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Essay / Rhoda Mwale: a successful recipient of FINCA assistance
Rhoda Mwale lives in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and one of the fastest developing cities in South Africa. Rhoda's house is built of mud and was built by her late husband. Although she operates a small vegetable stall at Chainda market, her income has never been enough to support her household. Only one of her five children was able to attend school due to financial constraints. Unfortunately, during the last rainy season, one of the rainiest seasons in Lusaka, Rhoda's house collapsed. Rhoda was forced to move into her son's house, where three of her grandchildren live. Rhoda said: “I was financially crippled and so my children grew up in difficult circumstances. Before joining FINCA, my family often ate only one meal a day and went to bed hungry. » Rhoda, with the help of FINCA, overcomes her setbacks. She applied for a $200 loan and it was fully funded. Rhoda reports with a smile that after joining FINCA's Sivilanji Village Bank, she was able to get her first loan which she used to increase the stock of her vegetable stall. Her business and profits are gradually increasing and she is now able to provide financial support to her children. His family now has three meals a day and construction of a new house has begun. Rhoda said of FINCA: “I am really grateful to FINCA, they have given me the means to run and grow my own business independently. » Rhoda intends to obtain a second loan to improve her business and complete the construction of her house. I chose Rhoda because she was a first time loaner and at the time I found her she had not received any financing at all. I didn't really look at what her activity was, but the fact that she had to raise five children alone and that her house had disappeared. Rhoda really needed to expand her vegetable stall to earn more money to support her family and build a new house. By choosing this loan, I was hoping that it would be fully funded and that this little bit of money would help her immensely. She was fully funded and her children quickly went from one meal a day to three. She is even considering taking out another loan soon. This experience was huge for me. Reading Bob's International Bank really interested me in microfinance and being able to actually grant a microcredit was really nice..