Kiva loans to Armenia

I had a meeting today about a science project I'm working on on the genetics of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Armenia.  So I decided to make two Kiva loans to Armenia.

Stepan is 50 years old. He lives in the village of Verin Ptghni, which is in the Kotayk region of Armenia. Stepan is married and he has two sons and a daughter. For many years, Stepan has had his own production business. He is a shoemaker. He works in their house in a small and comfortable workshop where he has all the needed tools and materials for shoe repairing. Stepan has many loyal customers who, from all the large variety of shoemakers in their district, prefer and trust exactly Stepan. He is also engaged in agriculture; he cultivates some vegetables but not for sale – it is for his family’s needs.

Nor Horizon knows Stepan as a very responsible and serious person since he has taken out loans several times and he has paid them back successfully. This time, Stepan wants to cooperate with Kiva lenders and he asks for a loan of 300,000 Armenian drams to buy raw materials for his shoe production.

Vaghtang is 44 years old and lives with his wife and son in Kapan. Although Vaghtang has a higher education, graduating from Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute, he has never worked. His wife works as a teacher at the school. In the village where Vaghtang and his family live he has a private piece of land. They also keep a hundred chickens. Vaghtang cultivates vegetables and fruits and sells the gathered harvest at the Kapan wholesale market. Besides agriculture and farming, Vaghatang is engaged in carpentry works, making wooden parquetry, boxes, etc. 

Vaghtang plans to repair the barn for his chickens and needs a loan of 300,000 Armenian drams. It is the first, but hopefully not the last, time that he wishes to have a deal with Kiva lenders.