Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Kiva


I made a Kiva loan today as I pack to go out of country for a few days...

Mambo ("Hello") from Tanzania! This is 35-year-old Juliana Misoji from Mwanza. She is separated from her husband, and has 3 children between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. Juliana has been running a grocery business since 2008. Her shop is a very basic structure made of wood with a tin roof. She sells items such as beer, soda and water. She works in her business for 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. Juliana currently earns about $160 USD from her business. She is requesting a loan of $400 USD to purchase drinks like beer, soda and water. In the future, she plans to open another business. Juliana thanks you for your support! ABOUT SELFINA! SELFINA has taken a lead role as a pioneer of micro-credit in Tanzania through Micro-Leasing. The organization is engaged in the economic empowerment of women in Tanzania through the provision of a leasing and leaseback microfinance facility. Customs and traditions in Tanzania make it difficult for women to own land and assets, thus they are termed non-creditworthy by financial institutions. This leads to poor financial support and poor access to basic needs and services for women with low incomes. One of the primary advantages of micro leasing is that is allows clients to use the equipment as collateral for future loans with SELFINA, thus enabling them to borrow larger sums in the future.

1 comment:

JenPB said...

Wow...this is something I've heard about on the news, but you're the first person I've seen who does this regularly. We'll definitely be looking into it this year as our family explores volunteer opportunities! Thanks for sharing!