Isatu is building her business
- ellenarnison
- May 27
- 2 min read
Updated: May 29
Regular savings and knowing how to spot opportunities for expansion have improved her prospects
Isatu Bockarie has three children and lives in Kenema District. She sells palm oil and other related products, working particularly in the afternoons when the children are at school.
As a single parent things aren’t easy, but every Sunday she takes some of the money she has earned that week and deposits it in the community savings bank. “Sometimes it is difficult for me to feed my family, but I still do this,” she said. “The introduction of the savings bank after the Prosper training has helped me a lot. Thanks to being a member of the savings bank, I now have a reserve I could use to add on to my business or for when I have an emergency to address.”
Previously Isatu had been in a savings bank supported by a different organisation. She said: “In that savings bank there was no financial control system, sometimes money was lost as a result of poor financial management. In the end, the group was in disarray and many people dropped out.
“Because of Prosper’s savings bank system and the proper management of my business, my profits have increased and allowed me to add other food products to sell. I had noticed customers buying palm oil from me and then going to another market table to buy different food items, so I decided to raise capital to buy additional new products, so they could buy more from me.”
Before training with Prosper, Isatu had been working in her aunt’s business. The training helped her to become independent. Now she plans to take things further. She said: “The business skills I learned mean I know how to expand my business. I have the confidence to grow my business.”
Previously, she may have been forced to turn to micro credit to support her children, but now she doesn’t need to.
“My biggest challenge was how to raise enough money to take care of my children, especially the cost of sending them to school. It was very tough but with the business now I am able to chip in and address their needs.
“I was running a very small-scale business before joining the training but since then, I experienced a huge difference and I could add more businesses. This has been a very big boost to me. Some of the money I have saved in my savings bank is to add on my business while the rest is used to address my children’s basic needs.”
