Whenever I feel this rush of excitement and energy after meeting or thinking about work is when I reaffirm that I have found my true calling and passion. This is how I felt just after meeting with Dorothy Kawira, a local nurse who is also the mom of my good friend and translator Enock. Dorothy and her husband Ezra heard about the programs I was working on my short visit to Shirati and started telling me how they were also passionate about poverty alleviation and are involved with a local microloan program. Ezra told me that he worked with a German girl a few years back and met with 10 subvillages and established microfinance in the form of group loans and savings accounts managed by each village subchairperson. The discussion flowed rapidly from there as we talked about the many different models, solidarity groups, Muhammed Yunus, Fonkoze in Haiti and most importantly how he was interested in getting involved with the local effort with the SHED Foundation and Room For Compassion. Ezra gave me a microloan application form that he uses as well as a sort of check book balance sheet. After the hour long lunch invitation and discussion about microlending and a private primary English school they established, I happily walk home alone invigorated by the meeting and counting my lucky stars for finding yet another local person that has experience and passion in microfinance.
After much thinking and a meeting with Josiah and Rosie the other day, it seems to make sense to establish at least 2 or 3 different types of microloans. During the microloan meeting, it was very clear that we had invited to our interest meeting two distinct groups of women: one type were women that were single mothers and ran successful businesses and wanted loans to expand their current model and the second type of women were highly impoverished mothers that had no business experience and no means for occupation. It never occurred to me that we could have such a distinguishment when I pictured my group of “vulnerable single mothers in need of a business loan”. The successful business women were not interested in meager loans of $20 USD in a large group while the second group of women would be more inclined. The first group would have security, collateral, business experience and would very likely pay back their loan. The second group would have none of those things necessarily but are in much greater need of a loan to life themselves out of poverty. Rosie and Ezra are the local experts, but I proposed a 3 step system. The “Apprentice” loan would give inventory valued less than $20 to help train impoverished women individually. The “Entrepreneur” loan would provide small capital between $20-$199 over a short period of time in a mandatory solidarity group of 5 to help women with some business skills develop their own plans. The “Professional” loan would bse loans of $200+ to help the women with successful businesses expand and grow. This system would allow for already capable women to utilize a loan that will financially benefit the program when they return the money and interest.
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