Ludmila – Gromada Agricultural Cooperative, Ukraine

Ludmila Borrover-Klimenko has a greenhouse farm in southern Ukraine, where she is a client of Gromada Agricultural Cooperative. Gromada is part of a credit union that serves clients by making loans and taking deposits for farmers in the region. Gromada also provides business advisory services and children’s services for farming families in rural areas.  Southern Ukraine is known throughout Eastern Europe for its rich soil and superior produce. Ludmila and her family cultivate tomato plants, bell peppers, and water melon. As one of the more successful and accomplished farmers in her community, Ludmila helps train other farmers and clients of Gromada. Her loan of 3,000 Euros helped her purchase baby plants to cultivate and build a greenhouse to augment her growing season during Ukraine’s frigid winters. She has also installed a drip irrigation season that further lengthens the growing season.

Anne & Philip - Jitegemea Credit Scheme, Kenya

Anne Wangoi Mjan is an example of a strong and independent woman in Nairobi, Kenya. She has owned her own business since 1996. Anne makes handles for baskets and boxes using materials that she purchased with a loan from Jitegemea Credit Scheme, or JCS. Jitegemea’s name means “Depend on yourself.”

JCS targets the slums of Nairobi, a large and sprawling big city in southern Kenya. Founded in 1998, the microfinance institution provides small loans to 8,000 people who had no access to traditional forms of credit. More recently, the organization has expanded to rural parts of Kenya, to provide similar services to the people living there. JSC has become an active participant in measuring the social impact on its clients lives. JCS has excelled in adapting its products and services to meet the client needs.

In mid-2010, Oikocredit provided training for several partners to pilot improvements in Social performance management. JSC became involved, and has worked with Oikocredit to improve its tracking and monitoring of clients economic progress through infrastructural developments encouraged and facilitated by Oikocredit. Now JSC trains its loan officers to obtain a better insight into the real lives of clients by getting to know them socially, rather than simply disbursing a loan.

Philip Mwema owns his own business and has a loan from JCS. “Before we had money scarcity, but now my wife is proud of me.” Philip has always depended on himself, as the Jitegemea name suggests – but through his assistance from JCS, that dependence comes much easier these days.

Giida – CEDO, Uganda

Before her husband died, Giida Namirembe relied on him as the sole breadwinner for her family. But when he succumbed to complications from AIDS, Giida was left with the challenge of supporting a household of 14. She had never before earned an income and she felt hopeless.

Left with few options, Giida – herself HIV positive – joined a women’s self-help group for support. It was there that Giida became involved with Oikocredit partner Community Enterprises Development Organization, CEDO. With the help of her support group and CEDO, Giida was able to obtain a loan of high-yielding beans, which she repaid at harvest time.

In the first season, Giida experience a disappointing harvest due to poor rainfall, but she refused to give up. Her perseverance paid off, and in the second season she turned 66 pounds of beans planted into over a thousand. CEDO purchased the harvest for $448, giving Giida her first income from a job. She used this income to buy a cow, from which she gets milk to feed her family and sell, and manure to improve soil fertility for maize and banana plants.

Now with a new sense of independence, Giida talks about her accomplishments with pride. “I’m striving to get a proper education for my children and they work hard. I know they won’t let me down. The support I get from the group is very important, and it encourages me knowing I have a sure source of income and knowing what I produce will be bought by CEDO.” Giida no longer needs to rely on others to survive.  While she still faces many difficulties, Giida now meets them head-on with empowerment and resilience she never felt before.

Edgar – Coopetarrazú, Costa Rica

Edgar comes from a family of coffee growers. His entire life, he has been part of the cooperative organization Coopetarrazú, of which his father was a founding member. When Edgar was a boy, he and his father would have to walk 23 kilometers to the nearest collection center, with their coffee harvest on the backs of horses. Today Coopetarrazú has a center just two miles from Edgar’s plantation.

Since 1960, Coopetarrazú  has truly made a positive impact, both on the coffee industry and the environment. The cooperative processes and commercializes the coffee production of more than 2,400 farmers, and manages supermarkets, sale of agriculture materials and pre-financing of harvests. Working with Coopetarrazú means that Edgar’s beans have been certified fair trade and he receives a premium price for them. The coop’s sustainability program has taught him new techniques that protect both the environment and his workers.

Edgar’s dream for his nine children is that they will someday run and improve the family business. His two oldest children already work alongside their father. The others attend schools supported by Coopetarrazú. A distance-learning high school program also backed by the coop will allow them to complete their basic education and have the possibility to go on to college. Without his coffee plantation and the help of Coopetarrazú, Edgar would have limited means to support his large family. Instead he is a proud father and successful business owner.

Bernadetta – SACCO, Kenya

Bernadetta is a client of the Samburu Teachers Savings and Credit Cooperative (SACCO), an Oikocredit project partner since 2005. In just a few short years, Bernadetta has gone from being dependent on food aid to becoming an anchor of support in her community. After receiving her first loan, she dug a borehole in her village, which marked the beginning of her endeavor. Before the borehole, many local children were forced to skip school in the dry season to walk five kilometers for water. With the money Bernadetta made from selling water, along with a series of four small loans, she was able to establish a farm, where she cultivates wheat, maize, cows and goats.

Bernadetta, once given the chance to improve her life, now shares her prosperity with her community. Through employment on her farm, she supports more than 20 people in her village in addition to her family. The mother of four shares maize with the villagers during drought and even donated part of her land to build a school, so that others can have the opportunity she once struggled for. Her dream is to someday send her children to college.

Augusta – Fundación Espoir, Ecuador

Just a few years ago, Augusta had lost everything she owned due to the disastrous effects of El Niño and the bankruptcy of her local bank. Fortunately she ran into a former neighbor who had become a credit officer for one of our partner MFIs, Fundación Espoir. Augusta asked for $250 to start a food stand on the street. Soon she was soon able to move from the streets to a house. With just three tables, 12 chairs and some pans to cook, she launched a small restaurant in her home, and named it after her mother: Comida El Paso Lolita.

The business is truly a family affair, employing her husband, children and two other employees. Augusta has benefited from more than just financial loans. The training Fundación Espoir provides on savings and small-business management are helping her achieve her real dream: a franchise she can leave to her children to run in the future. Her latest loan of $1000 will be used to buy an oven and other assets to consolidate the family business. Photography: Fundación Espoir

 

Flora – Samburu Teachers Cooperative Savings and Credit Society, Kenya

In 2001, Flora’s husband was killed and their cattle were stolen. Left alone with four young children to support, she desperately needed assistance in rebuilding her life. She began with a small loan from the Samburu Teachers Cooperative Savings and Credit Society (Samburu Teachers SACCO), which eventually allowed her to open a small grocery store.  Over time, Flora’s hard work and commitment – combined with the capital she received from Samburu Teachers SACCO – helped her build a sustainable income and a brighter future for herself and her family.

Flora has never forgotten her own struggle and is devoted to helping others in her community. She offers fair credit in her shop to customers who need it. In addition to a home for her family, she has also built rooms to rent out where others can live affordably. Today, Flora not only feeds and clothes her family; she pays school fees for her two brothers and plans to send her own children to college. Her future dreams include buying a motor bike, and opening another business. Not only does Flora have improved her own life, but she has also become the inspiration for other single women in her community. Photography: Samburu Teachers SACCO