December.19.2017

KIVA Project Update: December 2017 – Part 2

As the Advocacy Director for BPW Saskatoon, I am pleased to provide you with an update as to what we’ve been up to with our KIVA lending account. In this month’s updates, I’d like to introduce you to some of the wonderful ladies we’ve been helping around the world (below), and tell you a little more about how they’re using the loans to better their financial position and help their families.

I encourage you to visit Kiva’s website and see the various ways you can make a difference for these women, either by starting your own account or by contributing to the BPW account via Kiva Card at https://www.kiva.org/gifts/kiva-cards.

Lisa Steinhilber
BPW Saskatoon Advocacy Director

December KIVA Update Part 1 >>

Photo courtesy KIVA

Tulsiben is a 50-year-old married woman hailing from the district of Kutch in Gujarat. She is married and has a household of four people and a monthly household income of INR 14,000 ($275CDN). She is engaged in a dairy business where she sells cow milk and other milk products such as butter, curd, buttermilk, ghee, etc.

In order to expand this business and increase her income, she has applied for a loan amount of INR 20,000 ($325CDN). With the amount, she can purchase a new cow and sell a greater quantity of these products. She is thankful to all the lenders. Her loan was advanced August 28, 2017 and will be repaid in monthly instalments over the subsequent 15 months.

Photo courtesy KIVA

Barbra is 17 years old and lives in the town of Kangulumira in the Njeru region of Uganda. For the past year, Barbra has been working hard to manage her retail shop, which sells wheat flour, cassava flour and big buckets.

To help expand her business, Barbra has requested a loan of 1,100,000 Ugandan Shillings ($325 CDN) from BRAC Uganda. The loan will be used to stock more beverage items for the retail shop, and will help Barbra to generate greater profit, afford basic needs, buy sanitary wear, and also support her siblings. Barbra hopes that in the future she will be able to buy land, start up a farm and a big plantation.

Barbra is a member of BRAC’s Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program. In addition to microfinance loans, the program provides both a safe place for young Ugandan women to take part in group activities, and a forum for life-skills training.
Her loan was advanced September 15, 2017 and is repayable in monthly instalments over the next 8 months.

Photo courtesy KIVA

Olima, is a 31-year-old married woman residing in a small village of Nadia district of West Bengal. She wants to support her husband to make saris and sell them. Her husband collects raw thread from the market, makes the thread in finished material and fits the threads in ‘Tana’ (a part of handloom machine) and makes sari. She has a household of 3 and a monthly income of INR. 9,000 ($177 CDN) with savings of INR. 3,200 monthly ($63CDN) hence wishes to increase her monthly income.

The loan amount of INR. 20,000 ($325CDN) will help her to support her husband to make and sell more saris in the local market. She and her family will be thankful to their lenders. Her loan was advanced August 5, 2017 and is repayable in monthly instalments over the next 13 months.

Photo courtesy KIVA

Sylvia is a single 28 year old woman, with two children. She lives in rural setting with her family and one child attends school. She owns a general merchandise shop and she supplements her family income with a beauty salon. She works seven days a week and each day she works for 14 hours to maximize profits.

She started her business in 2008 with the aim of getting money to increase family income. She has applied for this loan in order to buy more stock of groceries, toiletries and other items for the retail shop. Her clients are fellow local residents and her dream is to enlarge her business, but her biggest challenge is lack of enough capital. Thank you Kiva funders.

Sylvia’s loan is in the amount of $850 and was advanced on July 6, 2017. It is repayable in monthly instalments over the subsequent 12 months.

December KIVA Updates – Part 1 >>

December