Lydia

Lydia is 34 years old and lives in the town of Njeru in the Mukono region of Uganda. She is married and has 3 children who are all currently in school.

For the past 3 years, Lydia has been working hard to manage her retail shop, which sells charcoal. To help expand her business, Lydia has requested a loan of 2,000,000 UGX from BRAC Uganda. The loan will be used to purchase more charcoal to sell and will help Lydia generate greater profits and repay the loan in time, and pay some of the house bills.

Lydia hopes that in the future she will be able to acquire land and construct a house of her own. She is a member of BRAC's microfinance program that primarily serves small-group members like her who do not have collateral for commercial loans but do have businesses that have grown and qualify for microloans.