We’re excited to announce our latest donation to charity Kiva, an organisation that provides micro-loans in developing countries.
Here are the stories and profiles of the latest recipients of funds from the Australian Businesswomen’s Network donations.
These stories demonstrate the parallel between business owners in all countries. Our circumstances may differ (immensely), but our spirit and our goals are often similar. Education, inspiration and networking and connections are the common elements to our success regardless of our location.
Gina Bacoor — Cavite, Philippines
This is Gina, 44, resident of Bacoor, Cavite City, Philippines. She is married to Jacinto, a mason, and is a mother to her children. She, together with her husband and children, manages their household while operating the business. At this time, she is working hard to continually provide income for her everyday expenses.
Gina operates a food stall. In the Philippines, the whole working community and most of the families only eat home-cooked meals during evenings where all of the family members are at home to take part in the meal. This is not only a common family tradition but a matter of convenience and frugal living. It is considered a waste of money and time to spend cooking gas and food for one to two persons when buying cooked rice and viands cost less than raw food.
Gina’s regular customers are her neighbors and the local community. She earns a minimum of Php400 in sales every day.
She will be utilising the loan to buy more products like meats, rice, vegetables, condiments and seasonings. She expects a boost in her business income as she expands her business.
Gina dreams to grow her business and be able to give all her children a high quality education through all her hard work in her business. She also hopes to have her own restaurant. She faithfully meets up with her co-fellowship members to share stories of her work every week and where she can also draw strength and inspiration from the Word of God she studies.
Gloria — Ayacucho, Peru
Gloria, 31, is a member of the communal bank La Paz [Peace], lives with her life partner, and is the mother of a one-year-old son. She has been a member of FINCA Perú for a year and a half. She sells wool and is building a small recreation area. She says that during the time she has been a member of FINCA Perú, she has learned a lot about the value of saving.
Her dream is to have a larger recreation area to which she can invite tourists, offer them tours of different regions in Peru, and serve them local dishes in her own restaurant. She will use this loan to buy more tables, chairs, plants, and other things to improve the ambiance of her recreation area.
Reour — Siem Reap Province, Cambodia
Reour is 29 years old. She is married and blessed with two children. She lives in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. She is a homemaker. Her husband is a taxi driver who earns about $8 per day.
In order to improve her family’s finances, Reour is requesting a loan of $1,000 to purchase a car for her husband to run the taxi service. This purchase will enable him to generate more income to support the family. In the future, she would like to run an additional business to generate extra income to support the family and help her children earn bachelor’s degree. Moreover, she hopes to build a new house as soon as possible.
Eti — Ein Tamar, Israel
Eti lives in Ein Tamar. She manages two separate business activities that help support her family. First, she has a catering business which provides services to the municipality for special events. This business is seasonal but Eti has a strong reputation. Second, Eti herself is a skilled artist who decided to offer courses in different crafts and artistry. She is now opening classes in tapestry, mosaics and woodwork.
Eti needed this loan to renovate her studio. She is not new to managing a business, but understood she had the opportunity to take her skills and knowledge and apply them in a different area that could stabilize her monthly income. Eti wants to see her studio grow and provide both long term classes and one day lessons for locals and tourists alike.
Maria Yanibe — El Peñol, Colombia
Maria is married and has a three-year-old son. In hopes of making a financial contribution towards the household expenses, along with her husband, she has a dressmaking shop where she offers dressmaking services to third parties. She learned this business from a very early age and later began doing seasonal work for a business in which she received batches of clothing for alteration. With some savings she purchased her first machine and that’s how she started her own dressmaking shop where she offers dressmaking services to third parties. Thanks to the good quality products she makes she has had the opportunity to receive large orders from her customers and so has made a very good income for her home, improving their quality of life and financial condition.
In spite of this, her working capital is still insufficient to meet the demands of her customers, and so she is seeking a loan for the purchase of a tabletop sewing machine and serger in order to increase her production capacity in order to fill her customers’ orders. In this way she will overcome her difficulties with capital and get ahead with her business, offering her customers better service and having more income for her household. Her dream is to get her son ahead and offer him a quality education, in addition to providing financial stability which would allow him to make progress.
We invite you to make a donation to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries at kiva.org. Or, if you would like us to invest with Kiva on your behalf, contact us at info@abn.org.au and we can include you with our next round of support.
The Australian Businesswomen’s Network community initiatives have raised over $40,000 in donations to support women around the world.
