Meet Anna Tembo. She had a dream of establishing her own hairdressing business. With determination and the help of a loan from MicroLoan Foundation in 2022, Anna has turned her dream into reality.
Before joining MicroLoan Foundation, Anna’s family struggled to make ends meet. Her husband worked as a cleaner, and their income didn’t meet even their most basic needs. They couldn’t afford essential resources like fertilisers and pesticides, resulting in inadequate food production. This dire situation prevented their children from attending school because they couldn’t afford shoes, uniforms, books, and pens.
Anna and her husband live in the rural village of Nanibe, Zambia with their four children. Anna expressed the hardships they faced, saying, “When you live in poverty, hunger strikes, and sometimes you get sick because you don’t have enough to eat. Even if the school is free, there is no chance of an education for the children as you can’t provide the uniforms and books that they need to attend.”
Anna’s husband believed in her potential and encouraged her to take out a loan. He assured her that she would succeed and offered support in overcoming any challenges they might face in loan repayments. Anna now runs her hairdressing business from a small shed by her home, and while it’s still in its early stages, she has hopes and plans to expand it into a proper salon.
With the profits generated from her first MicroLoan, Anna invested in purchasing maize, ensuring her family had enough to last the year.
With numerous mouths to feed, and Anna’s business in its infancy, the family is not entirely financially secure or comfortable yet, but hope is on the horizon. Anna dreams of growing her hairdressing business and eventually setting up a grocery shop that can cater to her community’s needs.
Anna’s determination and training provided by MicroLoan Foundation have given her a renewed sense of hope and ambition for her family’s future. In her words, “I want my hairdressing business to grow, and I want to set up a grocery shop, a big one that has everything the customers want. If I can afford to build a store by the roadside, I will be able to make it a success as there are plenty of customers.”
MicroLoan Foundation’s support not only provides financial resources but also trains and empowers women to use these resources wisely, helping them build a better future for themselves and their families.
Published on: 14/11/2023