Sharing Stories
May 10, 2021
In this week’s blog, we are going to look back at the lives of some of Wisconsin Microfinance’s loan recipients in the Philippines. These two stories are representative of the stories of loan recipients from around the world.
Lezanne is the mother of one from Bohol, Philippines. She was working at the Carmen Multi-Purpose Cooperative, one of Wisconsin Microfinance’s partners in the Philippines. During her time at Carmen MPC, Lezanne learned of the Wisconsin Microfinance program and decided to apply for a loan to start her own hog raising business. With the constant demand for meat in the area, hog raising and meat vending became a stable source of income for her. In 2017, she was able to resign from her position at the cooperative and pursue hog raising full-time and became one of the co-op’s regular meat suppliers. She has been able to grow her drove of pigs from two to more than ten. The loans also made it possible for her to expand from one hog pen to five. There was even a point where she was raising 16 piglets. Lezzane appreciates the trust and confidence displayed in her as a new businesswoman and continues to grow her business.
Evelyn Palado is a mother of five from Bohol, Philippines. Before obtaining her first Wisconsin Microfinance loan, Evelyn was a rice farmer. Due to long dry seasons, her entire rice harvest failed quite frequently and left her family dependent on her husband’s income alone. Evelyn took out her first Wisconsin Microfinance loan to buy fertilizer in order to increase her rice harvest, but because of the lack of rain, the fertilizer did very little to increase her harvest. After this failed attempt, Evelyn took out another loan in order to start growing pineapple on a plot of land near her mother’s house. Since receiving that loan, she has cultivated 7,000 pineapples in under a year. She was able to sell the pineapples in the local marketplace and pay back the loan and save for her family. These loans have enabled Evelyn to pay for her children’s education. Evelyn has plans of expanding her pineapple crop, but needs to hire friends and family to maintain the plantation. Thus, the loan to Evelyn is now bringing employment to others, and the economic benefits of the microloans funded by Wisconsin Microfinance are expanding into the community.
These stories provide deep insight into the complicated problems and creativity of individuals in the developing world. Wisconsin Microfinance helps enable individuals to find creative and sustainable solutions in supporting their families and communities.
