Blueorchard

The manjar blanco is a sweet specialty from Cali in Colombia made from milk mixed with cane sugar that needs to be heated and whipped meticulously at length in big pots. Since 13 years Rubiela Sanchez, with the help of her husband has been making the sweet, at first from her home kitchen by hand with the simplest means, then bit by bit, with machines that they developed themselves which allow them to regulate the temperature and the different mixing rhythms to achieve the best results. The couple is now selling their famous manjar blanco and other sweets made of milk or with guava fruit in various outlets throughout Cali, notably at bus stations. The Cali sweets are prized as gifts by visitors and residents alike. Rubiela Sanchez and her husband have are faithful clients of the Women’s World Bank (WWB) of Cali in Colombia who have helped them not only with loans but also with advise and even publicity that helped them to develop their little business. (April 2008)

Dogsom is a widower of 42 years and he lives in the periphery of Ulan Bator with his mother Birvaa who helps him in his work as a cattle raiser. He has three 3 children who go to school in town. He previously worked as a veterinary for 18 years. 6 years ago, he decided to raise cattle and started with 6 cows. In 2005, he took out his first loan of Mongolian Tugrik (MNT) 1,2 million (equivalent to USD 825) with XAC Bank to buy more cattle. After he paid back his loan, he took out another one for MNT 2,7 million (about USD 1,856) to increase his herd even further. Now, he owns 45 cows and he plans to further grow his breeding business by taking out another loan. The biggest part of his income comes from selling milk and cheese in the surroundings. He lives in an area of “datchas”, or holiday residences in the country side, where people retire during the summer season to get away from the heat and pollution of the city. He also delivers his dairy products to a holiday camp that was built in the proximity of his tent home. (June 2008)
 

Habiba Ehlic is 62 years old and resides in a village near Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is a widow and lives with her two adult sons in their family home. Before 1992, Habiba had a bakery, which was partly destroyed and completely looted during the war while the Ehlic family was on the run. The family didn’t have the means to buy new machinery for the bakery so Habiba decided to start cultivating mushrooms in her house, with some help and advice from her sons. She buys compost and seeds for button and oyster mushrooms and then creates the right temperature, humidity and light conditions to grow her crop. The revenues from her little business carried the family through while her sons were looking for work during the first years that followed the war. Since 2004, Habiba took out seven loans with Prizma, primarily to buy compost and seeds. The funds were also used to purchase a vehicle to make the deliveries to the Sarajevo market vendors. She borrowed between BAM 1,000 to BAM 4,500 with each loan (about EUR 500 to EUR 2,300), which she always repaid on time, with interests. (November 2008)

In 2001, Jennifer L. Dalida’s husband lost his job so she decided to start fabricating and selling children’s slippers from her home. With a first loan from the Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan, she bought the raw materials to launch her production, such as rubber, cloth and plastic. She soon had her family members trained for the production and her business grew step by step. She is currently paying off her 15th small credit amounting to Philippino Peso 35,000 (ca. EUR 526), which she used to buy materials, and machines that allowed her to double the production. Jennifer now employs five persons and together they are able to fabricate 240 pairs of sandals daily for sale on local markets. This little business has allowed Jennifer to maintain her whole family, to help her parents and to send her three children to school, as well as creating jobs for her relatives. She dreams of developing her business to where she could sell her goods in shopping centers and even abroad. (August 2008)

Amanda Guarín is a 54 year old woman who has been living in Cali, Colombia for over 30 years. She is divorced and has four adult children. Fifteen years ago, she started her own business from scratch, hand-making and selling wallets, shirts, ponchos, shoes and bags embroidered with Colombian images, using traditional designs and colors. She found financial support to expand her business from (Women’s World Banking (WWB) Cali, one of the largest microfinance institutions in the country, and got her first micro-loan in 1999. Amanda Guarín buys plain cotton items from local entrepreneurs and then decorates them with her beautiful designs. This allows her to add a special note and value to her merchandise and to charge a premium for the final product which is sold under the label “Amanda Diseños”. Today, she employs more than 20 other women, mostly heads of households, who work from home, so as to be able to mind their children and households while earning an income. Amanda Guarín grants them flexible working hours, as long as they meet specific deadlines, which they fix together in advance. The women are paid by number of designs that they sew and they can take on larger or smaller workloads, depending on their availability and their need for revenue. (Apil 2008)
 

She started with 2 machines and two employees with the plan to export the sweaters ad other clothes to Russia.  Her collection quickly met with a lot of success and in 2007 she decided to take out a loan of Mongolian Tugrik of 15 million (about EUR 9000) with XAC Bank that would allow her to increase her production. She bought three machines and hired more employees. She now delivers 100 cashmere sweaters a month to several department stores in Russia and Ulan-Bator.  (June 2008)

Naimajon Boboeva is 40 years old, married, and has 4 children between 5 and 20 years of age. She runs a sewing shop on the Panjshanbe market of Khujand and specialises in the rich hand-made embroidery of Tajik wedding dresses. Her husband prepares card board patterns for her based on traditional designs which she then stitches on the robes with a golden thread. Naimajon employs 9 women in her workshop which she mostly trained herself to the art. It takes about two weeks to realise a wedding dress, depending on the intricacy of the embroidery and the price varies between Tajik Somoni 200 to 400 (about EUR 30 to 60/USD 45 to 90), according to the importance of the work and the quality of the cloth. The workshop also makes the traditional head dresses worn by the brides. Naimajon took out a first loan with Imon International* in May 2000 for the amount of Tajik Somoni 120 (about EUR 19/USD 27) which allowed her to buy pieces of cloth and to launch her activity. Since then, she has regularly taken out other credits from Imon to develop her activity by renting a space at the market and by hiring and training additional staff. Her last credit was of USD 2500 for which she bought threads of 500 different colours and cloth, to be able to diversify her models. Thanks to the benefits of her sewing workshop, she was able to pay for the best available education for her children. (April 2009)

Cristina and Wilmer Barba live on one of the Western Islands of the Philippines. They have four children between 2 and 22 years of age. As most of their neighbours, they live off fishing. Every morning, Wilmer and his two oldest sons let out their nets at sea. They return to shore before 9 o’clock so that Cristina can take the fish for sale on the main regional market. In 2002, Cristina took a first loan for the family business of PHP 5,000 (not quite EUR 80) from LifeBank Foundation* - the only microfinance institution active locally - to buy fishing nets. She is presently paying off her thirteenth microloan of PHP 20,000 (about EUR 300) which served to buy a motorboat. The Barba family owns two boats and employs a number of relatives in their small business. Unfortunately, one of the boats was heavily damaged by the typhoon of June 2008. With great resilience, the family made the necessary repairs and worked to continue to pay off their debts and the interests they owe to Life-Bank. (August 2008)

The morinkhor is the traditional Mongolian music instrument, made of one piece of wood strung with two chords with a horse’s head sculpted on the headstock. Tumenulzi, 28, married and father of two children of 4 and 6 years started fabricating the morinkhor in 1997. He opened his own atelier in 2001. Entirely hand sculpted, Tumenulzi’s morinkhor is in high demand and some of the most popular Mongolian folk musicians play on his instruments. Tumenulzi took out a first loan from XacBank in 2006 to buy tools. He has taken out his fourth loan recently to buy a computer. The loans have allowed him to acquire good tools and thus to increase his productivity and to earn more. He is now able to produce 50 instruments each month three times more than when he started. He owns his house in a suburb of Ulan-Bator. (June 2008)

At the age of 25, Katanga came to Cali from the Pacific coast of Colombia, bringing with him his art of playing and constructing traditional drums, a legacy of his African ancestors. In his workshop, he builds drums, marimbas, maracas and other instruments related to afro-latino folklore. His three children now help him in his work and his daughter Orica co-manages the Katanga foundation with him. To build his drums, he collects wood from the Pacific coast, cuts and moulds it before covering it with skins. He also heads a musical group and promotes afro-latino music throughout Colombia. He is supported by the Colombian ministry of culture who regularly mandates him to build instruments, to train young musicians and to organise cultural festivals. Women’s World Bank Colombia (WWB) provided him with a first loan 4 years ago, worth Colombian pesos 3 million (about USD 1,700) which he since repaid with interests. He presently holds a loan of Colombian pesos 10 million (about USD 5’700). These credits allowed him to buy raw materials and utensils to build his instruments and to promote his enterprise. “I’m delighted to promote the culture of the black community in my country and to do so with the support of a grass roots financial institution. I would now like to show my work internationally”, says Katanga. (April 2008)

Zohir Sattorov (51), lives in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He is married and has four girls and two boys who are between 15 and 26 years old. Zohir, his wife and three of his daughters work together to make the flat round breads called “non” that they sell from their street stall. Zohir trained and worked as a baker all his life, and in 2007, he decided to set up is own shop. He took a first loan of USD 2,000 equivalent with First MicroFinance Bank of Tajikistan (FMFBT) to buy flour. He built a bread oven in a rented space and started baking and selling his bread. In 2008, he took another credit of USD 4,000, after having repaid his first one with interests, again to buy flour. He built a second bread oven and hired two bakers. He now oversees the selling in the street with his wife. Thanks to his high productivity, he sells to other bread vendors in the neighboring areas. His loans have helped him increase his activity and his profits considerably, and he was able to employ his wife and his daughters and two more persons. (April 2009)