Microcredit Brings Peace to an Embittered Family

For Losa Peseta, 43, life was chaotic, hungry, and a constant battle. She and her husband had nine children and numerous fistfights. They had never worked and depended on her parents for everything. The presence of nine children in a tiny house created further tension with her parents who were feeding, clothing, and housing the family. It was so bad, they never spoke to each other; they screamed!

Losa knew she needed to do something to feed her family and keep her children together. In sheer desperation, she joined the SPBD program in her village, which is near the capital of Samoa. She enjoyed cooking and had always wanted to process and sell food, but had no money for ingredients. SPBDs program gave her the chance she needed.

She used her $250 loan to start a food-processing venture. She cooked the food her children liked and targeted two nearby schools as potential markets. She believed that if she made the kind of food her children loved, she couldn’t go wrong. Her German buns, minced pies, sausage rolls, coconut buns, and Keke puas are favorites with Samoan students.

Her sales average $67 a day and her profits average $27. The business keeps her and her husband busy full time. They have become a team and are grateful for the marked improvement in their lives and their marriage. They have walled one side of their home with timber and are saving for a second wall. They now have a gas stove. Instead of depending on her parents, Losa contributes to the family economy and sends all of her children to school.

Losa smiles more often, dresses more neatly, and speaks with confidence. She is a changed person who has transformed the lives of her entire family with determination and a $250 loan from SPBD.