micro finance

On Thursday and Friday we visited the three microfinance schemes at Emuhaya, Emmaloba and Ebusyubi. All the women are doing well and always have an amount to pay back on their loans. All have completed at least two loans and are impatiently waiting for me to finalize the budget to receive more money!

Their businesses range from braiding ropes, making mandazi (delicious large donuts) and selling vegetables to gathering and bundling firewood. Some have bought goats and cows. One very enterprising lady at Ebusyubi has started making jicos with her son (see picture) She is an excellent role model for the others. After paying off loans of $15 and $30 they spent the next one of $80 on materials for the cooking stoves. They bend and weld the metal and bake the clay liner to make the stove which will take wood, charcoal or cow dung fuel. She offered me the one you see, but at the risk of flouting African good manners I insisted she should sell it for her own benefit.

The Emmaloba group is the largest and is part of the "Adopt a Village" project supported by Victoria Rotary Club. We plan to start adult literacy for them and for others in December or January. This will include basic bookkeeping and accounts.

We shall use the donated eyeglass kit I mentioned in an earlier post before we begin the classes so as to eliminate some visions problems.

A total of $250 is enough for a woman to progress through the loans, learning to plan her stock, reserve loan repayments, sent her children to school and generally provide better for her family. We have a number of women who would like to join the groups, but at the moment we are keeping only those who began with us.

All the 'mamas' send their warm greeting and thanks to all who have made this possible