Microfinance: The Fight Against Global Poverty. Part 4
MicroFinance Part Four: In Her Own Words
Welcome back to Microfinance: the Fight Against Global Poverty. In Parts [1], [2], and [3] of this series, we have approached the subject in a few different ways, looking at our subject through economic, political, and feminist lenses. However we might see it so far, there is truly no better way of illustrating microfinance in action than through the voices of the clients.
Born in Mobassa, Kenya, Nayima (not pictured in this article) was forced into marriage at the age of fourteen. After having two daughters, her husband revealed to her that he had another wife, and he wanted them to live together. After moving to Uganda, Nayima was rejected by her husband’s other wife, and she and her children were left on their own. She married for a second time and had six more children, all girls. Her husband, who had abandoned her because she had not borne a son, returned to her a year later, very ill. While pregnant with twins, Nayima spent what little money she had taking care of her husband until his death. She had no choice but to move her family of 10 to a single room in town.
“The hardest part was taking the children out of school because I could no longer afford the fees” she said, “The only work I could get was cleaning houses of my extended family members. I fed my children with the leftovers from their tables. I could not afford soap, so I borrowed the ‘bubbles’ [from her employer’s dishwater] – to wash our clothes.”
FINCA Uganda Client Goretti Namubiru was left with nothing after the death of her husband. Shunned by her community, she turned to FINCA at her mother's suggestion. She has since earned enough to start a business, pay legal fees to reclaim what she lost after the death of her husband, and school fees for her three children. Courtesy FINCA International
Through a friend, Nayima learned about FINCA, a program which would offer her a loan of fifty thousand shillings ($50 USD) to start her own small business. Initially, she struggled to gain acceptance from other women at the village bank, who feared that she was too poor and therefore would prove unreliable. Fortunately, Nayima’s friend found two more women who were willing to act as guarantors. But there were more challenges to come:
“Once I got my first loan, I had another problem. I had no idea what I would do with the money. The three women from the village bank who had guaranteed my loan told me they were going to a nearby village that enjoyed a good crop of tomatoes. They would purchase them in quantity and sell them here in the Jinja market… The next day, when the market opened, I was the first one there. I sold everything, and at a good profit! I easily made the first weekly payment to FINCA, and had enough left over to buy more tomatoes”
Over the next four months, Nayima continued to profit from this operation. After three years of selling fruits and vegetables in the market, financed with increasingly larger loans from FINCA (where all the ladies in the village bank guaranteed her loans), she saved enough money to open her own restaurant. She was even able to send one of her daughters to university. Nayima’s proudest moment, however, was yet to come:
“All these years I have been living in this small room, behind the restaurant, saving for the day when I could buy land and build a proper house for my family. That day has come. Last month, I bought a piece of land in town. I am building a small house on it. A house of my own!”
A FINCA Village Banking Group in Uganda. Courtesy FINCA International
There are many more success stories, as microfinance has proven to be an essential instrument for social and economic change and development throughout developing countries worldwide. Curious about what you can do to help? In our next installment, we will interview young people who have worked and are currently working in the non-profit sector and learn about their experiences both in offices and in the field, on the ground.
For more information about FINCA International visit www.finca.org
Source material: Interview excerpts with permission from Rupert Scofield (FINCA CEO and author of ‘The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook’, now available on amazon.com)
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