Ruth’s Restaurant: A Family Business 40 Years in the Making
With fair loans and support, Ruth has grown her restaurant into a business that creates jobs for other women.
Latin America + Caribbean
June 04, 2025
Just minutes from Mary’s house lay the beach, where warm ocean waves lapped against the golden sand and hulking cargo ships used the busy harbors. Mary—a widow—and her four teenaged children lived in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Home to more than a third of the country’s population, this urban hub relied on international trade.
So, too, did Mary.
As a wholesaler, Mary imported women’s garments from China and sold them at a market table. And though her business was smaller than that of her competition, Mary was no less tenacious.
Yet she could barely make enough sales to purchase the next batch of goods for her table, let alone pay her children’s school fees and medical bills.
Access to Capital
Through her church, Mary connected with Kendei Empowerment Foundation Microfinance, a local partner of Partners Worldwide. Determined to provide for her children, Mary enrolled in their business training program, where she learned about management, finances, and how to invest back into her business.
Through Kendei, Mary also accessed affordable loans. Her first loan was for just $200, but her commitment to the growth of her business qualified her to borrow higher amounts which she used to transform her status from a street seller to a store owner. Kendei’s low interest rates have enabled Mary to access the capital needed to grow her business and the skills required to sustain her impact and repay her loan with ease.
Lives, Transformed
Since partnering with Kendei, Mary has grown her business exponentially. Today, she imports her goods directly from producers in China in larger quantities. Mary has a long-term vision of utilizing her experience with Chinese clothes manufacturers to improve designs of Liberian country clothes and local fabrics. She sees domestic production of local fabrics as the long-term sustainable future with the most potential to create additional jobs locally.
“Kendei has helped me graduate from street selling and I am now a store owner with larger inventory which means I can now make more income to care for my family,” said Mary. “My life and the life of my children have been transformed by this.” With her savings, Mary has put her children, nieces, and nephews through high school and even college.
“Mary has been a very committed client in good standing with us and an admirable steward of resources,” said Matthias Korpu, Board Chair of Kendei Microfinance. “She’s considered one of our best performing clients and we are glad to see her business grow leaps and bounds.”
