My name is Madame Boukari Djaria. I’m 45 years old, I’m married, and I have six young children. To make money, I sell various fresh food items and jars of preserves in our local market. I live in the town of Khaki-Koka, and I am the president of a local organization called GNINTKOMA. My group consists of four women, and we each receive 20,000 FCFA (US$42) loans from The Hunger Project (THP)-Benin’s Microfinance Program (MFP). With my loan, I was able to infuse more capital into my small trade, and so far this has worked out very well for me.
In all honesty, when we first began the MFP trainings and workshops, I was skeptical about whether or not THP-Benin would indeed come through, and support us financially. However, the first loan that I received from THP-Benin’s MFP allowed me to widen the range of the items I sell, and as a result, I saw my income increase substantially. The interest rate applied by the MFP is reasonably low, and the generous loan-payback period lets us earn a profit from our activities.
Our hope is that the next grant will be larger, and will enable us to further diversify our sources of income, in order to make our families more comfortable.
December 3, 2009
