Vera is a livestock expert in Albania

It’s not easy to take care of animals. They must be fed, sheltered and their health must be monitored on a daily basis.

Vera is a 46-year-old mother of 3 who does just that. She lives in a village with a flawed water drainage system that causes flooding almost every year, as it's below sea level.

Albania is a small country in southeastern Europe's Balkan Peninsula. With a population of more than 2.5 million, many Albanians like Vera are excluded from basic financial access like Vera.

"My cows and pigs were not sleeping well and could not be healthy without a shelter," Vera said. She has been breeding livestock for the past several years. She has 4 milk cows and 2 pigs.



Vera got a Kiva loan to build a shelter for her animals. "The loan helped me care for the animals that I have, which is very important for my business," Vera said. "I hope to expand my farm with another loan."

Thanks to Kiva, Vera can continue financing her livestock growth, using loans to invest in more animals and upgrade her shelter as needed.

She now runs a thriving business raising pigs and calves, which allows her to support her family. Vera hopes that business continues to thrive. Her daughter recently had 2 children of her own, so she is motivated to make sure her business continues to succeed.

More than 1,600 borrowers in Albania have improved their lives with Kiva loans and many new borrowers need your help. Make a loan to an Albanian borrower here.