1. Elizabeth is 40 years old and is the secretary of Destiny Microcredit Group of Bina Foundation. She is married with three children. She sells food stuff and provisions in the village market. She was struggling financially with her husband and unable to expand her business and pay the children’s school fees. With the interest-free loan received from Bina Foundation, she is now able to purchase more items from the wholesaler and make more profit. With this added income, she was able to expand her business and support her family financially and pay her children’s school fees.
2. Kate is a 56 year old widow and also a member of Destiny Group. She sells used clothes in the market. Due to lack of funds, she was unable to buy enough clothes to sell to her customers. With the interest-free loan received from the Foundation, she is able to buy high quality clothes to sell and make money. The loan relieved her of regular borrowing from her neighbors while her clothing trade improved. “I can now be bold in the mist of other women as I am no longer known as a creditor, this money will enable me improve my business and survive in this economy”, said Kate.
3. Patricia is another Bina Foundation microcredit beneficiary that sells okpa (a local food indigenous of the Eastern part of Nigeria). Due to financial issues, her child was sent out of school because of inability to pay her school fees. With the interest-free loan, she is able to buy ingredients to make okpa in large quantities and sell to make more profit. Due to the expansion in her business, she is more financially stable and able to send her child back to school and support the rest of her family.
4. Blessing is 30 years old and married with children. She sells palm oil and groundnut oil in small quantities in the local market. Before the help from Bina Foundation, she was struggling to make ends meet as she only sells in bottles and unable to make sufficient amount of money to survive. With the interest-free loan from Bina Foundation, she is now able to buy it in larger quantities at a cheaper rate and make more profit. She can now support her children and husband.