Mercy lives in Bindura, Zimbabwe, with her husband Edward. Together, they are raising six children and caring for their six-year-old grandchild while their adult daughter works away. On top of this, they also provide financial support to Edward’s late brother’s widow and children. With so many loved ones depending on them, the family’s resources were stretched to the limit.
Mercy and Edward grow mainly maize on their small subsistence farm. Here they produce food for household consumption, and trade maize for things like cooking oil or other products that they need.
Alongside her work on the family farm, Mercy runs a bakery making bread and buns. Before joining MicroLoan Foundation, she was only baking on a very small scale and had no choice but to work on other people’s farms to make ends meet.
Since getting her loan from MicroLoan Foundation, Mercy has been able to invest in tools for her bakery business, buying an oven that she places on top of a fire, and scales to help her manage her products. As a result, Mercy has been able to increase the volume of baked goods she can produce, and her profits have increased from $5-7 per week to $20 per week.
Things have changed for the better since Mercy got her first loan from MicroLoan Foundation: ‘We have a balanced diet and are able to pay for school fees for our two children who are still in school as well as for our grandchild who lives with us. Working as a farmhand was hard work and I have a better quality of life now as I have the freedom to do my own thing,’ she says.
Mercy’s story is a powerful example of how access to small loans, training, and mentoring can transform not just a woman’s livelihood, but the future of her entire family and community.
Donate today to support a woman like MercyPublished on: 03/09/2025