Kiva Fathers Who Will Melt Your Heart on Father’s Day

Kiva fathers show their dedication to family each day through their hard work and love. This Father’s Day we wanted to highlight three Kiva dads committed to making life better for their families.

Bernard (pictured in the top right of the above image) is a hard working entrepreneur in Zambia-- but to his family, he is the adoptive dad to 13 orphaned nieces and nephews he has raised as his own since losing eight of his own siblings. Later this year, the youngest two will complete their university studies. Bernard says he wanted to raise the children “to be independent and educated,” and has taken on the responsibility of raising the children as his life’s central purpose.

To support the family, Bernard operates three mobile money stalls, with Kiva lenders’ support. He provides a secure method of transferring money from one person to another through the use of cellphones, for important payments like tuition and medical bills.

The stability of his income is vital to his ability to continue to provide for his not-so-traditional family.

Kahnu Charan lives in Odisha, India, and is married with five children. He had to overcome physical disability to provide for his family because his right leg was damaged in an accident so his economic opportunities were limited.

Today, he weaves bamboo baskets and used a Kiva loan to buy materials in bulk. Currently he can only afford to send two of his children to school but he is hoping that the extra profit from selling more baskets will make it possible for him to send all five children to school.

Joseph is a donut/mandazi-maker in Kibira, Kenya. He has two young children, a boy and a baby girl. Joseph’s son is proud to 'help' his dad in his shop, cheerily running to get ingredients when his father asks. He has had three Zip loans and has used the loans to hire help and also expanded his product line. He saves on his expenses by buying in bulk and known for his friendly attitude.

Cheers to all the Kiva dads out there, borrowers and lenders, who have given us so much inspiration and love. Happy Father’s Day!