The concept is easy to understand. You don’t give the money to the needy, you only lend it. They pay it back at their convenience. Once you have it back, you can lend it to someone else. I love the concept – There are a lot of people out there who just need a boost right now. They don’t need your money – all they need is a loan.
Meet 38 year-old Mariatu from Aberdeen branch. She is married, with five children between the ages of 9 and 21 years old.
Mariatu sells “cookery” beside a busy road. “Cookery” is a modest term for the wealth of spicy stews that are cooked by local people and served with rice. The building blocks of such stews are palm oil, cassava leaf, rice, green chilis, seasoning (like maggi or red pepper) and chicken or fish. She has been in this business for the past four years now and works nine hours per day and six days a week. Her main challenge is slow sales sometimes. Her other source of income is from her husband.
Mariatu requested this loan from Brac to purchase more rice, pepper, maggi, onions, palm oil, ground nuts, tomatoes, etc. She says that the extra income from this loan will help her to take care of her family. In the future she wants her business to expand into a big restaurant. She says thanks to Brac and Kiva community for their support.
To be honest, the reason I picked charity for honoring my blog was because that was on the top of my mind, thanks to Rockstar Finance. They sent me (among others) an email saying they would be paying 20 bloggers $100 each to “turn it into some joy and happiness for someone who really needs it”. I responded, but wasn’t quick enough. Since I didn’t get that $100, I decided that I could use some of my money to make a change. Right now, I can afford to part with $25, and it would be helpful for Mariatu.
Hey! I’m Julia, the girl behind the blog. I am a Long Island living’ dog lover and taco enthusiast. Here you’ll find posts about fitness, travels, my life, and my guy. Feel free to stay awhile.
