Feb 2009

Hello from Adeline. In my family, we eat three times a day and, at each meal, we always have rice. I am the one who always does the shopping and prepares the meals as well. For example, yesterday for breakfast we ate white rice with greens. For lunch, we had rice with chopped meat and vegetables, and for dinner we had rice with greens. My family's favorite food is rice with fish sauce.

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Dec 2008

Hello, it's me, Adeline. The illnesses that my family has the most often are headaches and malaria. The climate of Ambalvao is different than other places because we are surrounded by mountains. It is like we are in a basin and that has an effect on the climate, I think. My favorite season is winter because it is the harvest period and the food is less expensive. Right now, it is the rainy season and that has a negative effect on my business since I am not able to sell when it rains. Thus, people buy less and I earn less money.

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Nov 2008

Hello! It's Haja; I get up every day at 5 AM, I fetch water and then i prepare breakfast, after that I clean up and right after I leave to sell till 11 AM, I come back to prepare lunch and in the afternoon I continue selling and also buy things for the next day; we dine at 7 PM and go to bed at 8 PM. On sunday, I go to church, or I do laundry.

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Sep 2008

Hello, it's me, Adeline. I have two children who go to school. One is in middle school and the other in primary school. I need to spend more on the one in middle school because they need more school supplies than the other and the costs of school supplies have incresed. For example, this year the cost of a notebook has doubled compared to last year. But I have been saving for this and I don't think I will have any difficulty.

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Aug 2008

Hello! It's me, Hajanirina. Business continues to go well at this time even though sales have decreased a bit because it is after the holiday and this is going to change even more. For the vacation, the children are going to help me with sales and also with household chores, but they will also have time to play. On Independence Day, we went to the stadium to watch the parade and listen to the speeches of the town officials. We ate different things for lunch than we usually do, and then in the afternoon, the children left for the festivities that the town had organized.

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Jul 2008

Hello! It's me, Hajanirina. My business is going even better this month because we have our Independence Day and the people spend a lot to buy things for this celebration. But afterwards, things will calm down a little because they will need to work on the next planting season. As for me, I will celebrate just like all the other holidays: we will eat different food than we normally have and the children will wear new clothes. But it is necessary to budget our expenses so we don't spend too much. I don't want to spend too much since we must always think of the reimbursement afterwards.

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Jun 2008

Hello from Adeline. I am pleased that I was able to pay back the loan this first month on time. The training we received early on has helped me to think more in depth about how to plan my business and reinvest the profits I have been earning. I hope the good luck continues. Thanks for your confidence in me!

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May 2008

Adeline here. I want to thank all of the funders and the Masomboly team for their help in giving me this loan. The profits I have received allow me to enlarge my business and I will be able to use the free time to do other things that make some money for myself. I will use the profits to save as best I can and to cover the costs of my family. Thank you!

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