"If it's nice, I sell it!"

In my last post I shared a little bit about collecting client stories through field visits. Recently I featured one of these stories in a Mass Journal for Kiva. Kiva is an organization that connects individual lenders with microfinance institutions all over the world. HOPE Ukraine receives significant funding through lenders on Kiva. This Mass Journal was sent to any lender on the Kiva website who has ever donated to HOPE Ukraine and I was given a link so I could share with family and friends! The original journal can be found here.

"Thank you so much for the help you've provided to entrepreneurs in Ukraine through Kiva loans! We truly appreciate your support. The loans you helped fund were administered by our team here at HOPE Ukraine, a Kiva field partner.

HOPE Ukraine works on the ground to reach out to potential clients and make sure that the borrowers who receive loans funded by Kiva are supported and cared for. HOPE Ukraine has been a Kiva partner for over 6 years and was the first in this country.

Ukraine is rich in natural resources like manganese, coal, and graphite. The USSR industrialization of the country in the 1920s brought the construction of many new factories to tap into these resources. Some Ukrainian towns experienced huge population growth as a result, and even after the fall of the USSR, these cities remain important economic hubs. You can still see evidence of Ukraine’s Soviet past all over. Right down the road from one of HOPE Ukraine’s offices in Zaporozhye, there is a street named “40 Years of Soviet Ukraine Street," and statues of military leaders dot the cities.

Since the fall of the USSR in 1991, Ukrainian factories continue to produce substantial amounts of steel, metallurgical metals, and more. But earning a living from factory work has become increasingly difficult. Many factories have shut down, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without jobs. The factories that remain open offer wages well below what is needed to live, and while workers’ unions do exist, they are subject to corruption and do little to help alleviate the problem.

A lot of Ukrainians have flooded the job market looking for self-sufficiently -- people like Lidia (pictured), who was a baker in a factory until it shut down about 12 years ago. When HOPE Ukraine started in 1997, many of our clients used their loans to rent tables at the markets and to help cover the large overhead for purchasing goods in bulk. HOPE’s client database is full of exceptional stories of success and empowerment because of loans like these.

Now, 21 years after Ukraine reestablished itself as an independent nation, the sheer number of people flocking to the markets to find work has made it harder to make a living this way. In response, HOPE’s clients have shown tremendous creativity in adapting to this shift. Talking with HOPE’s clients in a market in a city called Nikopol, several women told me they have been focusing on a new strategy: product differentiation.

Lidia, who has been selling clothes in the markets for 10 years, says that there is a big difference between now and then. Today, with so many other clothing stores in the market (not to mention a rising number of malls), Lidia takes special care to make sure that her store carries something that you can’t get anywhere else: clothes for young people and even costumes.

“I try to buy things for teenagers and things for children from 10 to 15 years old because it’s very difficult to find good clothing for these ages,” Lidia says.

Because of loans from Kiva lenders like you, she is also able to set herself apart by offering higher-quality goods.

“Most of the people here sell things from China even though the quality is bad just because it is cheaper, so that’s why I try to sell Ukrainian clothes because the quality is good and design is nice,” Lidia explains. Getting straight to the point, she told me, “If it’s nice, I sell it.”

As she chatted with me about her different products, I asked whether she enjoyed working at the market. She laughed and said she likes to dress the children that come in. For her, the entrepreneurial growth of diversifying her products is coupled with a sincere joy in pleasing her customers.

There are more banks issuing loans in Ukraine than there used to be. As one of our loan officers, Dima, explains, you can get a loan in 10 minutes, but they have extraordinarily high interest rates and are ridden with hidden fees.

In this environment, HOPE Ukraine remains a trusted non-bank lender. Our clients continue to borrow from us because of our fair and consistent interest rates and personalized service.

Please join us in celebrating the entrepreneurial creativity of our determined clients! Loans from people like you are what makes these incredible stories of determination possible."