Loan to Carmen Magdalena Mathews Wilson for Catering

I am very excited to see that the loan I made to Carmen Magdalena Mathews Wilson for her to continue her catering business in Bluefields, Nicaragua has been combined with money from other Kiva lenders and disbursed to Carmen today.

She will use the $1000 interest-free loan to buy “80 pounds of chicken that costs US$ 1.90 per pound, 55 coconuts that cost US$ 0.60 each, 80 pounds of beef that costs US$ 2.00 per pound, 50 pounds of fish that costs US$2.00 per pound, 30 pounds of shrimp that costs US$5.50 per pound, 100 pounds of American rice that costs US$ 45.00, 100 pounds of sugar that costs US$35.00, 35 bags of coal that costs US$ 5.00 per bag, a drum of cooking oil that costs US$ 35.00, 80 pounds of taro root that costs US$ 0.40 per pound, 100 bananas that cost US$ 0.40 per banana, and 80 pounds of yucca root that costs US$ 0.35 per pound.”

According to her home page, “Señora Mathews has sold fried foods and other dishes that are typical of the region such as mixed seafood soup and rondón (a dish made with coconut, yucca root, taro root, and other products) for over 10 years. She carries out this activity 2 or 3 times per week, and is visited by the inhabitants of black neighborhoods of this city who come to buy her meals and take them in containers to their houses. One day she will offer the mixed seafood soup, and the other day the rondón.”

Carmen will be paying back this loan at the rate of $83.33 per month, starting in December. I congratulate her on her enterprise and initiative.

Have you thought about contributing money to Kiva? This microfinance facilitator is “the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.”

Best of health, naturally,
Nina