Joseta

Loan description:

Joseta Eustaquio is a 46 year old wife and mother of three children who are aged 19, 18 and 16. Her eldest child is currently in college, her second child is a high school graduate and her youngest child is still at high school. Joseta and her 64 year old husband, Fernando, help each other run a market stall in the public market a few kilometres away from their home. For the past 11 years, they have been engaged in selling fresh stocks of meat including pork, beef and chicken. These are commonly used as main ingredients in Filipino cooking. Most of their regular customers are household mothers who cook for their families’ daily, as well as owners of eateries who use their meat to prepare the dishes they sell. Their stall is made from white tiles where they display most of their stock. They get their products from a legal and trusted supplier of meat products within the town where they acquire their meat at wholesale. They then sell their products on a per kilo basis, using a large weighing scale to determine the actual weight. Joseta normally mans the stall during the day while her husband is responsible for collecting the meat from the wholesaler. They experience a huge increase in sales during certain public holidays as well as other celebrations. Joseta makes sure her prices are in line with the prevailing rates in order to gather the trust of her valued customers. She has been a member of the microfinance organisation, Laua-an Multi-Purpose Cooperative, for four years where she also avails their savings, insurance, mortuary and loan services. She has recently received a loan worth $1313 (50,000 Philippine pesos) in order to acquire more volumes of pork, beef and chicken. She anticipates this bulk purchase will increase their sales as well as their income and she plans to use this projected increase in income to further improve the facilities of her stall, as well as continue to cover the costs of her children's education. She intends to repay the loan over a period of twelve months.