Ndongo is 46 years old, married and the father of a family. To escape the difficulties of a rural life plagued by a shortage of rainfall, five years ago he left his village and with his family relocated to the outskirts of the town of Mbour. To earn a living, each morning Ndongo loads up his wagon with peanut straw and sells it around town. As the end of the harvest approaches...

Mrs. Sok Son is 40 years old and she lives in Kampong Svay village in Kandal Province. She is the mother of four children, two of whom are employed in a garment factory while the others attend the local school. Mrs. Sok Son is a fish breeder. Since her business is going well, she wants to expand it; thus she decided to request a loan to buy more fish and fish food...

Naila baji is the wife of Maqbool Bashir. Mr. Bashir makes wooden decorations and sells them in several gift shops. He learned this art from his father, because this is their family business. Naila baji resides in Walton in Lahore, Pakistan, where she has been living for the past 15 years. She is the mother of four children: three sons and one daughter. All of her children are enrolled in a local school in her neighborhood. Naila baji has a business sewing clothes...

Mr. Silin Lorn is 28 years old and the leader of a group of five members who all live in Trapang Chambok village in Kampong Chhang Province. He has a child who is attending the local school. Mr. Silin Lorn is a construction worker. Aside from this business, he is also a farmer. He and his wife, Mrs. Kuy Sokchea, own a small piece of land where they cultivate rice to earn a living...

Robinah is the chair of the Wotunira Loan Group in the Zana district of Kampala. She is a 40-year old married mother of four children, aged 15-22. She also cares for two adopted orphans. Robinah has owned an operated a retail electrical supply stall above the old taxi park in Kampala’s city center for 15 years. She sells such things as assortments of wire, switches, power outlets and light appliances...

Rashida baji is a 48 year old lady and a wife of Sharif Masih. Her husband has a cardboard selling business. Rashida baji resides in Riwind, Pakistan. She has been living in this city for the past 36 years. She is a mother of five children: three sons and two daughters. Her first two sons work in a factory...

Rukhsana baji is a wife of Amanat Ali and lives in Riwind, Pakistan. She has been living in this city for the past three years. She completed her education until 5th standard. She couldn’t study more due to the poor conditions of her house. She got married in the age of 18. Her husband works in a factory and earns $4.00 to $5.00 per month...

Shazia baji is the wife of M.Yunas and lives in Riwind, Pakistan. She has been living in a two room brick house for the past 20 years. Shazia baji is a mother of five children: three daughters and two sons. All of her children are enrolled in a local school in her neighborhood...

Sugran baji is the wife of M.Irdress and lives in Riwind, Pakistan. She is the mother of four children: three sons and one daughter. All of her children are enrolled in a local school in her neighborhood. M. Idress is a driver by profession and drives a rented auto-rickshaw (a local three-wheeled motor vehicle)...

Thiaroye by the Sea is a traditional lébou (fishing) village located in the region of Dakar. The main activity is fishing. However, being fishermen by trade, we are confronted with different difficulties to carry through our activity. The scarcity of fish, to name one among others, is forcing us to go further and further from the coasts to fish...

Maxim is married to his wife Yekaterina. They are raising a 4 year old daughter. Their family lives in Melitopol, south of Ukraine. Maxim sells children’s clothing in the central marketplace. His vending kiosk is located very favourably in one of the busy market rows, and he’s been running it for 3 years. Maxim’s business has benefited a lot from the assistance of his family members and Nadiya Ukraine loans...

Marina is married with a grown son. Six years ago she realized that her best opportunity would be to have her own business. Today, Marina is in the business of selling footwear in the local market. Marina is very sociable. Her friendliness and respectful attitude have given her a good reputation at the market...

For Olena, selling women’s clothing has been her first venture. She has successfully operated a sales kiosk for a year offering a variety of clothing. Olena has sought to create an atmosphere that encourages customers to come back to her kiosk. One of the ways she has tried to accomplish this is to consistently replenish their stock with newer products...

The ecovillage of keur Goumak (http://www.sem-fund.org/keurgumaggfr.php), located in the region of Diourbel, stands out because of its absence of industrial infrastructure. We all know that the consequences of desertification do not spare any social class of the region which is a rural zone...

Carola, 27, lives with her husband and her 2-year-old son. A very active woman desiring to succeed, for the last year she has been selling catalog beauty products. She is working for a well-known national-level cosmetics line. What she enjoys about her work is attending and being agreeable to her clients...

Vita operates a small business selling women’s clothes and footwear in Khoost, Ukraine. She has an attractively arranged little outdoor kiosk at the local market in her home town, where she carries all sorts of necessary items for ladies. Vita has been in business for about six years and has developed a stable, profitable enterprise based on products that are always in demand...

Prossy Namatende is the leader of Tusuubira Group B. She is 35 years old and is married with 4 children. Her previous loans have helped her so much with her tailoring business that her business has lasted for a long time. Prossy has a shop that sells new clothes and clothes that she makes herself for her customers...

Kagere Mastula is the chairperson of Kiri Ewala loan group in Katwe, Uganda. She is a very hard-working lady who has a business selling mattresses and beds, both metallic and wooden, to her customers from her rented space in Katwe. She has had the business for over 25 years...

Cécile Fifonsi Djidonou, is the mother of four children and is married to Bernard Deji, a radio and television repairman. She was born on November 28, 1972 in Porto-Novo in Ouémé County in southern Benin. Cécile distributes fabric and sells drinks. She is requesting a loan so that she may buy more inventory and be prepared for the end-of-the year rush...

"Mujeres En Victoria" is the name of a group of 5 women hoping to receive a loan. Marie is the representative of this group, and she plans on starting a business where she will sell different types of food. Initially, Marie will sell things such as rice, beans, and salt, but she hopes that the business will continue to grow in such a way that she can someday have her own colmado (small grocery store)...

Francisca Xavier Macuacua is from the city of Maputo, neighborhood of Chamanculo, she is 32 years old, married with 3 children, who are 10, 8 and 5 years old. Besides her kids, she also supports her mother and brother sending them money monthly. Francisca didn’t finish school as she got pregnant and started a business after she gave birth because the father of her child didn’t work...

Mrs. Luz Shapiama belongs to the communal bank "Mi Génesis", located in the Coronel Portillo Province at Jr. 9th of December Mz. 19 Lt. 21, Callería District, in the Ucayali Region of Peru. She is a 50-year-old single mother of six grown children. With the first 300 soles loan she received from Manuela Ramos she invested in selling salchipapa (a fried dish of mixed sliced hotdogs and potatoes)...

Lidia is a member of the Dos Mil ("two thousand") Village Bank, and she has now been approved for an individual loan, a new product being offered by FINCA Peru for the holiday season to some of its oldest, most responsible clients. She is requesting 2000 soles to buy potatoes from local farms, which she then brings to markets in Ayacucho to sell to vendors...

Carmen is 65 years old and married with six children, who are all independent adults. She lives with one of her daughters, who is a single mother, and her granddaughter. Carmen owns a gift shop on Manco Capac Street in central Ayacucho, where she sells a bit of everything: drinks, cakes, gifts, dry goods, gelatin desserts, natural remedies, condiments, etc...

Gloria is 44-years-old and lives with her husband and son. For more than 10 years, she has sold groceries and bread along with her husband, a farmer who is dedicated to his family. With time, she was able to put her store in her own home, which is even more favorable to her sales because it is located in a commercial zone in their community. So she doesn't have to pay rent anymore, which favors her profits...

Ms Juana Valle, better known as Juanita, dedicates herself to her business, a small clothing store which she manages with great enthusiasm in the central market of the town of Chinandega. She is a single woman whose duty it is to care for her household and for this reason she is making great efforts to improve her standard of living by providing better conditions for her store...

Businesswoman Marta Lorena Martínez Pérez is 38 years old and has two children who are students. She is a single mother. For the last eight years she has run a small store where she sells grains, beef, chicken, drinks, and a variety of other products. Through her business she has been able to support her two children as she does not receive support from their fathers...

This is a group loan for three women who all live in Siem Reap Province. The leader of the group is Mrs. Dam Kat. She is 46 years old and makes a living raising pigs from her home. She is the mother of six children: two are married and the rest to go to school. Her husband, Mr. Tem Nhem, 48, is a fisherman...

Shamim baji is a 51-year-old woman and the wife of M. Aslam, who has sells construction supplies. He has been in this business for the past 10 years. Shamim baji resides in Kasur, Pakistan. She owns a two-room brick house where she has been living for the past 14 years. She is the mother of five children: four sons and one daughter. Her eldest son is a cobbler...

In the little village of Tinacla-an, Clarin, Misamis Occidental lives Mrs. Elmita M. Labastin, 53 years old, married and with 5 children. Her husband is 73 years old is still able to fix cars and trucks and is known as a good mechanic in their area...

Gladys is a leader of 5 members of a group. She is 21 and married with 3 children aged between 2 and 7 years. Two of her children go to school. Gladys takes care of her parents and two orphans. She owns a three-room house where she is staying with five people. They have electricity but no piped water at home. The family gets two meals a day and rarely take tea...

This village bank loan, led by Mrs. Pao Soun, a basket maker, consists of 21 members living in Ou Ta Sek Village in Kampong Chhnang Province. Each will use the loan for different purposes. For example, Pao’s husband, Mr. Va Chor, is a farmer whose field is currently infertile, so Pao is requesting a loan to purchase fertilizers to support his field and make it more productive...

Mrs. Ly Im, a villager in Trapaing Bei Village in Kampong Chhnang Province, is a 58-year-old widow with two children, one a motorbike taxi driver and the other a garment factory worker. Since her first child’s motorbike is old and in need of costly repairs, Ly is requesting a loan to add to her savings to buy another one for his business...

Mrs. Sobun Um, a 42-year-old mother of two children attending the local school, lives in Trapaing Bei Village in Kampong Chhnang Province, where she is a vegetable-seller making a small income that helps to support her household. Her husband, Mr. Thaong Puthy, is a motorbike taxi driver whose motorbike is old and consuming a great deal of petrol...

Mr. Sophat Touch is a farmer who lives in Preak Svay village in Kandal Province. He is 59 years old and the father of five children; two of his children are farmers, another is employed in a garment factory, and the other two are enrolled in the local school. He owns a plot of land where he cultivates rice to earn his living. He faces some problems because his field is not fertile and has a lot of insects, which damage his crop...

Ndongo is 46 years old, married and the father of a family. To escape the difficulties of a rural life plagued by a shortage of rainfall, five years ago he left his village and with his family relocated to the outskirts of the town of Mbour. To earn a living, each morning Ndongo loads up his wagon with peanut straw and sells it around town...

Mrs. Sok Son is 40 years old and she lives in Kampong Svay village in Kandal Province. She is the mother of four children, two of whom are employed in a garment factory while the others attend the local school. Mrs. Sok Son is a fish breeder. Since her business is going well, she wants to expand it; thus she decided to request a loan to buy more fish and fish food...

Naila baji is the wife of Maqbool Bashir. Mr. Bashir makes wooden decorations and sells them in several gift shops. He learned this art from his father, because this is their family business. Naila baji resides in Walton in Lahore, Pakistan, where she has been living for the past 15 years. She is the mother of four children: three sons and one daughter...

Mr. Silin Lorn is 28 years old and the leader of a group of five members who all live in Trapang Chambok village in Kampong Chhang Province. He has a child who is attending the local school. Mr. Silin Lorn is a construction worker. Aside from this business, he is also a farmer. He and his wife, Mrs. Kuy Sokchea, own a small piece of land where they cultivate rice to earn a living...

Robinah is the chair of the Wotunira Loan Group in the Zana district of Kampala. She is a 40-year old married mother of four children, aged 15-22. She also cares for two adopted orphans. Robinah has owned an operated a retail electrical supply stall above the old taxi park in Kampala’s city center for 15 years. She sells such things as assortments of wire, switches, power outlets and light appliances...

Daouda has a hardware store in the Santhiaba section of town. Thanks to that business, this young entrepreneur, who is married and the father of two children, is able to meet the needs of his family. He is requesting a loan to increase his inventory in order to earn more profit...

Polline Otto, age 45, is the leader of the Mwavu Teyebaka women’s group on Lumumba Avenue in Kampala. She is married with six children and cares for three orphans. She has a restaurant called Kalo Eating Place in the same location where her group meets, and she has a good clientele...

Mrs. Srey Chan is 37 years old and the leader of a group of six members who all live in Svay Chrum Thmey village in Kampong Chhang Province. She has five children; one is a tailor, one helps the parents' business, and the others are enrolled in the local school...

Oumar Seydi Ndiol is in the fishery business. He sells fishing equipment (nets and crates, etc.), and operates several canoes. This entrepreneur is seeking a loan to increase his working capital and meet the demand. He has proven experience in this field...

Nusrat baji is a 29-year-old woman who resides in Walton in Lahore, Pakistan, where she has been living for the past 20 years. Her husband, Maqsood Ahmad, is a butcher who runs a butcher shop in the community. He sells chicken meat. Nusrat baji has seven children: five daughters and two sons. Her eldest son works with his father in his butcher shop...

Fidel Cena is from Bunawan, Agusan Del Sur in the Philippines. He is 26 years old, married, and has two children. He has spent many years plowing a small rice field that was given to him by his father-in-law. He works hard, together with his wife, in the field so that he can send his children to school...

Norma Pacurib
Philippines

Norma Pacurib is from from Bunawan, Agusan Del Sur, in the Philippines. She is 54 years old and has been working in the field for 30 years. Her husband is also a farmer and they have 8 children who are currently in school. Most of their daily expenditures are taken from their rice farming business and that is why they spend their time taking good care of the field...

Eusebio is a member of the Florecer (“to bloom”) Village Bank. He is 41 years old and married with six children. Eusebio sells natural remedies and medicinal herbs that he prepares at home. He learned the trade by working for a natural remedy business in Lima, and he sells his wares on foot in the markets of the city of Ayacucho. Eusebio also travels to different local villages to buy alpaca wool...

Zamu is a leader of a 5-member group. She is a 36-year-old married mother of five children between 7 and 13 years old. All her children go to school. Zamu takes care of her elderly parents. She resides in and owns a two-room house where she lives with six people. They have electricity, but no piped water at home...

Vicky is a leader of a 4-member group. She is a 40-year-old single mother of six children between 12 and 22 years old. All of her children go to school. Vicky takes care of two additional family members. She resides in and rents a two -room house where she lives with nine people. They have electricity, but no piped water at home...

Mirenda Akoko Ayikoe was born on July 8, 1981 in Lomé, the capital of Togo. She is a single mother of one child. Mirenda Akoko sells fruit juice in the Agoè quarter to the north of Lomé, and has been in this business since 2003. The loan she is requesting, her first, would allow her to purchase a freezer to keep her products fresh and better serve her customers...

Mr. Ladondou Toure’ Assosso was born on July 27, 1975 in Sotouboua, a town located in the center of Togo. He is single and has no children. Since 2005 he has been selling poultry and sheep in the market of Agoè...

Mrs. Mawuli Ahiaku was born on May 25, 1974 in Agoè, a neighborhood located north of Lomé, the capital of Togo. She is single and the mother of one child. Her business is selling charcoal and cereals in her neighborhood. She began the business in 1996, so she is well versed in it...

Ana is a member of the Dos Mil (“Two Thousand”) Village Bank. Ana is 29 years old and married with three children. She sells Avon and Esika brand cosmetics by catalog; most of her customers are friends, family members and colleagues. Ana also works as a secretary at a local institution...

Rosalie has been in business since 2003. She used to be a teacher. After she had kidney surgery in 2001, she decided to change her career. She then began selling soft drinks. She started with a very small and limited business -- two crates of soft drinks...

Fidele Kayudi sells cartons of eggs. He has to go out to deliver eggs to his clients and to look for new clients everyday. It is hard work, but he likes it. He has been in this business since 1995. Fidele fell sick in 1997 and was hospitalized. He lost most of his clients and his business closed, as there was no one to continue running it...

Martha Beatriz Pérez Méndez is 38 years old, and she has a partner. This young women has 3 children. Her oldest son is 19, and recently began the 3rd year of secondary school. Her other son is 18 years old, and he works in a car wash. Her youngest son is 11 years old and is in grade 4 at primary school. Her partner works as a taxi driver...

Hi. My names is Felicita Guillen Caceres. I am 40 years old. I have a new and used clothing business, which I sell from my home. This helps me not to neglect my house and to give 100% to my business. Currently, I need a loan in order to be able to buy a lot of clothing since, in this holiday season, sales are good...

Lidia is 34 years old, she is single, and she lives alone since she does not have children. She is a hard working woman that has dedicated the past 7 years to the sales of plastic items, such as coat hangers and soap dishes, etc, to pull through. She likes going out and selling door to door, especially because she can work outdoor and she can interact as she pleases with her client...

Magda is 36-years old and is single, living with her family. She is a strong woman, who very much likes babies. Unfortunately, she does not own property, since her husband passed away. For the last 10-years, Magda has dedicated herself to the sales of jewelry...

Fidel is 28-years old and lives with his spouse in his parent’s house and they have no children yet. For the last 12-years he has been helping to cultivate the land on the farm. He doesn’t really like working on the ranch, but he doesn’t have any other activities to preoccupy himself, though he would like to have a business in the city...

Mrs. Editza Mendoza has asked AFODENIC to refinance her second loan to invest in home improvements (construct an additional room). She lives in the #6 zone of Nueva Guinea, and has worked in the library in the URACCAN Recinto Nueva Guinea University for nine years. She has two children. Her son is 11 years old and he is in the third grade...

Born on January 5, 1969 in Lomé, the capital of Togo, Mrs. Aféfe Kossiwa is a strong woman. She runs a general food store business in the Agoè district, which in the northern part of Lomé. Her husband is in the army and she has four children. After having begun this business in 2003, she is now able to help with the family’s expenses...

Greatery Mwabujelith, age 34, is widowed with 3 children (ages 18, 14, and 8). She has a café, which she began 9 years ago. She works from 6:00 AM until 2:00 AM and says she could definitely use a break! She is able to make a monthly profit of about $160...

Rahim Lumelezi, age 50, is married with 3 children (ages 28, 21, and 18). He is also taking care of his wife's late brother's son, who is 15. He sells medicine for animals in villages upcountry, and when he comes back he manages his small farm with various crops. He started this business 1 year ago. He opens from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily and is able to make around $800 monthly profit...

The village bank loan is made up of eighteen people in Tong Rong Village in Kampong Cham Province. They plan to use the loan for different purposes. Mrs. Sokren Yem, the village bank president, is a farmer who owns a small piece of land to cultivate rice and earn a living. Her husband, Mr. Thaong Mol, collects palm juice to process into palm sugar or wine...

Blaise runs a general boutique. He sells soaps, containers, sugar, salt, toilet papers, candles, matches, and so on. He has been in business since 2002. He began his business running a telephone booth, but in 2006 he fell sick and was hospitalized for three weeks. After recovering, Blaise decided to change the business by opening a general boutique in 2007...

In the little barangay of Mabini, Baliangao, Misamis Occidental, Lourdes Paglinawan, 61 years old, used to operate a copra-buying business. Her husband was her greatest business partner for 20 years. They educated their 2 children from their copra-buying business. Life is not so tough for the family to surviv...

Feliciano is a 43-year-old married man who lives with his wife and only daughter. Ever since he was young, he realized that agriculture is a very lucrative line of work. When he got married, he planted a great amount of crops. The profits obtained from his crops gave him the opportunity to purchase a car, with which he now offers taxi services, while still cultivating on the side...

Eufemia is 54 years old, married, and her husband is a bricklayer and cultivates beans and bananas 50 Km south of the capitol. Eufemia lives in Healeah, she is the woman of the house and receives a pension from social security for having worked as an adviser at a college for more than 15 years...

Norma is 45 years old, married, and lives with her husband and their two children whom she supports and who are the reason for her strength. As a child she helped her parents with their agricultural work, and once she moved in with her husband they planted a few hectares of citrus trees, which earn them a good income...

Mrs. Marlith, memeber of the 10 de Agosto II (August 10th II) Village Bank lives in the city of Tarapoto in San Martin, Peru. She sells groceries out of her home on Tarapoto Street in the August 10th neighborhood where most of her customers live...

Mrs. Mery Antonieta, member of the Doradinas en Accion (Women of Dorado in Action) Village bank, lives in Dorado in San Jose de Sisa, San Martin, Peru. She sells clothing for men, women, and children, shoes, plastic goods, and pots and pans, etc. Her business is located on the second block of Commerce Street...

The group "Rosita" (meaning, Little Rose) is represented by Maria Del Rosario. The members primarily carry out sales of various products, such as: groceries, toys, drinks, cosmetics, snacks, and also make wool jackets. In general the members have a good business background and due to their good location they do not have any difficulties from competitors...

Mrs. Mech Muth was born in 1966 and she lives in Ang Konh Village Takeo Province. Mech is 42 years old and the mother of three children one of whom is employed in a garment factory while the others are attending the local school. She is a farmer who owns a small piece of land to cultivate rice to earn a living...

Celina João Cutane was born in Maputo, Mozambique. She is married and the mother of two kids, ages 13 and 16, both enrolled in school. She also has two step-children. Celina's schooling was interrupted in 7th Grade, due to her family's financial constraints. She got married at age 15, and has been in the business of selling food and cleaning products ever since...

Sam-at Ya, 32, and her husband, Hout Thol, 29, live in a small village about twenty kilometers south of Phnom Penh. They have been married for eight years and have four children; one son and three daughters. Three children attend school and the other one is still young and stays at home. Sam-at has been a garment factory worker in Phnom Penh for ten years...

Christopher Ally is a businessman. He has run a shop for 4 years at Vingunguti ward. He sells a variety of items to customers. He purchases the commodities from wholesale shops at Kariakoo shopping center. He manages to meet the daily family needs from the business. He requests a loan of Tshs1200,000 to expand the business...

Besides his profession as a teacher, Leopold Ddamulira sells groundnuts, beans, rice, green grams, and peas, among other cereals, in a retail shop he runs in Kizinda trading center. Married with 6 children between the ages of 13 and 27, Leopold works tirelessly to ensure his family’s needs are meet...

Demetrio is 54 years old, married and lives alone with his wife. He has been a farmer for more than 40 years. What he likes most is to plant of pineapple since it is his favorite fruit and it's a product in considerable demand in the markets, but seasons make a product more profitable. In his area, few people are dedicated to the cultivation of pineapple...

Eva is 45 years old, lives with her husband and her young son. She has been a farmer for 30 years, and now cultivates citrus fruits, which she likes because it is not hard work. She only has to clean the grounds regularly and set traps for insects to protect the crop. In addition, citrus, during their season, are very profitable since selling prices go up...

The group “San Felipe” is represented by Mrs. Maura. In general the members of this group work selling clothes, make up, groceries and some work sawing clothes and creating masks. They are all very responsible people as proven before. They know that work on the market has lots of competition...