BlueOrchard: Home

Running a street-side café in Cairo, Egypt (May 2008). Gemeen has been running a snack bar in Abdeen, a neighbourhood of Greater Cairo, for 20 years. She offers simple local meals, such as stews, pita sandwiches, beans and French fries with peppers. Conveniently located on a broad street corner, Gemeen’s business includes a tiny indoor space used primarily for storage and cooking and an outdoor area where there is a deep fryer, two tables with some chairs and a stand for selling vegetables and pita bread. She runs the restaurant with her husband, one of their sons who helps out in his spare time and one employee. Gemeen has been a client of Al Tadamun, an Egyptian microfinance institution, for 10 years. Since 2002, Al Tadamun has been offering group loans to women with existing income-generating projects in Greater Cairo. Gemeen’s first loan from Al Tadamun was for 250 EGP (less than 50 USD) and she currently has a loan of 3000 EGP (less than 600 USD). Over the years, she has used the loans from Al Tadamun to buy stock for her business (bread, cooking oil, vegetables) and to buy and maintain equipment, such as the deep fryer. She has dependably repaid every loan with interest. With her revenues, Gemeen has helped support her family for the past two decades. Gemeen and her husband have two sons, one studying law and one studying commerce, and one daughter. Married at a young age, they also has grandchildren. Gemeen and her husband can neither read nor write.

Making musical instruments in Cali, Colombia (May 2008). At the age of 25, Addo Oved Possu Dinas, called "Katanga" came to Cali from the Pacific coast of Colombia, bringing with him his art of playing and constructing traditional drums, a legacy of his African ancestors. In his workshop, he builds drums, marimbas, maracas and other instruments related to Afro-latino folklore. His three children help him in his work and his daughter Orica co-manages the "Katanga foundation" for the promotion of African heritage culture. To build his drums, he collects wood from the Pacific coast, cuts and moulds it before covering it with skins. Katanga also heads a musical group and promotes Afro-latino music throughout Colombia. He is supported by the Colombian Ministry of Culture who regularly mandates him to build instruments, to train young musicians and to organise cultural festivals. Women’s World Bank Colombia (WWB) provided him with a first loan 4 years ago, worth Colombian pesos 3 million (about USD 1,700) which he since repaid with interests. He presently holds a loan of Colombian pesos 10 million (about USD 5’700). These credits allowed him to buy raw materials and tools to build his instruments and to promote his enterprise. “I’m delighted to promote the culture of the black community in my country and to do so with the support of a grass roots financial institution. I would now like to show my work internationally”, says Katanga. 

Weaving women’s cashmere wear in Ulan-Bator, Mongolia (June 2008) .  Tsetsgee Batsukh is the founder and owner of the company Edelweiss Cashmere. She is 46 years old, married and has two children who are presently studying at Universities abroad. Tsetsgee Batsukh employs 6 women full time in her workshop where they weave and sow women’s cashmere wear. She started in 2004 with only 2 machines and two employees with the plan to export the sweaters ad other clothes to Russia. The cashmere clothes are made from the finest hair of the Gobi desert goat. Her collection quickly met with a lot of success and in 2007 she decided to take out a loan that would allow her to increase her production to meet the Russian demand. She took out a loan of Mongolian Tugrik of 15 million (about EUR 9000). With this money she bought three new machines and hired more employees. She now delivers 100 cashmere sweaters a month to several department stores in Russia and Ulan-Bator.