We visited Mrs. Icylin Ranger a former client of ECLOF Jamaica and beneficiary of the Economic Empowerment Partnership. Mrs. Ranger was one of the earlier borrowers participating in the program from as early as 2006. Over the next 5 years she took four (4) loans from ECLOF. When we arrived she greeted us warmly and said thank God I no longer need to borrow any more loans. We then asked her about her experience with ECLOF through the LPT Economic Empowerment program. She explained that the need at the time she made her borrowing decision was for the schooling of her daughters. At the time she had three daughters attending university but had insufficient funds to pay for all the girls’ tuition fees and the purchase of books. Her first three loans were taken for that purpose and her final loan was borrowed for the benefit of her son.

She reflected that her son had been operating a motor car owned on behalf of the owner and had met in an accident and was no longer employed. She took a loan from ECLOF to purchase a car for him to operate in the taxi business. She went and spoke to the ECLOF representatives and was well taken care of. She said that “I made the sacrifice to ensure the loans were paid off on time. I find ECLOF to be a good company to borrow form and to invest with, the staff is very welcoming”. When asked about the impact the loans had taken on her children’s lives she told us that her girls had done tremendously well. Her eldest daughter is now a medical Doctor who recently migrated to practice in the United States of America. Her other two daughters are twins who both completed their degrees and are now rewardingly employed. One of the twins is a chemical engineer and the other is a chartered accountant. Her son is now independent and economically self-sufficient. As for Mrs. Ranger, she no longer works and is being supported by her children.

With a laugh she explained; “I am no longer in the Linstead Market but I’m thinking about doing another business. Something that’s bigger and better. I will definitely need a loan in the future and I will be coming back to ECLOF”. Mrs. Ranger signed off by saying: “borrowing from ECLOF was a really good experience. I’ve tried other institution too many of them are tricksters. In one case after trying to leave them something went wrong and if I didn’t know someone in the bank to back me up, it would have caused a huge conflict. ECLOF is the best, no doubt about that. I would never trade ECLOF for any other loan institution”.