Impacting her community, one loan at a time

Business lady Vester Nandima had to drop out of school at the age of 19 because her parents could not pay her school fees. She married Liwonde at the age of 22. Her three grandchildren Innocent, Trevor and Esnart, aged 11, 5, and 3 respectively now live with her. Innocent and Trevor are in school while Esnart goes to a nursery school in the community.

Vester Nandima’s life had been so hard because she had to reply on her husband financially. She one day decided to open up a small-scale business with the savings she got from farm produce. She started operating a small grocery in her community. She has been operating this business for 12 years now. Her niece Chisomo helps her in running the shop.

When it came to a point where she was no longer satisfied with the size and the performance of her business, she decided to obtain loans from VisionFund Malawi, and is now on her seventh cycle. Her business has performed tremendously well since and has contributed to a better wellbeing of her family, at home and school.

She has managed to diversify her business by selling farm produce and cooking oil. She has also ventured into the transport business, purchasing two motorbikes to ease the transportation problem in her community. Vester Nandima has also managed to build houses for rent and renovated her own. She is a proud woman because she has managed to achieve her goals.

Although she has had to face challenges like sharp price hikes in commodities and even fraud, she is very focused and determined in accomplishing her goals. She wants to grow her business by building a very big shop and run a barber shop to maximise business revenue. She also aspires to get an individual loan from VisionFund Malawi to improve her business ventures, including the building of more houses for rent because she knows that some other day she will be unable to work.

Vester Nandima’s businesses has had a positive impact on her community because - the grocery has eased need for travelling long distances and the transport business has helped ease mobility within the community. She is very thankful to VisionFund Malawi for helping her realise her dreams.

Story by Foster Mtupula, VisionFund Malawi