Theodette

Theodette Nikuze is 29 years old. She sells groceries in a shop in her sector of Sovu. She lives with her husband, who is a truck driver, and they have 3 children who all attend local schools. They also have one family relative who lives with them.

Theodette normally sells groceries like nappies, jugs, body oil, sugar, salt, rice, and sweets. She buys them in large quantities from the town of Musanze, and transports them via bus to her village in Sovu. There and she resells them wholesale to other shop owners as well as retailing them to individual clients in her own shop.

Occasionally she was able to ask her husband for a lift in the truck that he drives which allowed her to buy even larger quantities, but that truck had an accident which has forced her to buy and sell smaller quantities.

With this loan she would like to buy more grocery stock to sell wholesale and resale. She will use the profits to repay the loan and help her husband to repair the truck so they will be able to increase their sales once again. They will also continue to pay school fees for their children and take care of their family.

Theodette chose to start these activities because people from her village used to travel a long distance to go to buy their groceries, and she has been able to bring them close to their village. She employs 3 permanent employees. In the future, she would like to have a big grocery shop and have her own car to reduce dependence on her husband's truck. This is her first loan and she thinks it will help her a lot.