Dreams are created equal.
People all over the world have dreams of a better future, for their families and their communities.
Through Kiva, you have the power to back the dream of someone halfway around the globe with just a $25 loan. You could hel...
For Mohammad, a father of 6 living in the West Bank, the memories of struggling to make ends meet and feed his family are still fresh.
"[It was a] harsh life I was living, as a marginalized person, with no purpose in life," he said.
At times Mohammad was forced to borrow money from neighbors just to buy bread or pay the rent for the family's apartment in an old government-owned building in the city of Jenin.
But on a fateful day 6 years ago, Mohammad saw a commercial for 's Field Partner on TV and visited their office the next day. He had noticed that the coffee in his part of Jenin was not great, so an old friend offered to teach him how to make quality coffee and he thought he could fill a need. Watch Mohammad talk about his journey:
Using his first loan of $1,000, he bought all the things he needed to set up his cafe. On the first day he made 25 NIS ($6). Determined not to give up, Mohammed began standing in front of the cafe, serving coffee to pedestrians. He made $100 in the first month. The people liked his "Coffee Shawesh," so his profits continued to grow month after month.
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He decided to expand his cafe, so he took out a second loan, this one funded by Kiva lenders, in the beginning of 2014. His business is now very well known in the community — people talk about his "Coffee Shawesh" around the city. With the Kiva loan, he bought a cart so that he could make his coffee business mobile. He began serving coffee at parties and funerals, and as his popularity grew, so did his profits. He began repayment on his $2,000 loan in March 2014 and paid it off by December 2014.
He told us that he recommends Kiva to all of his friends.
"The important thing, is that if you take a loan, you make a project with it — don't use it for consumption!" -Mohammad
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He is extremely grateful to FATEN, Kiva and Kiva lenders. He asked that Kiva lenders continue to support people like him so they can make a better life for themselves and their families.
In the future, he wants to improve his home or move into a bigger one. He wants to send his children to school. Most of all, he wants to continue enjoying his comfortable life with his family, without having to worry so much about his financial situation.
To make a loan to borrowers like Mohammad in Palestine, and around the world, .
