Business: Selling Coconut Oil

Ferderika lives in Apren village in West Timor, around 90 minutes travel from the region’s main city,Kupang. The village is well known for its beautiful lake Nefoko'uk – literally “big lake” in the local language. Ferderika and her husband Yusuf have three children. Thanks to your support Ferderika has started a small business selling coconut oil. With a small loan from Opportunity’s program partner, TLM, she invested in raw materials and equipment including a grating machine.To produce a batch of her oil she buys around 100 coconuts from traders in her village. Each coconut must be peeled, grated and squeezed to collect fresh coconut milk. She then cooks the milk for a few hours and leaves it to cool to room temperature. Then the oil is ready to be bottled and sold. Now with her increased income Ferderika is able to more easily cover the cost of her children’s education. She and Yusuf are proud their second child will be able to attend university, they are very hopeful a good education will help their children access more opportunities in their lives.