HerBusiness’ latest contribution to support women in El Salvador, Columbia, Tajikistan and Jordan.
Our goal at HerBusiness is to support women in business grow and continue to do what they love, wherever they may be. This is why, for over 10 years, we have continued to support women and entrepreneurs through KIVA, a non-profit organisation that provides loans to women in business from disadvantaged areas.
We are pleased to announce our latest donations to four business owners from El Salvador, Columbia, Tajikistan and Jordan. All four of these women operate small businesses in their respective country, and have high ambitions for the growth of their business. Our donations will go a long way in supporting these women who work hard to provide for their family and to improve their family’s overall living standards.
“Our circumstances may differ immensely to these women but our spirit and goals are often the same,” says Suzi Dafnis.
Here are the stories and profiles of the women and their business we are supporting this year.
Martha Liliana: Bogotà, Colombia
Martha is an entrepreneur from the city of Bogotà, Colombia, and lives with her 25-year-old daughter. Motivated by her desire to improve and secure their income, Martha and her daughter started their beauty distributor in 2013.
Part of their seed capital was the severance payment Martha’s daughter received as a compensation for her work in a private enterprise. With a lack of available money at the start of their business, they began with a very small assortment of products.
Martha’s store is located in a highly commercial area of Bogotà and there is pressure to improve their inventory in order to align themselves with the upcoming season. She wishes to use her loan to purchase a large quantity of beauty products: shampoo, conditioner, keratin, colourings, bleaches, treatments and more. Her subsequent goal is to increase her sales and her earnings.
Wendy Marisol: El Transito, El Salvador
Wendy, 47, is a mother of two, living in the municipality of El Transito, El Salvador. She owns a small store in her house where she sells basic necessities. She previously sold ‘pupas’- stuffed tortillas, at her store.
A loan from KIVA will allow Wendy to buy two shelves for her store, as well as more products to sell. Her dream is to expand her business and diversify her product range.
Thikrayat: Dair Alla, Jordan
Thikrayat is a 19-year-old grocery store owner in the town of Dair Alla, Jordan. She is expecting her first child soon, and is considered a social success, already to be building a family of her own at such a young age. But her pregnancy means she needs to be more financially secure and independent.
With her loan she wishes to buy more food products to fill her shelves at the grocery store. Thikrayat hopes her business will support her and her family in the future.
Khalimahon: Tursun-zoda, Tajikistan
Khalimahon, 50, works in a grape farm with her family in Tursun-zoda, Tajikistan. Her day starts at sunrise to work in her grape orchards. Whether its raining outside doesn’t matter for Khalimahon- if it means her family can stay healthy and nourished, she will take on any kind of day to continue running her grape farming business.
Agriculture is one of the toughest industries to work in because of the many risks that crops can be prone to. It is even more challenging if you don’t have the right kind of material to prevent such hazards. Khalimahon’s current challenge is to reduce the amount of germs and insects on her grapevines. With a loan from KIVA, she wishes to purchase mineral fertilizers to help solve this problem and keep her vines healthy.
This post was co-authored by Emiko Reed. Emiko completed a journalism internship at HerBusiness. She studies journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney.
