Microfinance For Women Summary
Update:
As a resultof a grant provided by Mobilizing Rotary For Microcredit (an organization that draws from Rotary Clubs in the San Diego area), we were able to provide business training and new loans to 50 new women "entrepreneurs". This grant will go a long way in improving the lives of women and families impacted by HIV/AIDS in Zambia. (read more here)
In order to help a sick child recover completely it is important to supplement the medicines with food and nutrition. Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic has destroyed the fabric of the African community and most of the households are headed by grandmothers caring for 5 or more orphans. These grandmothers do not have a permanent source of income and struggle against odds to provide regular food or support to the family. We realized early in our work that if we were to succeed in making a real difference in the lives of all the HIV+ children we had to make sure the grandmothers had a regular source of income. Microfinance - a novel program by which poor people are given small loans without collateral has been implemented successfully in many countries. Through microfinance poor women get loans to start a business and over time as the business grows, they repay their loans. Worldwide the repayment rates for micro credit vastly exceed that of traditional banking. We decided to launch our own microfinance program to help these grandmothers.
Power of Love’s micro finance program was launched in 2005. In developing the program Power of Love had to take into account the special circumstances of the loan recipients - many could die during the loan process, all of them spent a large part of their day in providing care to one or more sick children, and the fact that they were themselves aging grandmothers. Unlike traditional microfinance programs, we decided to focus not just on successful loan repayment but on proof positive that the loan recipients’ lives were being improved.
How Does the Program Work?
POL’s micro finance program provides women caregivers with microloans and training to engage in income-generating activities. These women, who care for HIV/AIDS patients and orphaned children, are critical to maintaining family structures in the community. However, they are themselves highly vulnerable to poverty and sickness. With the ability to generate income, they can support and empower themselves, while providing care that is essential in the community response to HIV/AIDS.
Impact of the Program
To date, POL has provided more than 375 loans to women caregivers of HIV positive children. Repayment rates are over 90%. As a result of the businesses started with loan money, the diet of several families has improved significantly with many women reporting that they can now afford 2-3 meals a day as opposed to a single meal before they started the business. In addition, the children are healthier so that they miss fewer days of school, and as a result of regular earnings these women can pay for school supplies (books, school bags, shoes, uniforms). In addition, as the women progress successfully through loan cycles there is a marked improvement in the assortment and display of their merchandise. More importantly, women who are on their third or fourth loan cycle have not only become role models for other women but also for other men in the community. Several men are helping their wives run the business. The women are also saving a small amount each week as personal savings and have their own passbooks to record their savings.
Overall, we believe over 5000 children and adults have been directly impacted by the program through better nutrition, health, school attendance and increased life expectancy.
A Brief Report on the Achievements of Power of Love’s Micro Loans Program in Lusaka, Zambia in 2010
As a result of generous donations, some of the achievements of the micro loans program in the last 12 months are given below:
•New micro loans given out to 115 women (total of over 375 loans have been provided to women to date).
•Field visits are made on a regular basis and most of the businesses run by the women are doing well. Many women who are on their 3rd or 4th loan have better displays of their products and have made their store atmosphere and layout pretty in order to attract more customers.
•As a result of these loans, 14 children have been enrolled in primary school and 18 children have been enrolled in secondary school. These children were unable to attend school due to lack of funds before their families received loans.
•Attendance in weekly micro finance meetings has improved. At these meetings the women discuss how to run and improve their businesses, care and health of the children in their homes, their own health and HIV status, the decision to go in for voluntary testing and the importance of keeping children in school. As a result of these meetings, women have developed relationships of mutual support with each other, diet and nutrition of all families has improved, 31 families have gone in for voluntary testing and they have encouraged others to do the same, the women are able to discuss issues such as HIV/AIDS with their husbands and children at home and the men are coming forward to help with the business. In addition, these women have become role models not only for other women in the community but for men as well. We hope that this cultural change will be sustained and permanent.
•A few women are now on their 4th or fifth loan cycle. These women have made significant improvements and expansions in their businesses. For example, 7 women extended their houses from profits arising out of their business, 4 women purchased plots and have started building, 3 women are running restaurants, 16 families have expanded their businesses (drug stores, different types of groceries, clothing), and 4 women were able to build permanent shops instead of the make-shift structure they had to date. •Women have realized the importance of savings and have started saving accounts in banks of their choice.
To sum, as a result of these loans that provide regular earnings to the family, nutrition and diet of the women and their families has improved, due to better health most of the children are back in school, the loan recipients have become role models in their community for both men and other women.
Challenges Faced by the Micro Finance Program
1. Some of the women are not able to make profits from their businesses due to higher prices of food, and for the products they purchase for sale. This has led to delays in their making loan repayments.
2. The women need refresher training on running a business on a continuing basis.
3. In additions for funds for loan capital we are constantly in need of funds for business training, field visits by the loan officer, salary and expenses for the loan officer, and weekly meetings that are an essential element to ensure the success of the micro loans program.
In summary, micro loans program has increased the survival rates of the children in the Matero compound in Lusaka, Zambia through better nutrition, helped children stay in school, and significantly improved the quality of life of their families. This program together with children’s care program is comprehensive as it takes care of physical (food, medicines, schooling), social (environment, culture, religious issues), and psychological (counselling, peer groups) needs of the women and children. In addition, education on adherence and monitoring has reduced the number of children who might have developed resistance to drugs at an early age, leading to an increase in their life span.
The Power of Love program has matured and our focus through 2010 continues to be provision of continuous quality care to the children and micro loans to their caregivers so that they can take care of the whole family. In the next few years we hope to extend the program to the entire community of Matero in Lusaka, Zambia.
Micro Finance Activities - April 2010
On International Women’s Day (March 8, 2010), 50 new loans were provided to women caregivers of HIV positive children. The women were provided with business training in February 2010, and after successful completion of the training received loans in the amount of $110-120 each. Members of the Rotary Club Nkwazi in Lusaka, participated in the event, chatted with the women and their families and shopped at the new businesses.
Some of the new businesses started by women are:
(i) Sale of dried fish
(ii) Fritters and Pop corn
(iii) Grocery items like vegetables, fruits, beans, soft drinks, mineral water, eggs, dressed chickens, Floor polish, Bags of charcoal, Cakes etc.
(iv) Hardware items
(v) Used clothing
Beneficiary Profile: All the loan recipients are women and have at least one child who is HIV positive. Second, most of the loan recipients have children who are HIV positive and are enrolled in Power of Love's ARC (Arms Reach Care) program. The ARC program provides the children with food, medicines, weekly health check-ups from the Community Health worker/Nurse, psychosocial counseling, and other life saving services. On average loan beneficiaries are caring for 4 children, and 3 elderly people at home. This implies that the micro loans are benefiting at least 400 people directly (assuming an average household size of 8) and many more indirectly.
Plans for 2011
Our goal for 2011 is to make an additional 100 women self -reliant by providing them with business training and small loans. At this time we are raising funds to reach our goal. Please donate generously and give a gift of hope and economic independence to women and children impacted by HIV/AIDS in Zambia.
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