No part of the world is immune from the pandemic, but it is vulnerable women and girls who are being disproportionately impacted. At MicroLoan we are helping more and more women set up a business to generate an income and protect their families. Together we can make a change that echoes for generations.
Head over to our website to get involved.
Your support
It’s been another amazing year, remitting $70,757 of your givings overseas, our second highest ever.
A BIG THANK YOU from Everyone at MicroLoan Foundation, from the delightful ladies who receive the loans you provide, to the on-ground teams in Africa, through to our little team here in Australia.
Empower Her is a powerful theme we hope inspires you to continue supporting us and encouraging others to join you. To learn more please call Brian on 0417 211 366 / 1300 960 136
It’s inspiring to see the wonderful expressions on our clients’ faces
Dadari joined a MicroLoan group back in 2018. Here’s what she has to say about her experience so far.
“I am so grateful to MicroLoan Foundation, it really matters to be part of a group and to progress in life. The training has helped me be part of the community.
We learn how to budget and run a business but what is important is that we also learn how to work as a group. It is good to talk with other people about challenges with your work and your life.”
Since 2009, MicroLoan Foundation Australia has provided over 40,000 women with business loans and training to start their own businesses. But we can still do more. Every donation helps a woman take her first steps out of poverty. Head over to the our website to learn more.
Matron joined the Progress Tusole Group in Zambia last year as her husband was finding it difficult to support her whole family and she wanted to feel independent. Since setting up a small business selling tomatoes and cabbage, she has been able to provide food for her four children and has even saved enough to begin paying their school fees!
7% of our clients have one or more employees working for their business. This means the women we support are creating employment opportunities for other members of the community, helping them to kickstart their journeys out of poverty too! And often inspiring them to launch their own businesses through our “Entrepreneurial University”
Throughout the region most of the food and other markets are imposing strict distancing rules which is stopping many of our clients being able to sell their product. This is hitting them very hard so we are focusing on support, mainly with food packs, and only providing a few loans to those businesses that continue to operate successfully and are able to expand.
Malawi
Continues to function well in the circumstances. Their currency is comparatively stable, which is tremendous.
The great news is that in most areas they have had a harvest 25% above the last 5 years average. If our clients can afford to store a sizeable amount of their crop then they will get much better prices in months to come. This is however very difficult when there’s little or no income
Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe currency is in freefall and MicroLoan Foundation continues to operate under the most difficult circumstances, focusing on supporting existing clients and issuing no new loans. We have resumed comparatively normal operations recently, mainly to existing clients who are taking second loans to fund their expansion. The MicroLoan model working as it does best!
Zambia
Continues to proceed well in the trying circumstances making steady progress where possible despite some challenges with local area lockdowns. Unfortunately, their currency is al
I don’t know about you, but seeing these happy, healthy children who are all benefiting from the loans we have provided to their mothers helping them start or grow their own business is really heart-warming 🙂
You may enjoy this short video from UK Dragon’s Den celebrity entrepreneur Deborah Meaden.
As past residents and visitors we all love this Virtual Tour of Malawi, the ‘Warm Heart of Africa.’ Click here to enjoy Marcus Westberg’s delightful illustrated story (tip – ignore the NY Times ads).
Published on: 10/11/2020
