makes a profit of around $60 per sheep. He hopes to increase his stock of sheep to around 30 over the next year or two because they provide a substantial supplement to the income he receives from driving his truck.

Thank you for supporting an entrepreneur in Tajikistan.

I'm excited to be writing you as the Kiva Fellow in northern Tajikistan. For the last few months, I have been working with Kiva's Field Partner, MLF MicroInvest visiting many Kiva entrepreneurs.

As you may know, all entrepreneur profiles on Kiva's website are posted by local Field Partners (microfinance institutions) like MicroInvest, which are organizations which lend to those without easy access to credit for purposes of sustaining or growing their businesses. In my time here I have had the opportunity to get to know MicroInvest's staff and its clients. Its ultimate mission is to enable its borrowers to achieve self-sufficiency through the development of their businesses.

But from what I have seen in my time here, MicroInvest's work isn't just about issuing loans. They also create a long-lasting, collaborative relationship with each client to address their financial needs and improve the household's standard of living.

One such relationship is with Oishahon who sells vegetables and herbs in the Isfara market. I met with her recently and she talked at length about her business. For the season she is stocking garlic, fennel, various teas, and hot peppers. The winter is a fairly slow time for green grocers and most of her business comes during the spring months.

We spent some time talking about her past career as a teacher of Tajik literature. She, like many others here, spoke fondly of Rudaki who was a poet in ancient Persia some 1,000 years ago. She also discussed her past career as a teacher of Tajik literature. She abandoned her teaching career back in 1991 when Tajikistan became independent from the USSR and salaries fell significantly. There are many other former teachers, doctors or factory workers here who have moved on to a business of their own as a means of sustaining themselves.

With customers hovering around her stand, I excused myself so she could conduct her business. She expressed her thanks to Kiva lenders and says her loan has allowed her to sustain her business through the lean winter months.

With over $1.3 million in loans to Kiva clients, MicroInvest serves many others like Oishahon throughout the country. From Kiva, MicroInvest and its borrowers, we thank you for supporting our work. To see support additional borrowers, please check:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=101&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New+to+Old&_te=mj