Ana Abel C. was born in the city of Xai-xai, Gaza Province, in the south of Mozambique. She is 34 years old, and the single mother of a 14-year old, who attends school. Ana attended school until the 7th grade and dropped out due to a lack of financial resources. She lives with her child in a home she owns, and does not support anyone else.
She left Xai-xai for Maputo with her parents when she was very young. She now lives in Matola in the neighborhood of Malhampshene. She has had her own business for more than 5 years. She does not have any employees; she only has help from her daughter occasionally. She sells a variety of new clothing, and earns around 8.000,00 MT to 10.000.00 Mt per month, which she uses primarily to add-on to her home and she also has some savings in her bank account.
She has had loans in the past through NOVO BANCO and PROCREDIT, but she decided not to continue with them for various reasons. She learned about Hluvuku through a friend, and took the initiation to approach them for a loan. This is her first loan, in the amount of 20.000.00 MT, which she plans to use to purchase products (clothing, linens, other clothing items) to increase her inventory.
Ana is committed to paying back this loan on time in order to have access to future loans. In the future she would like to request additional loans to purchase a means of transportation as a way to minimize costs of purchasing merchandise.
Translated from Portuguese by Kiva volunteer anonymized. View original language description.