Jennefer

Jeneffer Flores is mother of three children aged between 12 and 23 years old. She has been separated from her husband for about 10 years. She has been working as a village treasurer for 5 years. To earn an additional income, she also sells food items in the city of Bogo in Cebu province. She sells affordable pork, chicken, vegetable and noodle dishes and frozen foods. Jennefer wants nothing more than to provide a better quality of life for her children and send them all to highest education.

Jennefer sells pre-packed dishes in large plastic containers. Her regular customers are market vendors, sales ladies, pedicab drivers and small store owners. She has been in this business for the past four years now. She earns between 500 and 1,500 pesos a day (about £7 - £21). She sells her products for both cash and on credit. She gets paid on a weekly and fortnightly basis. Jennefer also sells snacks like steamed buns, coconut juice and fried peanuts. She wakes up early to cook her daily dishes and her children help her in preparing the ingredients. She used to hire pedicab drivers to transport her products. But now she has her own vehicle. Jennefer knows how to drive so she recently acquired a single motorcycle on credit and has also purchased a side car. This is her ninth loan from Lendwithcare's microfinance partner, Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which she has been a member of for nine years now. She will use her new loan to pay for the side car (20,000 pesos, about £280), and to pay for the tuition and school projects of her second child. She will also use a portion of the loan to renovate the roof and the walls of her kitchen, which will cost about 15,000 pesos (about £210). She will use the remaining loan money as business capital, as she needs cash on hand to purchase her daily ingredients and deal with their living expenses. Jennefer hopes to increase her sales as she needs to pay her monthly repayments on her motorcycle and also repay this loan.