British Council-Microcredits

Transcript of the podcast

:Sandra

I live in a village in the Philippines with my five children. I used to work all day selling vegetables in the market, but we never had enough money. My children were hungry all the time. Some other women in the village had got loans, but I thought I was too poor and wouldn’t be able to pay it back. They persuaded me to take out a loan, and I was able to buy better vegetables to sell in the market. Every day I sold more and more vegetables, and made more and more profit. I paid the loan back on time, and now I’ve taken out another one. I’ve bought seeds to grow vegetables, so that I can make more money. My life has changed completely. My children are never hungry and I can afford to send them to school

:Estelle

I live in Ghana and I make straw hats and baskets. Before I got my loan I couldn’t make many hats and baskets because I couldn’t afford to buy much straw. Now I make a lot more, and I buy baskets from other women in my village to sell. I’ve set up a stall and sell my goods to tourists. I’m planning to start selling different traditional crafts. Every week I pay back some of the loan, and now I’ve nearly paid it all back. The extra money that I’m making means my three children can go to school

:Miriam

I live in Ecuador on the outskirts of a large city. For years I sold bottled water by the roadside, but I never made much money. My house was falling down and I couldn’t feed my three children properly. With my first loan I bought some bottles of soft drink. You can make much more profit than from selling just water. At first all the extra money went on feeding my family. I started buying more vegetables and sometimes even meat. I used my second loan to start selling snacks as well, and made enough money to get the house repaired. Now I’ve taken out another loan and I’m going to open a small shop. Every week I save some money so that if anyone in my family gets ill I can afford medicine

Answers

:Sandra

from the Philippines lives in a village has 5 children

:Estelle

from Ghana lives in a village has 3 children

:Miriam

from Ecuador lives in a city has 3 children