From Dependence to Entrepreneurship: How Mariane Built a Business—and a Future for Her Daughter

When Mariane joined Fonkoze’s Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM) program, she and her daughter were living with relatives. As a single mother, she depended on financial support from her brother and had no reliable source of income of her own.

“He would give me money, but it just passed through my hands,” Mariane recalls. “I didn’t know what to do with it. I never thought of starting a business.”

Everything began to change when she enrolled in CLM, Fonkoze’s 18-month graduation program designed for families living in ultra-poverty. Through weekly coaching, business training, savings support, cash transfers, and personalized guidance from a dedicated case manager, participants work toward building sustainable livelihoods and greater economic security.

Mariane paid close attention during her first training sessions. With support from the program, she invested in goats and launched a small business selling secondhand clothing in downtown Gwomòn.

The business quickly gained momentum.

Starting with an investment of just 10,000 gourds, Mariane built a successful trade business while continuing to care for her livestock. Over time, she added a pig to her growing assets and gained confidence as an entrepreneur.

As her business expanded, so did her sense of possibility.

While working in town, she met the man who would become her partner. What mattered most to Mariane was not that someone had entered her life, but that he recognized what she had accomplished on her own.

“He told everyone, even his family, that he wasn’t the one who set me up in business, that I had built it by myself,” she says.

Together, they began thinking about how to adapt her business model to better fit her goals. Rather than spending all day traveling and selling clothing downtown, Mariane transitioned to a small neighborhood boutique selling groceries, laundry products, and hygiene essentials.

Her partner helped construct the small structure that would house the shop, but it was Mariane who managed and grew the business. Over time, the value of her inventory grew to more than 30,000 gourds.

Building a business in a rural community requires persistence and creativity. Because her home was located far from the main road, Mariane rented a room in a more visible location where customers could easily find her shop. When her lease neared its end, she negotiated an arrangement that allowed the business to remain in place even if she moved back home. In exchange, she agreed to maintain the property surrounding the store.

Then came an unexpected setback.

When her partner became seriously ill, Mariane spent nearly all of her business capital helping care for him. The shop’s inventory dwindled and the business effectively collapsed.

Many entrepreneurs would have struggled to recover from such a loss. But Mariane had developed something just as valuable as business assets during her time in CLM: financial habits, savings, and confidence in her ability to rebuild.

After her partner recovered, she withdrew money she had saved and restarted the business.

Today, her boutique is operating once again. Her livestock have continued to grow as well. Mariane now owns six goats, and her sow recently produced eight piglets that are nearly ready for sale.

The income from those piglets represents more than a financial gain. For Mariane, it is another step toward a larger goal.

She hopes to purchase land closer to town, where her business can attract more customers and where her daughter will have easier access to quality schools.

Mariane graduated from the CLM program in December 2024, but the journey she began there continues.

Her story reflects what CLM is designed to achieve: not a temporary solution, but a pathway that helps families build the skills, assets, and resilience needed to create lasting change. Through coaching, savings, business development, and consistent support, women like Mariane are able to turn opportunity into progress and progress into long-term stability.

Today, Mariane is doing more than running a business. She is building a future—one decision, one investment, and one goal at a time.

One of the most important measures of success is what happens after a participant graduates. Ten months after completing Fonkoze’s 18-month CLM program, when we checked in with her, Mariane was still building on the foundation she had established. She had restarted her business after a setback, grown her livestock assets, and was working toward purchasing land that would create new opportunities for both her business and her daughter.