Kiva loans

Alejandra Chambilla lives in her own house on Severo Aparicio street in the Nuevo Potosí neighborhood of La Paz with her husband and children. She started sewing when she was very young, originally making "aguayos" (multicolored ponchos) with the help of one of her children. Then she began to make jackets and sold them to friends and that is how she made herself known in the clothing market. With the funds loaned from Impro, Alejandra bought sewing machines and now makes warm-up suits, jackets, etc. The loan she seeks now is to increase her raw materials and buy another machine as the whole family works in the business now.

Julia Mercedes Zarate Manuel Arévalo in the district of La Esperanza, the province of Trujillo and the department of La Libertad, Peru.

Currently Julia has a store in which she sells gifts, toys, writing supplies, etc. She is a member of the community bank "Santa Elena II" , through which she received her first loan of 100 Peruvian sols ($33) with which she bought office supplies to add more variety to her inventory. With this loan from Manuela Ramos for 800 Peruvian sols ($266), which will be repaid in 6 months, she will buy decorative items and toys to replace the merchandise that was stolen a short time ago and additional products that sell well during the holidays.

Delia Cristian Bautista is also from Peru. Once a week she travels four hours outside the city of Ayacucho, Peru to the “ferias” (rural markets) to buy the products which she brings home to sell to her urban community. The products she buys and sells vary, however the one thing she always sells is cheese. She loves the specific type of Ayacuchano cheese which is white and has a very strong taste salty, made from cow’s milk. The cheese is made in small blocks which she loads into her three buckets to sell. Along with cheese, when animals are available in the markets, mostly sheep and pigs, she also brings these home to sell the meat, a more profitable venture. Delia has many regular clients that depend on her for their weekly supplies of cheeses and meats, she explains, and she delivers these products straight to their doors.

VINCENT OKOCHI OPIYO is a 33-yr-old businessman, married with two children. Both of his children are too young for school. He is the sole breadwinner for his family. He was not able to attend high school due to lack of school fees. Vincent works as a bicycle repairman at the Maweni estate, which is about 20 minutes drive from Kongowea town on the northern side of Mombasa city. For the last 6 years he has been serving the people with his expertise and perfection of a skilled repairman, and these have earned him a lot of customers