Brian    Mar 2, 2012

Maimouna, I am pleased for you that your business is going well. Thank you for paying back your loan ahead of schedule - I will certainly be happy to help fund any future loans that you want.

Maimouna    Feb 22, 2012

My name is Maimouna Bela Diallo and I am doing business between Casamance and Dakar. I sell products from the forest to Dakar, with palm oil and dry fish from the "houilletre". Then, I buy some "tioura" and room perfumes to sell in Casamance. I also sell products called "forever". Today, I have been told the remaining payment is 23,317 and I want to pay because I would like to get an other loan.

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Je m’appelle Maimouna Bela Diallo et je fait un commerce entre Casamance et Dakar actuellement. Je vens des produit de la forestin a Dakar, l’huile de palme, poisson sec des houilletre et je achete des tioura y e de parfum de chamber pour vendre a Casamance. Je vens auusi de produit “forever”. Aujourdhi on a dit qu’il reste 23317 et je veux payer parce que je veux autre prêt.

GarcharJ    Oct 10, 2011

This past Friday, two Zidisha volunteers and I met with Maimouna at her home in Dakar. We sat in her bedroom to talk about her work and how the loan has impacted both her business and life.

BUSINESS
Maimouna sells products in Dakar that come from the Casamance region of Senegal, where her mother lives. She primarily sells palm oil, which is her most lucrative product. She sometimes sells her products at the boutique right outside her home, but she said the majority of her regular customers, who are neighbors, come directly to her house. Every few weeks, someone travels back and forth from Dakar to the Casamance to pick up her products and she also sends clothing down to her mother to sell at a boutique in the south.

IMPACT OF LOAN
Because of the loan, Maimouna has been able to buy greater quantities of palm oil to sell. Since she was young, Maimouna has been selling a variety of products. She explained that when she was young and didn’t have children, she could use her profits for herself. Now, she says, with the help of the loan, she makes more money which has helped take care of her family. She said she is supporting 15 children and has also used her profits to send medicine to support her sick aunt in Guinea.

FUTURE
In the future, Maimouna hopes to take out a larger loan to make a greater impact on her business. She said her current loan is helping her buy more products, but she hopes with a larger loan she can have a fixed place to sell palm oil which will attract more customers.

Allen    Jun 1, 2011

Hello from Senegal's Cleint Relations Manager. I recently went to Maimouna's place in the beachside neighborhood of Parcelles (unite 17 #4). We talked about her previous loans (one criteria for loan access). Maimouna explained to me that she had previously held three group loans (the sums above are her share of these collective loans), the last of which she paid back before the due date. Yet, as others had not done so all future loans were put on hold. Therefore, Maimouna was penalized for others actions and is trying to find another solution.
I met two of her young children, one of which looked as though he had seem a ghost when he saw me!