A loan of $450 helped to buy farm inputs and fertilizers to increase yield.

The Mercy Foundation helped fund a microloan for Elizabeth, a farmer from the Philippines.

Here is Elizabeth’s Story

Should you ever visit the municipality of Molave – Mahayag Zamboanga del Sur in the Philippines, you will probably find Elizabeth tending to her farm. This middle aged woman has 5 children, and being the only breadwinner, she has to work extra hard to cater to all their needs. She has been doing this for several years, and has managed to advance her business through loans. Since she always pays back the loans on time, she is a Member in Good Standing, revealing that she can be trusted for another loan.

In an effort to continue to run her farm smoothly, Elizabeth recently approached the Paglaum Cooperative for a 20,000 PHP loan. The money would go towards buying farm inputs and fertilizers and for paying labor costs for cultivating their land. She hopes that one day she will be able to expand her farm and own a jeepney someday.

Her loan was locally disbursed by the Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative, an organization that takes pride in its holistic approach to poverty alleviation. The company’s main aim is to ensure that low income families attain self-sufficiency, especially in the province of Mindanao and Visayas. The organization does this by providing its members with access to finance. Through the Kiva lending platform and the Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative, The Mercy Foundation chose to fully fund Elizabeth’s loan of 20,000 PHP, helping her take the next step on the journey to fulfil her dreams. Thousands of lives across the globe have been changed thanks to organizations such as these, as they help to provide low income earners with the tools that they need to escape the poverty that surrounds them.

This system works in a simple way. Kiva helps foundations provide funds, while the Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative identifies needy people on the ground and disburses the donated funds to them. This is all able to work smoothly because all the entities involved would like to see low income earners gain access to quality microfinance services. You can join the Kiva lending platform, and if you would like to change the life of a person in the same way as the Mercy Foundation. Just visit www.kiva.org. The website contains thousands of needy entrepreneurs.

Notes

1. This article was based on https://www.kiva.org/lend/787733

For Mercy Foundation, mitigating the scourge of poverty requires sustainable measures. The organization then supports underprivileged entrepreneurs in their quest for financial independence by giving them access to microloans. These are generated when the foundation liquidates donations of underutilized real estate assets. For more on what the foundation does, visit this website.