Contributor: Salam Nasser

Iktimal el Shaweesh lives with her family of 17 in a two-story, seven-room house in southern Lebanon. She married her husband Khaled, 15 years her senior and a widower with 5 kids, in order not to remain single. They have five kids of their own: three daughters and two sons.

Sharing the house with them is the eldest son, his wife, their 5 kids and 3 of Khaled's children from the first marriage. Twelve years ago, with borrowed money, Iktimal turned the little space under the stairs in front of her house into a small shop where she sold cigarettes, soap and washing powder.

Last year, Iktimal learned about the Credit Revolving Fund, part of Mercy Corps' Local Community Development program. She applied for a $500 loan and, to her delight, got it. The first thing she did was to fix the shop and install shelves. She also diversified the shop's products to include fruit juices, notebooks, chinaware, plastic sandals and butane gas bottles.

Iktimal was happy to see her sales grow, but even happier to see her family members come together to work collaboratively. Their joint efforts are paying off: They are in a far better living status than most of their neighbors of the same level, their pursuit of social and economic betterment is continuing and they're now able to invest in better healthcare, housing, and education.

The loan has dramatically changed their lives. They now have a steadier income and they are closer as a family. This is shown mostly during crop picking season. The whole family helps out and earns a daily extra income of $4 - a small amount, but for this family it makes a difference.

Iktimal has never been to school and used to feel marginalized. She is enormously pleased that her work is enabling her children to pursue an education.

"It is tiring to work 15-hour days, seven days a week," she says, "but I am so grateful to have been given the chance of being a giver and not a receiver. My neighbors may have bigger homes or nicer furniture, but I don't think they are happier. I have never been to the movies nor have I had the chance to play sports - my hard work keeps me fit - but I don't think I am missing on life. I am very satisfied to be offering my children a chance for a better future. We eat better and we have enough to buy clothes, things we were unable to do most of the time before Mercy Corps' intervention.

"I don't speak languages but I have memorized the English words 'Mercy Corps' as if they were the name of one of my children. Mercy Corps played a most important role in my life by supporting my initiative to improve the quality of life for my family."

Moreover, Iktimal is happy that Mercy Corps did not dictate to her what she should do, but rather supported and guided her through. "Mercy Corps is not a funding source or a charitable institution, it is the torch that lights our way," Khaled, her husband, said.

Iktimal wants to succeed and she wants more for herself. "I have been cursed with illiteracy and I am hoping that I and people like me will be able to read and write, to know more and be enlightened."

Iktimal boasts that the loan has been repaid in full. She is even making a profit which she is saving in an old piggybank (hidden somewhere in her kitchen!). Her last words before we left her were: "Thank you Mercy Corps for having alleviated my suffering and making a positive difference in my life."

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