Yes! I want to support microfinance and empower people to work their way out of poverty.

Karoline Peters

Karoline Peter’s eyes beam as she looks out across her tiny, one-room restaurant in a suburb of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.  Grateful to be sheltered from the blazing African sun, she readies herself for another 14 hour day, scurrying around bags of beans and rice and cleaning the tables for the morning meal. 

While modest in size, Karoline’s restaurant holds within it the hopes and dreams of an entire family. Formerly a fruit vendor in an outdoor market, Karoline was the sole breadwinner for her family and three children. Then one day she learned she would no longer be allowed to work -- she had developed cataracts in one of her eyes and needed surgery.

Devastated at the prospect of being unemployed in a country where jobs are already perilously scarce, Karoline decided to take a risk and open her own business. She applied for a loan from ACCION partner Akiba Commercial Bank and was able to start a small restaurant.

Five years and multiple loans later, Karoline’s restaurant is now equipped with a refrigerator and a juicemaker, and she also owns a small cereal business next door. Most importantly, she is able to provide for her family and three adorable children. When asked about plans for her family’s future, she is now more optimistic than ever. “I worked on a farm when I was a child, but I want a better life for my children.  I want them to go to university, and to become pilots and doctors.”