Casimir Marie Andre is a very strong woman who lives in Noyau, a community 30 minutes’ distance from Mirebalais. Casimir is one of the original participants in the Micro Loan program. She started with us in November 2015 with an initial loan of $50. She chose to sell food staples as her business. At times her profit margins decrease as she struggles to feed her six children. However, she does her best to increase sales and profits when she is able to add crops from her husband’s garden. She fulfilled her loan pay-back and savings responsibilities to the program and received a “new” (second) loan of $70. This allowed her to purchase more product — rice, oil, spices, beans and flour — to expand her business. Casimir continues to grow her business, having recently paid off her second loan and receiving her third loan of $100 in 2018.
In October, 2017, Casimir faced the worst tragedy that a loving mother can imagine: she lost her unique (only) son in a car accident! To show solidarity, the women’s group in Noyau went to visit her and her family. The women decided to collect money to help Casimir in the best way they could: helping with the unexpected funeral expenses of her son. The women collected $25 USD and also took another $25 USD from the group savings to be able to give her $50 USD.