Dabbling in microcredit work again OR how $100 can help a woman

By Carolyn

Several weeks ago we went on a safari then stopped to see a friend's gorgeous lodge on the edge of the national park area. If any of you have heard of the John Wayne movie "Hatari" the setting was at this lodge. It was beautiful with zebras and giraffes just strolling around. The manager greeted me, heard I was just hanging out without work, and offered me a four day per month "development manager" position overseeing micro lending efforts in eight communities around Moshi and Arusha, which she had to give up because she got pregnant. Four days per month sounded right up my alley, and I have often regretted not having had the career in micro lending which I started in Bolivia and El Salvador and went to grad school to pursue. So I checked out the organization, Mondo Foundation, based in the U.K., and the job description, ensured they understood I could only do an interim three months, and accepted, figuring it was the perfect way to dabble again in micro lending and to get a more insider perspective into nearby communities. 

My new co-workers with my predecessor

The position oversees the work of two area coordinators who each manager three community workers. In four days per month I need to visit at least one community per month, write up some good stories of the women receiving the money and how they are doing with their businesses to share with donors, ensure reporting is accurate, and help the coordinators with their reporting challenges. 

Micro lending, for those of you unfamiliar with this great anti poverty strategy, is lending small amounts of money to poor people, usually women, to help the start and maintain tiny businesses. Microlending became known in the late 1980's with Grameen Bank, and has had a lot of success around the world ever since, proving that poor people are low risk borrowers as they usually have repayment rates off at least 85% compared with middle and upper class borrower default rates which are far worse. My wonderful work in Peace Corps was to help Save the Children start a Microlending effort in rural Bolivia, similar when I went to El Salvador with Peace Corps. 

In Mondo's case they provide funds only to women who have HIV/AIDS, are widowed and have several dependents, aren't too sick to run a business, and have good idea for a way they could earn money but just need the startup costs covered. These women not only have HIV, they are super poor, usually unable to pay for the school fees for their children or grandchildren and or unable to buy nutritious food for their children. Mondo starts women with a $100 grant to start their business, and watch what they accomplish after six months. If the women do well and want to continue they can then access a small loan of $100-200 for more capital, which they pay back in monthly payments each month, plus 13%interest. The eight people I oversee only work 3 to 12 hours per month, so it's a barebones effort. They each love their work and have been with Mondo for eight or more years each. They really know their communities, work with the health clinics so know who has HIV and needs the grants/loans (AIDS is very taboo here so it's not common knowledge if someone has it) and they visit the women weekly to mentor them in their new work. It's very rewarding to be a part of. Did I mention just four days per month?

I have gone out to two communities already, with Glory the Area Coordinator, and the community worker, to talk with the women and hear their successes. I wish I could speak directly with them but my Swahili is far from good enough, so our staff translate for me, enough so I can write up their story for donors.

Here are bits of stories I wrote of some of the women, and how they used their $100 grant to launch a business and ultimately improve their lives and the lives of their dependents a bit. None are going on for additional loans yet, they're happy with reinvesting the profits from the original grant and are more comfortable minimizing the risk of taking on a loan. A $100 grant sure goes a long way in helping these  enterprising women and their families!

Lidia (middle, between Glory and Benedict) has a college age child and a grandchild living with her (dependents). With her grant Lidia bought sheer curtains from the large used clothing market in Moshi (the curtains you donate to Goodwill often end up here, which we will write about later) She takes the material home to sew into mosquito nets and then sells the finished nets at the same market. She can sell her finished nets for about $10 usd each. Lidia’s business is growing as she now buys more material and better quality material. For her family she is now able to provide more nutritious food for her children including fruits and eggs.

Anna has two children and a grandchild living with her. With her grant she cooks lunches from her home kitchen (pictured here) usually a pounded beans and corn or bananas and rice. Her business is going really well - it’s hard work but she enjoys it. Her children are eating better with better quality food. She next hopes to use her savings to expand her business to also cook dinners and to also raise chickens. 








With her $100 grant Lucy rented ¼ acre of land, purchased rice seed, fertilizer and pesticides. After 4 months she harvested the rice with customers coming to her farm to buy the rice. She reinvested her profits to rent another half acre (now ¾ acre), planted more rice, and after four more months she sold the rice for 600,000 tsh ($300 usd). She said the grant was life changing in that her children now have more food and are eating well. The Mondo trainers helped her to think of another way to earn income while the rice was growing, so she now also buys and sells charcoal. 

With her grant Elinam bought 20 chickens and now is up to 42 chickens. Her primary income comes from incubating the chicks and selling them after they reach 3 months old. She keeps the extra eggs to feed her family. With her income she purchases more chicken food and better food for her own family. Elinam says before the Mondo grant it wasn’t easy to get food for her children. Now she can get food without hardship and pay school fees for her children. What’s next: Elinam does not think she will take a loan. In the next year Elinam wants to start small by using her savings to buy a piglet at 50,000 tsh ($25 usd), and sell it after 9 months for 300,000 tsh ($150 usd).

In 2013 Grace, 48 years old, used her grant to buy chickens to sell for meat and eggs. With her income she eventually bought a pig which then had 3 piglets, allowing her to sell the mama pig. With income from her work she is able to pay for her daughter to attend secondary school and for her elder son to learn to become a Mason.

Glory teaching business development to a new set of grant recipients