On 10 October 2011, Azeza Al-Sedawi, of Jabalia, Gaza, Palestine became the first recipient of a Crown Trust KIVA microloan for education.

 Azeza is a 22-year-old young woman who has an educational center in the area where she lives and has a lot of customers. She wants to expand the center and purchase more chairs and tables for educational purposes.

She is married and has one son and one daughter, and her husband is a Palestinian National Authority employee with a modest salary.

Azeza has money for her school, but it was not sufficient, so she needed to take a loan from Kiva partner, FATEN, to meet the total amount needed.

With the loan’s help, Azeza is able to expand the educational center she has by purchasing new chairs and tables to use. This will improve her work, increase her income and provide better living conditions for her family.

NOTE: Azeza is a conservative woman, so her husband is pictured instead in the photographed taken in a FATEN office.

This MicroLoan was made under our agreement with www.kiva.org and has been disbursed through FATEN, a Palestinian cooperating agency. FATEN offers loan products that are designed to serve borrowers all over Palestine, including some religiously conservative areas.

A key tenet of Islam is the prohibition of interest in the lending or accepting of money. This prohibition is based on the belief that money should be seen only as a medium of exchange and that it has no value in itself. FATEN has adapted the terms of this loan to fit the cultural context by attaching a 0% interest rate to the loan.

In order to cover its costs, FATEN does charge a servicing fee. The amount you see fundraising includes both the principal loan and the loan servicing fees.

Palestine for Credit & Development (FATEN) Palestine

FATEN is a non-profit company that provides micro and small loans to economically active entrepreneurs, especially women.

FATEN started as program within Save the Children Federation US in 1994 and spun off and became completely independent in 1999.

Our Mission

We are: Palestine for Credit & Development "FATEN", a pioneering national not-for-profit corporation which provides a variety of high quality and sustainable financial services, for low income and economically active small scale enterprises and micro entrepreneurs, specially women, through a high caliber staff and an advanced infrastructure to contribute in the effort of family empowerment and community development in Palestine.

Our Vision

For FATEN to be the main address for microfinance in Palestine.

More information about FATEN is available at the website here: http://www.kiva.org/partners/80