Member Highlights: Mwangaza Group

Mwangaza means light in Kiswahili, and the women of this Partner Group truly light up the room with their energy and enthusiasm. The Mwangaza Group received their loans in March and will begin the repayment process this month.

Esther Kagwiria is 35 years old and married to Delphine Njagi. She has three children, one who was just born a few months ago. She currently makes $82 per month to support her family of five, by selling the farm produce she grows. She is going to use her loan of $400 to start a second-hand clothes shop and to purchase a power saw so that she and her husband can sell timber. Esther is a very sweet woman, who brought her baby to every day of the microloan training, and we are looking forward to witnessing all she will accomplish for herself and her growing family.

Bernice Gitare is the chair lady of Mwangaza group and at age 60  is both a mother and a leader to all the women of the group. She is married and raised three children who are no longer living at home. She is currently earning $58 per month from her general shop, dairy farming, and tea farming. She is going to use her loan to purchase chickens and build a chicken shed so that she can sell eggs and chickens for slaughter. Bernice is a strong and bold woman who has kept her group strong and motivated to succeed in their microenterprise.

Dorothy Kaimuri, age 37, is the secretary of Mwangaza group. She is married to Jasper Gitonga, with whom she has raised two lovely children, one who is still living at home that they are supporting. She has been a successful farmer for many years, earning $70 per month from selling bananas and from her goats. She will use her loan to build a dairy farming business, purchase a cow, and build a shed.  Dairy farming is one of the most successful microenterprises for our loan recipients and we expect her to be earning almost $200 per month by the end of her first year of loan repayments.