Mama Zubeda’s Small Business Success

With access to increasing loans and foundational business support through our Rifty Economic Advancement Program (REAP), average incomes in the Oldeani community have more than doubled. Over the last month, we’ve seen the tangible results of this as loan repayments from community members have increased by 4%, with twenty people having repaid their loans in full in May. Each time a loan is repaid, clients are given access to loans of higher amounts. Having community members consistently repay loans, take out new higher loans, and then repay those, is a testament to the knowledge and resources they have gained through REAP trainings.

Mama Zubeda has taken out and repaid five loans. This has allowed her to move from being a seasonal coffee picker living in a single room with three of her kids and one grandson to starting multiple businesses and building a four room home for herself and her family. Through trainings offered by REAP, she has learned how to start and grow her businesses, offer great customer service, and efficiently manage her money. 

“The trainings on how to manage money have helped me be on budget and be timely with my payments, allowing me, step by step, to build my home” Mama Zubeda explained. She also highlighted how she is able to buy, raise, and sell livestock and grow crops on six acres of land to then sell at the market. These businesses have given her the extra income to ensure her kids’ can earn a secondary education. Her daughter, currently in Form 4, will graduate soon and plans on being a teacher. With her youngest son only in Standard 5, Mama Zubeda is thrilled that all her children will be able to follow in their sister’s footsteps and continue their studies at secondary school.

Mama Zubeda is just one inspiring example of how REAP has empowered nearly 1,000 community members to support themselves and their families through loans, training, and the resources needed to launch and operate small businesses!