The Success Story of February in Ghana

Mary Brown is a Ga from Chorkor in the Greater Accra Region. She is in her 40s and has been divorced for four years after twenty-five years of marriage. She has three children - one boy and two girls. They are Larte Lartey, 12 years old and in class 6, Larkor Lartey, 9 years old and in class 5, and Larkaly Lartey, 6 years old and in class 2. According to her, the first two children live with their paternal grandfather.
Mary was in Hair Dyeing business when she joined ID-Ghana. She was among the first partners to receive a loan when Chorkor branch was opened in 2002 (see our article of July 2003). She has since received not less than seven loans. Her first loan was GH¢15.00 and her current one is GH¢150.00.
Mary’s working capital back in 2002 was about GH¢50.00 but it has now grown to about GH¢200.00 today. According to her, with the help of the loans and business trainings she has been receiving from ID-Ghana, she was able to divert from hair dyeing into turkey tail business (a delicacy in Ghana!) and further on into fruit business only four months ago. Her savings position in ID-Ghana is currently GH¢185.00.
The loan has helped her in the following ways:
- She has been able to complete the chamber-and-hall apartment where she lives with her last born.
- She has been able furnish her room with items like television, furniture, etc.
- She also bought a fridge during the turkey tail business for freezing the meat
- She is also able to support her child’s education.
Her future business plans are to save a lot of money to expand her fruits business for her to have variety of fruits to satisfy the customers and to save enough money to support her children.
She is keen to say that ID-Ghana’s loans and trainings have helped her to diversify her business twice without any problem. Through the trainings, she has been able to run her business without any difficulty. Now she has recognized and appreciates the importance of savings as well as how to cost her products before selling.
For Mary, ID-Ghana has gained a lot of importance in her life throughout 7 years of support…