The Success Story of March in Ghana

Lardi is 43 years old. She is married with three children. Her hus-band, 48, works with Prudential Bank. She lives in Nima with her family. Her eldest child is 20 and has just completed Senior High School; the second child is 18 and is in Senior High School form 2; the last, 12, is in class 6.

Lardi hails from Kongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana. She migrated to Accra in search of a job. Upon her arrival in Accra she lived with an uncle at 37 Military Hospital until she got a job as a house help. She later left the job because she felt she was made to over work, yet her salary was nothing to write home about. She then started selling ice water, initially in the street, until she met her husband. She later moved from her uncle's house to join her husband at Nima where she has resided since. Even though they changed accommodation a number of times, they have always lived within Nima.
Long after she got married Lardi continued selling ice water until her customers started requesting for minerals. She therefore started saving some money from her profit towards this business venture. After saving for some time, her husband contributed some money to get her start her minerals business. The money however was still not sufficient for her to register with the Coca Cola distributor. It was at that point that she needed a loan to en-able her realise her dream.
Fortunately, she got to know about ID-Ghana. She happened to be living in the same compound house with a brother of Sunday Daa Tii, a Credit Officer of ID-Ghana. She came into contact with Sunday, when he went to visit his brother. Through a conversation she got to know he works with a micro finance organization. She immediately told him about her desire to secure a loan. Sunday was helpful in getting her her first loan and he has continued to be helpful and good to her since.
She received her first loan of GH¢ 30 on 20th, August 2007. With her first loan she was able to register with a Coca Cola truck which supplied her with bottled minerals (sodas). With her subsequent loans of GH¢ 60, GH¢ 100, GH¢ 150, GH¢ 200, GH¢ 250 and GH¢ 400 received between March 2005 and November 2008, she was able to diversify by adding canned minerals and biscuits to her business.
Further, her business has expanded, thanks to the support from ID-Ghana. She has also been able to purchase a glass stand where she now sells very comfortably. Before dealing with ID-Ghana, she made sales of about GH¢ 10 a week. Currently, her sales range between GH¢ 100 and GH¢ 150 a week!
On the issue of trainings received from ID-Ghana, she thinks it is very beneficial since it helped her manage her finances better. In addition to her savings of GH¢ 150 with ID-Ghana, she is able to save with a Susu collector (local traditional savings system) and also has an account with Stanbic Bank.
Today, our financial support has helped her greatly in the payment of her children’s fees. She has been able to buy a lot of kitchen wares which she did not have before. She is also able to support her husband better now.
Her future plan is to save enough money to help her husband to complete a building project which he has not been able to finish due to financial difficulties.