MICROFINANCE

Lifting an entire community out of poverty

In establishing our micro finance scheme we realised the latent ambition and desire for women to lift their families out of poverty. We have been so impressed by the success of this project, by the determination and dedication of these women to succeed in their small businesses - ranging from sales of cereals, fruit and veg, to tailoring, setting up small village shops and cafes, shoe and clothes shops, beauty parlours, butcheries....

To date we have over 1,600 active members, and have made over 2,600 loans. With all these new, small businesses operating in the area, it is starting to have a very positive impact on the local micro-economy, generating more cash transactions - all part of progress to move out of the fragile subsistence economy. We have also started a savings scheme, allowing these women to put by any surplus for a rainy day, and to borrow with savings as collateral.