Micro-Loan Update

If you are new here, welcome! We are happy that you’ve stumbled across our humble little shop and goodwill initiatives, we hope that they will leave you feeling inspired.

As you may have noticed, Ethos Kolekto is a tiny little (aka one woman) business that is on a mission to improve the lives of others through the sale of fair trade jewelry, accessories, and home goods. Our owner (and yes… sole employee) has never taken a cent of profit from sales for personal gain, but instead uses it to help end poverty, end hunger, and bring education to all.

This happens through re-investment with the artisan cooperatives, donations to non-profit partners, and through micro-loans. These micro-loans are given through Kiva to entrepreneurs around the world and are paid back on a revolving schedule and then can be re-lent to new entrepreneurial campaigns.

The idea to start making micro-loans resulted from our very first book club meeting and we are happy to report that we are now 4 micro-loans in! One has been completely paid back and we’ve got 3 loans that are still in the repayment phase. Historically, we’ve focused our loans on women farmers in Kenya. The loans have assisted them in purchasing things like seeds, fertilizer, and livestock with the goal of improving their yields and earning enough money to do things like make home improvements, send their children to school, and put away enough food to get their families through the hunger season.

Our most recent loan was made to Annet in Uganda. She is a mother of 4 children who are in school and she runs a small general store. Her loan was made to help her purchase sugar, salt, and maize flour to sell in her shop. Annet’s goal is to expand her small store into a wholesale business and she will use her income to provide food and school fees for her children.