Segunda

Loan description:

Segunda Borreta (the lady wearing yellow shirt) is a 49 year old married woman who lives in the neighbourhood of Camptinio which is in the town of Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija province. Her husband is Eustafio, 53 years old and works as a local army officer. Her five children are aged between 26 and 20 who already have separate families, but still living within the area. One of her children is an engineer while one is a psychologist. Through the financial help of all family members, Segunda has been able to progressively run her grocery store which is situated near their residence. The business is has now been operating for almost fifteen years and it has become a vital source of affordable commodities by people in the community. Originally it was a wooden structure and now Segunda has converted it to become a well-established store made from concrete walls and fine roofing. The products which include different choices of bread, canned goods, sodas and hygienic items are displayed in a screened window where the customers can freely buy anytime of the day. Segunda mans the shop as early as 6 in the morning until late evening. She makes sure to visit the town centre that is 8 kilometres away, in a regular manner to re-stock and assures her valued customers that her products are new. She buys the items in wholesale and re-sells those in retail to reduce costs. She then vends the products at a cheaper price without sacrificing the life of the business. This is her simple to the community where she lives. Most of the time, her children also assist her in selling the products, especially during weekends and holidays. Segunda has lately availed a microloan from the microfinance organisation, Alalay sa Kaunlaran for the purpose of acquiring additional volumes of bread, snacks and other commodities for the store. Any increase in her income shall be saved for the future expansion of her business as well as for the studies of her grandchildren. She is looking forward to completely repay the $1221 loan over a term of twelve months.