Ndeye Bineta    Aug 26, 2014

Ndeye Bineta    Aug 26, 2014

mfrost3    Aug 25, 2014

Hi everyone,

My name is Miriam and I'm a Client Relationship Manager here in Senegal. I had the pleasure of visiting Sanou Sarr over the weekend. She now lives in Parcelles Assainies, a suburb on the outskirts of Dakar, and runs a gaming center for children. As you can see from the pictures, it's a very popular place in the neighborhood. Sanou hopes to post a loan application soon in order to buy a Playstation for the center and she hopes you will support her in this endeavor!

Miriam Frost

Sanou    Dec 2, 2010

I just got my loan and I would like to thank all of you. I hope to be able to pay on time and one day get a new loan. I thank you all tremendously

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Je viens tout juste de recevoir mon chéque je vous en remercie et je pense payer dans les délais requis et pouvoir renouveler un nouveau prèt.Je vous remercie beaucoup.

Sanou    Nov 19, 2010

I would like to thank you for the confidence you have placed in me and I will work to effectively manage this money to insure future loans. I do not want to pick up my check this month because I want to start managing it and the beginning of next month. It is for this reason that I have decided to pick up loan at the beginning of December to avoid having to pay back at a less convenient time of the month. I would like to thank you again for your generosity and I am positive that you will not regret to have given me this opportunity.

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Je vous remercie de votre confiance et je m' attélerai à bien gérer ce fond pour nos préts futurs.J ai pas voulu prendre l argent en cours du mois pour ne pas perdre de repère.C est pour cela jai jugé nècessaire de le retirer au dèbut du mois de DECEMBRE pour èviter des égarements de dates.Je vous remercie une fois de plus de votre gènérosité et je suis sure et certaine que vous ne regretteriez pas de m avoir offrir cette opportunité.

smonroe    Oct 20, 2010

Sanou started selling car lubricant four years ago when her husband opened a gas station in the beach town of Mbour. “ We needed the extra income. It was unfair for my husband to carry all our family’s burden” Sanou explains. “I knew I could help and I still work to help.”
Though knowing little about car lubricants, Sanou Sarr felt its sales potential. Mbour’s roads are notoriously clogged by beach goers and Dakar bound travellers. Senegal’s pot holed roads crack engines and tires, leaving an alarmingly high number of drivers strained and in need of help at all hours of the day. Selling car lubricant and other liquids in smaller quantities could give these drivers the amount they needed to make it home and consult a trusted mechanic.
Wedded to the town’s gas station manager, Sanou already had access to the supplies and clients to get her car lubricant business going. Best of all, she could work from home, allowing her to take care of her two children while working flexible hours for Mbour’s constant stream of commuters.
Sanou’s business thrives on economies of scale. In a typical month, Sanou buys two or three 200 litre barrels of car lubricant from her husband. By buying in bulk, Sanou spends about two dollars per litre. She then redistributes her barrels into litre bottles and sells them at two and a half dollars per litre, giving her a fifty-cent profit per sale. Most of Sanou’s clients are cab drivers, though she occasionally sells to customers owning electrical generators, making her the only Zidisha client to benefit from Senegal’s persistent power outages.
Though Mbour is a tourist destination, Sanou maintains that business remains steady throughout the year. “There is greater variance within the month”. She typically sells 15 litres a day in the first half of the month and about 8 litres a day in the last weeks of the months. “This is because most Senegalese earn their salaries at the beginning of the month,” Sanou explains, “ and then try to make ends meet for the rest of it”.
Sanou’s long-term goal is to make enough money to help her husband purchase a house. She currently divides her profits between her children’s education and reinvesting in her business. With Zidisha’s loan, Sanou plans on expanding her inventory to earn enough money to start saving for a house without compromising her children’s education.

smonroe    Oct 20, 2010

Hey, guys! My name is Steve and I am one of Zidisha’s Client Relationship Manager based in Senegal.

While in Senegal, I will be meeting with Zidisha’s clients to understand their stories and help them connect with their lenders from across the globe.

Communication is fundamental to Zidisha’s microfinancing model. I’m here to facilitate dialogue between borrower and lender. I’ll be posting stories, photos and videos about our lenders to help bring their businesses and lives a little closer to you.

Please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I’ll be more than willing to answer any questions, suggestions or comments

Sanou    Oct 15, 2010

I am Senegalese and a stay at home mom. I've been selling car lubricants for a while and this business has allowed me to the support my family's needs and the education of my three children. My work also allows taxi drivers to have access to car lubricants, motor oil, cartridges, wynn at all moments of the day because my store is at my house and I am willing to sell at all moments. Your loan will help me to make more sales and to expand my benefits of scale.
Life in Mbour is pleasant, but I live in its downtown. Mbour has a touristy beach area called Saly that tourists love to go to and I live close to Saly. Saly is a fishing village where one finds all types of fish. It's really beautiful and deserves to be visited.

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Je suis sènègalaise, je suis mère au foyer.je m'exerce depuis longtemps dans la commercialisation des lubrifiants et c' est un commerce lucratif qui me permet de survenir au besoin familial et l' éducation de mes trois enfants.Ce commerce permet aussi au chauffeurs de taxi d'avoir de l'huile de moteur,des cartouches,des wynn's à tout moment de la journée car la boutique se trouve chez moi et je vends à tout moment.Votre pret me permettra de parfaire encore plus mes ventes et d'èlargir davantage mes marchés.La vie à mbour est paisible,moi j'habite au centre ville.Mbour à une site balnèaire qui s' appelle saly très prisé par les touristes et je vis non loin de saly.C'est un village de pècheur on y trouve toute sorte de poisson c' est vraiment un beau site agrèable à visiter.