Video updates from Togo part three: “A small loan is like oil in an engine; it allows people to move forward"

Finally, part three of Tracey's video updates from her April 2013 trip to Togo is here! Here are also parts one and two for some context.

To round off my blog/video updates from Togo, I wanted to share with you some lasting impressions from the trip.

The passion and commitment of the WAGES staff

Many of the office staff began their careers as Loan Officers, including the General Manager, Ramanou Nassirou who, when talking about the entrepreneurs said “most of them know how to run their business, we just provide them with a small loan to get them started - a small and affordable loan is like oil in a car engine; it allows people to move forward". 

I have already written about how WAGES supported clients who lost everything in the massive fireswhich swept through the great markets of Lomé and Kara last year and this demonstrates further the commitment that WAGES have to improving the lives of their clients. 

The importance of a good loan officer

 A good loan officer will take time out of their incredibly busy work schedules to support entrepreneurs beyond simply disbursing loans and collecting repayments. This makes a huge impact on the lives and successes of the people they serve and their businesses  and I saw it time and time again with the WAGES' staff.

Yaya’s story: Yaya was one of the very first entrepreneurs to receive funding from Lendwithcare back in 2010.  Yaya told me there has been a big difference between before the loans and now.  He is able to send his children to school, they eat three meals a day and his business has ensured the health of his family. Recently one of his children was sick but he was able to afford to pay the hospital fees – something he’s sure he wouldn’t have been able to do before.

What access to finance really means

Access to financial services such as loans and savings accounts are absolutely vital to people who would otherwise never be able to move their business beyond the most basic hand to mouth existence. 

Assiahame’s story: I met Assiahame at her small hairdressing salon in a side street of Atakpamé.  She told me that her salon alone didn’t have enough regular customers, so her loan enabled her to diversify into selling jewellery, bags as well as hair pieces. Before finding out about WAGES she had previously used a money-lender who charged her 50% interest on her loan and used to hassle her for the repayments.

And that like any small business, there are many challenges and although access to credit helps lessen the burden, it is not always enough ...

The need to diversify when things get tough

William’s story: I had met William a year ago and was struck by how important he is to his village, near the town of Atakpamé.  Not only is William a fisherman employing twelve people in the village, he is also the local Pastor.  This year when I met William he was starting to diversify his income sources as it is becoming harder and harder to make a living from fishing.  He told me that fishing was only good for three months of the year and it was becoming increasingly difficult to make that income last.  As is typical of men like William, rather than just accepting the situation he was thinking of other ways in which he could earn a living.  He had just started a very small business, selling musical instruments and has now taken a loan so he can grow this business.

I hope you have enjoyed this small window into the lives of some of the entrepreneurs featured on lendwithcare.org.  I really enjoyed meeting them and hearing their stories.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who made my time in Togo so enjoyable and rewarding, especially Felix Kilinglo and the Loan Officers from the Atakpamé branch; Forgive, Lolonyo, Sylvain, Success, Dodji, Emmanuel and Esso and Mensah Dakevi, the WAGES lendwithcare officer and Sambieni Yarikoi who accompanied me for all my time in Togo and were the perfect example of the warmth and hospitality of Togolese people.

Tracey Horner, Head of Lendwithcare

  

Philippines Diary - lendwithcare in the field

As Tracey Horner, Head of Lendwithcare, travels to the Philippines post Typhoon Haiyan we follow her here ... 

DAY ONE
 

Checking-in at Heathrow Airport

Today I am going to the Philippines. And as I leave the comfort of my family and home behind, I am acutely aware of the stark contrast that awaits me as I travel to visit the families and homes of people struck by the strongest typhoon to ever hit landfall - Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda). I'm sure you can all remember the shock and sadness you felt as the news hit our screens in November last year that a super typhoon was smashing its way through the Philippines, destroying absolutely everything in its wake. Over the last few weeks, we ourselves have experienced the adverse affects of extreme weather and know how utterly destructive it can be and how we stand helpless in the face of it. Although the nature of my work means I have seen and heard a lot about the impact of Typhoon Haiyan over the last month or so, I have absolutely no idea what to expect and I want to share my experiences with you via this short diary.
 
My goal while away is to meet some of the 38 lendwithcare entrepreneurs living in areas devastated by Haiyan and work on a restoration plan with our local partner, SEEDFINANCE. I will be visiting the islands of Leyte and Cebu and visiting some of the worst affected areas, including Tacloban City and Ormoc City.

For news, updates and photos keep an eye on this blog and follow us on the lendwithcare Facebook page and Twitter @lendwithcare & @traceymohabir

I Thought I Would Paint A Picture Of Daily Life Here

Emma Chase works for the micro-finance institution MicroLoan Foundation and is currently spending three months volunteering in Zambia, where she is helping to set up the partnership between MicroLoan Foundation and Lendwithcare. She has been writing about her time in Zambia in three previous blog posts ("Home away from home", "Muddy bricks and trainers" and "If it had wheels, I travelled on it!") and here is her fourth installment. This is a re-post from the MicroLoan Foundation.

It’s 17.00 and we’ve had a power cut, and no water, since 9 a.m. It’s a daily occurrence and I thought I would take the opportunity to describe to you all what life here is like; my day-to–day routine.

I wake on average between 5 and 5.30 a.m in time with the sun, to the illusive clanging of metal somewhere nearby; I’ve tried, and failed, to identify its source, and purpose! Once up I pour myself a cup of water, boiled the previous night, and say good morning to my resident spiders – I think they are a family as this past week I’ve seen half a dozen small spiders – and they entertain me with a dance around the room. 

On the way to work – Smog and poverty

I am accustomed to life here - as I navigate my way along the side of roads, jumping out of the way when a car speeds past hooting me to move, I forget that I am many miles away from home, where life is so different. I join men in smart suits (yes, suits when it is 37degrees!) walking to work, children being taken to school by elder siblings, girls and boys with music blaring from their phones walking with the arrogance of youth, men sweeping the leaves and dead flowers away from a government building, cattle on a walk, a man on his bike with a wellington on his left and a flip flop on his right, three cyclists each carrying two dead goats on the backs of their bikes, holding my breath as passing vehicles emit large plumes of dark smoke – oh wait! Not so different after all.

People have asked me if I have found living so close to such poverty difficult and in truth, yes. Each morning on my way to work I see children, without shoes, without proper clothes, put to work. One morning I passed a mother with her son. They were each lifting large bundles of bamboo branches. Mum was wrestling with a load twice the size of her – about the size of a large tree trunk and son, who could not have been older than ten, a slightly smaller bunch… a small tree. The branches were tied up and resting on a wall. They each had a material pad that they held on the tops of their heads and, as though bulls about to charge, bent their heads to meet the branches. They then each negotiated with the weight to hoist it up and get on their way.

The wind and fire in Chipata

Two special features of Chipata are the wind, and the fire.  When I was first told about the wind I thought it a blessing – a relief from the heat – and although a breeze is most welcome during the scoring afternoon heat, I have witnessed some of its more irritating features: Causing papers to fly around the office as though they are birds, taking off at whim, and throwing dust into my eyes. I bought some replacement sunglasses (that cover about half of my face!) but even while I wear them the frequent whooshes of wind, scattering grit and dust everywhere still find my eyes as I walk about town. I’m not hiding my temporary blindness, whilst walking around, and so I’m pretty sure everyone here thinks I’m nuts: “Oh for God’s sake, I can’t see”, mutters the crazy mzungu.

Fire is the second characteristic of Chipata. Small fires are commonplace and mostly used to burn rubbish; men at the sides of roads burn their waste, and I often see children play at poking them with sticks. Sometimes small, sometimes large piles of ash are part of the landscape, and a constant whiff of smoke can be smelt throughout the town. One morning I was welcomed into work by a cloud of white smoke that was steadily covering Chipata town, and the crackle, crackle of burning trees. From every window in the office, all you could see was thick, white smoke. Everyone was pretty unperturbed whereas I was panicking: Would I get to my guesthouse in time to pick up my passport, what would I need to grab in case we needed to evacuate? Everyone laughed at me when I asked whether I should prepare for such an event and they assured me that they would let me know if I needed to worry – I could grab a lift out of town with them! In the meantime I was to get on with work. As the odd bits of ash floated in through the windows I asked why no one was worried. They told me that the fire was to hunt for rats, to be eaten or sold at the market.

Zambian culinary specialties

Work finishes at 17.00. Because the sun sets at 18.15, and it is pitch black by 18.30, everyone promptly leaves the office. When I get home at about 17.15 I begin making dinner. I am now a professional in one-pot meals and have experimented with all the locally grown vegetables I purchase in the market. I have taken recipes from local women and recreated them for myself – one such dish is using ground peanuts to make a spinach and tomato dish. Groundnuts (peanuts) are very popular as, like the dried kapenta fish, they are hassle-free sources of protein. I’m also gorging on anything you can buy from women selling along the roads: Cassava – did you know that if you are not going to eat it fresh, you should dig a hole in the ground and store it there till you are ready to eat it?! – and chinaka. I was introduced to chinaka through my recruit at work; she called in a seller to let me try some. It is similar to pate in texture, but is made from groundnuts, salt and African polony. For those of you, like me, who did not know what African polony is, it comes from brownish tubers of orchids that are the size of small potatoes, grown underground, in the Northern region of Zambia. It used to be restricted to the northern Bemba tribes but is now common across eastern Zambia. It can be spread on bread, or eaten with nshima. Rats are also featured in some peoples’ diet but I’m not that brave! 

At about 20.30 I switch on my kettle for the morning’s water and as I begin to get sleepy, the dogs start barking; barking a lullaby to send me to sleep. I have only seen one dog in the street but come nightfall two dozen or so, make their presence known. It is during this pandemonium; the howling of the wind, banging of the windows, barking of the dogs and rumbling of the kettle that I drift off to sleep, appreciating all the advantages life has given me.

Financial inclusion: How can poor people have access to the financial services they need?

2.5 billion people around the world lack access to financial services such as savings accounts, access to loans,  insurance and  bank transfers.  According to the Centre for Financial Inclusion, “Access to a range of quality financial services at affordable prices, delivered with convenience and dignity, can change the course of an individual’s, family’s, or business’s future.  A full suite of financial services should be provided with quality, to all who can use them, by a range of providers”.

Financial inclusion is challenging and requires financial service providers to meet the unique needs of all clients, especially the so called "invisible customers", the most under-served and vulnerable client groups.

Last week, the Global Forum “Financial Inclusion 2020” took place in London.  The vision of this movement is to create a financially inclusive world using the year 2020 as a focal point for action. The movement has worked together for over 20 years to promote  responsible microfinance practices.  The focus of these practices is the economic and social benefit of customers, rather than the maximisation of profits for microfinance institutions.

On Wednesday to conclude the forum, the Microfinance CEO Working Group,  who collaborate to improve the way in which their Microfinance institutions work, participated in a conversation with members of the Microfinance Club UK on the development of the Financial Inclusion 2020 initiative.

Discussion around two major questions arose from this conversation:

1. What does expanding Financial Inclusion mean for the very poor? How do we ensure financial services remain client-focused and that financial sustainability is not achieved at the expense of microfinance's social mission - poverty alleviation.
2. What role must technology play in driving and expanding financial inclusion? Attendees were in strong agreement that technology is critical to the success of Financial Inclusion and the creation of sustainable business models, for example the use of mobile phones to transfer small amounts of money between users of the same mobile company, as  is being done in Kenya, Tanzania and other African countries. 

The group also highlighted what they consider to be the fundamentals of responsible microfinance. These fundamentals are included in CARE's Code of Conduct in Microfinance and are critical to the success of Financial Inclusion as a movement to build better futures for people with low and moderate income around the world. These are:

• ensure customer protection 
• focus on customers’ real needs 
• reach customers in remote areas 
• provide services to customers classified as poor 
• provide training to their customers 
• being transparent and efficient in their management 
• work with and empower local staff

Read more about the Financial Inclusion Forum 2020

By Teresa Hall, Lendwithcare.org Assistant

Video updates from Togo part two: collecting updates from the field

After the first part of our video updates from Togo in July, the wait is finally over! Here is part two, at last.

In my first blog about my trip to Togo, I mentioned that visiting our microfinance partner, WAGES, was of particular interest to me because of CARE’s long-standing relationship with the institution. However, the main purpose of my trip was to respond to our lenders’ desire for more updates on how their loans have impacted on the lives of the people they have supported.  So I travelled to WAGES to provide the loan officers who work with Lendwithcare some further training on how to provide updates and more specifically how they can use film to bring these updates to life.

The training was led by professional film makers Fiona Molloy and Nik Wood (the people that also put together our fab TV ad!) and I have to say the loan officers really enjoyed learning the tricks of the trade from Fiona and Nik.  They particularly enjoyed learning how shooting different kinds of footage rather than simply zooming in and out can improve a film.

These three women had specific messages they wanted to pass on to the Lendwithcare lenders:

1.  Akouvi Amouzou – a fish monger from Togo. Akouvi told me “it feels good to be able to build my own house, hire staff to increase revenue and have money for when my children are sick”

2. Ama Nyabledzi – a market trader from Togo. Ama proudly announced when we visited her at her stall that “my palm oil is the sweetest on the market!”

3.  TchallaAdjo – a grain seller from Togo. At 69-years-old Tchalla had generated enough income from her business to build her own house, which I was lucky enough to be shown around

By Tracey Horner, Head of Lendwithcare.org

Read the final part of Tracey's video blog from Togo!

If It Had Wheels, I Travelled On It!

Emma Chase works for the micro-finance institution MicroLoan Foundation and is currently spending three months volunteering in Zambia, where she is helping to set up the partnership between MicroLoan Foundation and Lendwithcare. She has been writing about her time in Zambia in two previous blog posts ("Home away from home" and "Muddy bricks and trainers") and here is her third installment.

A few weeks ago I spent a day traveling to the rest of MicroLoan Zambia’s branches. Initially I was to spend a few days at each branch, but last minute training would see everyone in Chipata the following week. I travelled to Nyimba, Petauke and Katete to meet with each branch manager and brief them on the proposed procedures for Lendwithcare. My day started bright and early and by 4 a.m I was in a taxi, en route to the coach station. Little did I know that come nightfall, I would have travelled on pretty much anything that had wheels.

The coach set off to Nyimba at 5 a.m and in the 3 hours the journey took, the sun woke up and said a very impressive good morning; casting a warm orange glow over the undulating landscape until it reached its peak to settle itself high in the sky, watching over eastern Zambia.

Welcome to Nyimba, the banana district! I arrived and was met by big smiles - John and lots of banana sellers. He took me to the office where we had a very productive meeting, and I successfully used the toilet without losing anything! John was sent to Nyimba to set up the MLF branch all by himself. Two years on and he works tirelessly with a client base of 500 women. We visited Nyimba’s market where lots of these women work. The market is quite large (larger than London’s Borough Market, with about twenty times the number of sellers) and almost all the women there are MicroLoan clients. From bakers (the smell was amazing!), to hairdressers - whatever you could imagine or you would want they sell it, and throw in huge smiles and lots of laughter to go with it.

Now, people drive at two speeds here – fast, and snail’s pace. The former using their car horns to let everyone know they were coming, and would not be slowing down to get out of the way; the calm of the mornings are perforated with honk, honk, honk; the latter when something interesting, like a “mzungu” walking by, is happening. This was how I travelled from Nyimba to Petauke for my second meeting: An hour in a taxi-car, with three men in the back gossiping about the Zimbabwe election. I was given the honoured passengers front seat and within five minutes wished I were squashed between the men in the back. For an hour we drove at lightning speed, catapulting ourselves over giant potholes, listening to loud Christian music that would jump every ten seconds, for company.

I reached Petauke safely. Petauke is smaller than Chipata and I didn’t get such a good vibe from it. I tried to keep my time here brief and after my meeting quickly found a taxi to take me to Katete; an African taxi! Some of you will understand my exclamations. Now when I was visiting Jo-burg years ago I was told never to get in the way of an African taxi… Treasure this advice. A vehicle similar to a serena packed with passengers and their household items – think of the circus trick with clowns fitting into a mini car – driving at faster than light speed, honk, honk, honk, breaking suddenly to pick up travellers on the side of the road, accompanied by Christian music played as though we were in a nightclub. Again, I was given the front seat. Pro: Quick escape. Con: Deafened by the music. I sat in this taxi for 90 minutes before we eventually set off. In the initial bargaining for my business I had told them I needed to leave ASAP, I needed to get to Katete for a meeting. After about 15 minutes of waiting I asked when we were leaving: “Any minute now”.

Arriving in Katete and taking a short motorbike ride to the office I had my meeting and quickly found another taxi to take me home - I traveled in the back this time – sweaty, dusty and greasy. A coach, three cars, van and motorbike later, my bed never looked so good.  

Promoting better health, diet and hygiene

Lendwithcare’s partners typically accompany loans with a range of other services. These include offering savings accounts, insurance and money transfer as well as providing training in basic bookkeeping, financial literacy and marketing. 

Delivery of a workshop to FACES customers by Laura Sarango 

However, they also focus on the general well being of borrowers. Recognising that poor health can adversely impact on the ability of borrowers to work, care for their families and develop their small businesses, lendwithcare’s partner in Ecuador, Fundacion de Apoyo Comunitario y Social del Ecuador(FACES) raises awareness of health, diet and hygiene issues.

FACES decided that since many of its clients, women in particular, only possessed a few years of formal schooling and were sometimes only semi-literate, in addition to disseminating information through specially designed pictorial leaflets, it would also invite clients to regular workshops where health and related issues can be discussed in a relaxed environment.

At least once a month Laura Sarango, who works as social responsibility assessor for FACES, holds a workshop entitled ‘Healthy habits’ in one of the many rural communities where FACES works in southern Ecuador. Generally, around twenty borrowers aged between 25 and 60 years old attend the workshops and around four-fifths of participants are women. The workshop begins by asking participants to list the most common illnesses that affect them and their families; it discusses their symptoms and causes, and then goes on to discuss their prevention and cure.

Laura explains “many of the most common illnesses such as diarrhoea, which is more frequent among children, can easily be prevented through better hygiene practices such as washing hands and also food before cooking and eating, keeping rubbish bins covered and making water safe before drinking it”. However, she goes on to mention, “because of the increased incidence of chronic illnesses in recent years, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and prostate and breast cancer, we encourage all participants to visit their local health centres and take advantage of free check-ups”.  The workshops are participative and all those attending are encouraged to share their own experiences and ask questions. So far, almost five hundred people have benefitted from attending the voluntary two-hour workshops. The workshops are not restricted to borrowers; indeed borrowers often invited friends, neighbours and relatives to attend as well.

Many of the participants are small-scale farmers or at least have small plots of land surrounding their homes. They are reminded of the importance of growing and consuming their own vegetables and fruits. Laura comments “occasionally, I come across farmers growing only cash crops or selling all that they produce and buying basic foods such as maize and beans, even when it would be much cheaper to grow these items very easily themselves”. She adds that one of the most frustrating aspects is when she lays out refreshments for the participants, “I deliberately offer both healthy and cheap options such as fruit, vegetables and fresh juices as well as unhealthy expensive options such as fizzy colas, cakes and French fries. Unfortunately most participants choose the latter although I go on to explain to them the economic and nutrition benefits of favouring the former”. As well as discussing what constitutes a balanced diet and the types and quantities of food participants should eat, Laura also focuses on children’s diet and ensuring that they have a good breakfast before going to school. She remarks “we found that although children are generally eating well in rural areas, in urban areas they are often simply having a glass of milk for breakfast and then snacking on sweets during the day at school”.  Laura invariably remains behind after the workshops have finished, as some participants prefer to ask questions on sensitive issues such as reproductive health privately.

The workshops have proved to be very popular and the aim is to eventually cover all of the parishes in southern Ecuador where FACES is operational.

By Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan, Lendwithcare Microfinance Advisor

Muddy Bricks and Trainers

Thank God I didn’t buy new shoes!

All the roads in the “centre” of town are paved, and although crumbling at the sides where the pedestrians walk, there is not much drama walking around. The road outside my guesthouse which leads me to one of these wonderfully, albeit crumbling paved roads, is no such vision of convenience. The road outside my guesthouse is a soil track that every day is worked upon to try and turn it into a concrete one. Every day I win/attempt to win small battles with this road. Being soil, it gets everywhere so, there is not much point in hoping I’ll arrive either at work or at home without also carrying one, maybe two coats of terracotta dust with me. 

My challenges lie in whatever task to build the road the day brings; giant heaps of soil piled so high, and so wide it’s like walking around roundabouts; large, deep holes the width of the road so I’ve got to use my spidey fingers to cling onto a wall for fear of falling in; but worst of all, is when they work with water. It averages every other day, usually when I’m on my way home, and sees the road swimming. Water plus soil turns the surface into clay which I get the privilege of walking through. Squelch, squelch, squelch, all the way home. 

Needless to say, I’ll be throwing my trainers away after my time here. Two weeks in, nine to go. I got straight to work which I am really enjoying. I'm not getting any complaints and I’ve even been asked by the finance manager to help him with a private project; setting up a school for very poor children in the area. The job of creating and implementing the procedures for lendwithcare have not taken as long as everyone anticipated which I am happy about, as it means most of my time will be spent monitoring, and training the officer we hire to takeover from me.

Week one I visited some of our clients in Chipata. On the Tuesday morning I was given a motorbike helmet. I stood with a deadpan expression and everyone laughed as I asked them to tell my family and friends that I love them were anything to happen to me. On the back of the bike I went and once we had turned our second corner, driven over our second “speed bump” I relaxed, thighs fully clenched, into the ride. I was expecting a 20 minute journey so 60 minutes later, as we arrived at the client meeting, I clambered down from the bike and stumbled over to meet the Safwa group…my thighs were a little shaky.

What a welcome to their life! First thing I did was use their toilet - a drop hole similar to ones I used as a child in the mountains in Cyprus - and watched as if in slow motion my sunglasses unhooked themselves from my t-shirt and fell down the hole...oops! Everyone thought this was quite funny and a wonderful way to introduce myself. They were all so happy and excited to meet me, and I too with them. They laughed as I repeated their greeting to them: mulibwanji. At first I thought they were laughing at the mzungu trying to speak their language – apparently not! I was not meant to repeat, but instead reply nilibwinomulibwanj. How was I supposed to know!

House construction

After a prayer, the loan officer I had travelled with started the meeting; a repayment and an ‘importance of savings’ meeting. At the end he translated some questions I had for the women; what impact the loans had made, for them and their family; what the consensus was among the community about women becoming the breadwinners. All very positive answers. These loans had clearly changed their lives and they wanted to be sure that I felt their gratitude. They even sang a song about me to which we all clapped and danced to. I felt so honoured by their welcome and kept reiterating that MicroLoan, and already some lendwithcare lenders, may have given them their loans, but they were the ones working each day to see their businesses succeed.

My favourite, if it’s ok to say I had a favourite, was the group’s treasurer; it seemed as though her eyes could tell a thousand stories but still looked young, and hopeful. Throughout my time with them she was smiling at me. She initiated the song they sang and kept engaging with me. She was generating enough profit from her business to allow her to start building a second house for her family; for her son when he grows up. Clearly the proud mother, she took me to see the work in progress and in only a short period of time the foundations had been laid, and the outer walls were being built.

My second visit was not as successful as my first and although I did not meet any clients, I did learn quite a lot. The women had not turned up for the meeting – a common problem as many of them are busy working. My driver/rider this time round was much more talkative – something I was a bit worried about; whenever he spoke to me on the bike we would end up swerving left and right. We passed “briefcase businessmen” traveling the quiet roads to Malawi with sacks and sacks of mealie meal to which he gave me a detailed lesson on the mealie meal market. Mealie meal is white maize flour that is eaten religiously as nshima. Nshima can be eaten like porridge for breakfast or as the highlight at dinner time. When made up it looks a bit like mashed potato but is the consistency of putty. It is eaten with almost every meal, with hands, torn off like bread and dipped into sauces. I’ve made some myself and it is yummy! Mealie meal costs twice as much in Malawi, as it does in Zambia. Being so close to the border, it is quite common to see these trucks, laden with their sacks of mealie meal, travelling the quieter roads to get to Malawi’s markets.

I was also taught how they make bricks. It is a predominantly male job and sees soil wetted, and moulded into a rectangular brick shape and then then lain out to dry (covered with leaves if it get too hot to prevent cracking). Once they are dry, they are arranged into a large pile (so that it looks almost like a small room), covered with mud and a fire is lit inside. This turns the mound into an oven. This sets the bricks and their colour changes…to a lighter terracotta. And voila! Bricks to build your house. It is very common to see these mud covered piles in every small congregation of houses/ mud huts with thatched roofing. They stand next to houses, and are only distinguishable by their dark, mud coating. Otherwise they are the same size as the houses.

So now that you are all experts on the local cuisine and the construction industry I will say bye bye as I'm worried I may have lost some of you to this essay, and I need to go back to cleaning the mud from my shoes!!!

This article was originally posted on the Microloan Foundation blog.

Home Away from Home in Chipata, Zambia

Emma Chase, a Microloan Foundation volunteer, has posted a great snapshot of life in Chipata, Zambia where she is currently helping to set-up the lendwithcare.org partnership.

“We would like to offer you the opportunity to travel to Zambia and help set up our lendwithcare initiative”. I received something to this account a few weeks ago whilst on holiday with my boyfriend. I immediately started grinning like a Cheshire cat, he was a little less enthusiastic. Three months working in Zambia – I was excited!

Emma's 'home away from home'

I’ve been here in Chipata, close to the Zambia/Malawi border for 4 days now and it already feels like a home away from home.

I was picked up by one of the team at MicroLoan Zambia and we drove from the airport in Lilongwe, Malawi for about 3 hours through undulating, terracotta landscape. On our drive we overtook many cyclists that populate the road carrying a variety of objects from bags of cement, bikes for repair, and more loaves of bread than a UK supermarket stores. I was lucky in that as we were approaching Chipata the sun was beginning to set and the light cast a warm glow over the town.  A lovely first impression of where I am to call my home for the next few months.

Work began early the next day. I was introduced to all the staff at the Zambian headquarters and got straight to work with the finance manager to put together a schedule and discuss lendwithcare. Everyone is very excited about the project and keen to make it work. I will begin by spending time in the regional branches, meeting the women entrepreneurs and seeing how the organisation works as a whole. Then will come the task of trying to work lendwithcare into it.

The view from the office

My first weekend was spent getting to know the place – more importantly, where to buy food and figuring out how to cook it! I am pleased to announce that I am the proud owner of a hotplate and kettle and have successfully cooked popcorn! 

Chipata is in the eastern province of Zambia and as you drive from Malawi, it is the first town you get to. It sprawls out from the Great East Road and I am coming to learn that you can get anything off this road; hotels, supermarkets, the hospital. If in doubt, just walk along the road and you will soon reach what you are looking for.  I learned this as I searched for the Saturday market – it’s actually an everyday market but more sellers are there at the weekend. 

Delicious popcorn

Not only did I know I had found it because I saw stalls, but because I saw bucket upon bucket of potatoes, tomatoes, dried beans, and silver, shiny objects that look like jewellery – in fact they are dried kapenta (a type of sardine). They look like pieces of silver until you get up close and see that they are in fact small fish. They are a hugely important staple to the area (Mozambique and Zimbabwe included) as they provide a refrigeration-free protein. I’m yet to try them as I forgot to bring any money out, but I’m looking forward to it!

View from the front door

The compound I am staying in has a little bit of everything; the apartment style rooms I am staying in, a campsite, conference centre where I think I heard a congregation singing and preaching on Saturday, a large bar with pool tables and a covered patio. There is a communal eating room where guests and visitors can sample local food. I am definitely going to ask the chefs if I can watch them cook and get some tips to bring back home. On Sunday evening I joined a group of visitors to watch the football; Zambia vs Zimbabwe - they get almost as excited as the Brits, almost! The only downside I’ve encountered so far are the spiders in my room and bathroom – although my mother says they make very good listeners! – and the way the dust gets everywhere. It’s a very pretty terracotta colour but it is turning me slowly orange.

Back to business;  today has been spent working out the logistics of the role, better understanding the difficulties of the organisation and tomorrow is my first day “in the field.” My mode of transport is a motorbike(!) and I will spend the day with the loan officers; getting to know how they go about their work, and meeting the entrepreneurs. I am quite excited to meet some of the women that MicroLoan work with…who knows, maybe I’ll try my first kapenta.

This article was originally posted on the Microloan Foundation blog.

Video updates from Togo part one: providing small loans to the financially excluded

In April I travelled to Togo to visit WAGES, our local microfinance partner, and a number of the micro-entrepreneurs we have supported through lendwithcare.org.  It was a particularly interesting trip for me because when I first started working for CARE International back in 1997, the “Women & Associations for Gains both Economic and Social” (WAGES) project was in the process of moving away from its origins as a small-scale group lending programme set-up by CARE and was transforming into an independent Microfinance Institution (MFI). I remember how CARE’s end of project evaluation had concluded that the WAGES project  was having such a positive impact on the lives of poor women and in order to help the many more thousands of people who could benefit from micro-loans, WAGES should became an independent entity.  This is why when we set up our lendwithcare.org initiative in 2010, WAGES was an obvious choice to be one of our very first partners.

Sixteen years on and WAGES has grown into an incredibly successful and committed MFI - reaching more rural clients than any other microfinance provider in Togo and helping these clients (predominantly women) create better and sustainable livelihoods for themselves 

Clients like Abla and Bawana (both market traders) who told me, as women, that it was impossible for them to get fair and affordable credit before they became members of WAGES:

Or Kokou (a farmer) and Kossiwa (a market trader) who said formal banks would never lend money to people like them

By Tracey Horner, Head of Lendwithcare.org

 
Read part two and three of Tracey's video blog from Togo!