2009 - Stories of Women Who Have Received Loans from Power of Love

Jane Nkole

Jane Nkole is 38 years old, single, and HIV positive. Jane has three children and all of them are in school. Before Janet got a loan from the Power of Love Foundation, she was selling fritters and beans. Once she received the loan she has increased her inventory, and diversified her assortment. Jane now sells used clothing, vegetables (different types), chickens, mineral water, and Chitenge (a skirt worn by Zambian women) materials. Jane is presently living in a two room house and has started extending her house financed by her earnings from her business.

Clemetina Banda

Clementina is 55 years old, is married and is HIV positive. She has seven children and five of them are in school. Before Clementina received a loan from the Power of Love Foundation she had no regular source of income and was not operating a business. With her first loan, Clementina started selling eggs. Since then she has diversified her business to include vegetables (different type) and clothes. Clementina is now able to purchase food and pay school fees for her children without seeking help from relatives. According to Clementina, the loan has significantly improved the quality of her life and made her life easier than before.

Alice Banda

Alice is a widow, 50 years old and HIV positive. She had six children out of which 2 died of AIDS and four are living. Alice has three children still in school and she has two grandchildren. Before Alice got a loan from the Power of Love Foundation she was selling vegetables and nursing her sick husband. Alice was facing a lot of difficulties caring for her family and running her business at the same time. Consequently, her business was not doing well. After she received a loan and business training from the Power of Love Foundation, her business improved significantly. According to Alice, as a result of the business training she received she now understands how to manage her money better. In fact, with the higher earnings from her business she has added two rooms to her house. Alice informed us that all her grandchildren are back in school, and she is able to provide food and clothing for them. Alice is very happy as she is doing better than she ever imagined.

Corin Muma

Corin is 38 years old, single, and HIV positive. She has 4 children and two of them are in school. With the loan funds received from the Power of Love Foundation, Corin started a vegetable stand and her business is doing well. As a result of her earnings she has been able to put two children in school and she has been able to pay her rent without seeking help from relatives. Corin says she is very happy she has become independent and her children are able to attend school.

Alice Phiri

Alice is 52 Years old, is married and is HIV negative. She has six children and 2 grandchildren and four of her children are in school. Before Alice received a loan from the Power of Love Foundation, she was breaking stones to earn money. Once she received a loan she has opened a shop to sell grocery items and the shop itself was built with the earnings from her business. As a result of regular earnings from her business, Alice is able to provide three meals a day for her family and pay for the school expenses for all her children.

Rebbeca Nkhoma

Rebbeca is a 58 year old widow and is HIV negative. She has three children and six grandchildren of which three are in school. Since Rebecca’s daughter passed away she is caring for her grandchildren. After Rebecca lost her daughter, her grandchildren had to discontinue school due to lack of funds. Prior to the loan received from the Power of Love Foundation, her earnings were not enough to support herself and her grandchildren. Rebbeca has successfully paid back two loans and is on her third loan cycle. With earnings from her third loan, Rebbeca has been able to send her grandchildren back to school. Rebbeca says that the loans have made a big difference in her life. At present, she is planning to build a two room house on piece of land she has been able to purchase recently.

Janert Chinachao

Janert is 48 years old, married and HIV positive. She has six children, four grandchildren and 5 children in school. Janert’s husband has been unemployed for the last seven years and it was very difficult for her to support her family and keep her children in school. Her earnings were not enough to pay for the school fees for her children in secondary school. After she received a loan from the Power of Love Foundation, Janert started a business and her life improved considerably. With regular earnings from her business, Janert was able to send all her children to school and she is able to provide her family with three meals a day. In 2006, Janert paid off her second loan successfully, and she is now able to pay her rent. Also, her husband is helping her in running her restaurant business instead of hiring an employee.

Christine Munkonmbwe

Christine Munkonmbwe is 39 years old and can called a successful business person. Before she got her first micro loan from the Power of Love Foundation, she used to sell clothes, buying and selling locally in Lusaka, Zambia. At present, she imports several items for her store from Botswana and her business has improved considerably. Christine has received four micro loans from the Power of Love. After she received her first loan she started a chicken coop, but now she has a store and travels to Botswana regularly to purchase bedding, clothes, jewels and other items that are requested by her customers. Christine also sells food stuff and soft drinks at her store. In addition, she has employed a few women to work with her resulting in job creation as well. Christine is married with 4 children, has 5 dependents and her loan size has been $110-125.

Hellen Tembo

Hellen Tembo is a 53 year old widow, has five children and 6 dependents. Hellen is on her fourth loan cycle (loan size between $110-125). She received her first micro loan from the Power of Love Foundation to build a shop to sell mealie meal (a Zambian staple that is made into a porridge). Hellen was successful in building the shop and as a result of the loans has expanded the assortment offered at her store to include groceries, mealie meal, freshly popped corn etc. Hellen extended a wall to make her shop more secure and has started building a two room house for rental purposes. Hellen’s vision is to become completely self-reliant as she will be able to use the rental income to pay for school fees, food, clothing for her family without being dependent on anyone (as she was before she started getting loans from POL).

Sarah Mwanza and her chickens in the chicken run

Sarah Mwanza is a 50 year old woman with 3 children and 4 dependents. Sarah is on her fourth loan cycle (loan size between $110-125). Before Sarah received her first loan from the Power of Love Foundation, she used to sell 40–60 Broilers each month. As a result of the four loans she received, she has expanded her business and she is now able to get 12–15 trays of eggs per week. Sarah uses the income from her business to send her children to school, and she also supports her husband who has been unemployed for more than five years. In fact, she has given employment to her husband (she pays him a salary to take care of the chicken) and at present both of them are working hard to expand their business further. Sarah sells chicken eggs from her home, and people know about her business because of the poster placed outside for all potential customers.

Project Team

Alka Subramanian, Project Director, San Diego, CA, USA, alkapower@gmail.com

Felix Mwale, Project Coordinator, Lusaka, Zambia

Esther Shumba, Associate Trainer and Project Coordinator, Lusaka, Zambia