meet some of the joinFITE entrepreneurs

Betty owns her own hair salon in Barranquilla, Colombia. Ever since she was a little girl, Betty loved hair styling, and as she got older started studying it at night, and bit-by-bit built her business.  Betty used her loan to expand her product inventory so that she can better meet the needs of her clients, and hopes the profits will help her expand into a larger salon.  “If one does things with love, everything turns out well,” she says.

Susana is a businesswoman in San Jose, California where she runs her own childcare center. She needed to raise money to expand the center and improve its safety features, but she found herself unable to borrow from her bank at a fair rate. joinFITE® lent her the money to expand, creating a safer atmosphere for the children she cares for and providing her with a sense of empowerment. “I feel independent, like I’m doing something perfect. This is me, this is my job.”

Callem lives in Nyamira in Kenya, and farms tea and maize to help support her family of nine children. Callem used her profits to expand her business by purchasing a flour mill, which in turn allowed her to send her children to school… something that she was never able to do as a child. She says, “I am grateful to the ones who gave us the loan to start my business to uplift me and my family.”.

Adelina lives in Cauayun in the Philippines, and owns a business where she buys scrap gold and turns it into jewelry for resale. “My life has really changed, because there are people who lend you a hand,” she said, helping to turnaround a dire financial situation into a thriving jewelry business that helps support the entire family.

Gugu lives in Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa, and owns a business where she raises chickens. She has left behind a life of pain and poverty and built up a thriving business that allows her to feed her children and send them to school for the first time thanks to joinFITE®. As she testifies, “Since I have been getting this money, I was able to buy all the necessary stuff that can grow my business and make it look professional. Now I can put food on the table and my kids are now at school.”

Juana lives in Barranquilla, Colombia and owns her own cleaning product business. Initially, it was on a very small scale, but a joinFITE® loan gave Juana the financial means to follow her dream of expanding the business by taking over a local factory and increasing her output. Her expanded profits afforded Juana and her family a greater quality of life, as well as allowing her to pay for her nephew’s tuition, something she holds very dear.