Change a Girl's Life Through Microentrepreneurship

Quinter is a single mother of three children who lives in Muyuka. Before the onset of the crises, she lived in Lebialem Division with her children, where her family primary source of livelihood was subsistence farming. She cultivated crops such as maize, egusi and cocoyam. Through this, she was able to feed her family and make a monthly income of 30,000FCFA ($50.79). As the crises escalated, accompanied with the loss of many lives. They had to move to Muyuka, there in muyuka formation was later send across to them that Muyaka was more secured than Lebialem. When she arrived Muyuka, she had no place to stay with her three children. She was fortunate to find an “abandoned” poultry house in which she moved in with her children. While in Muyuka, she was doing menial jobs in order to provide for her children. With this, she was unable to save up for the future and could barely feed her family nor sponsor her children through school.

When she was identified by Reach Out Cameroon social worker, through a door to door identification where 300 vulnerable Internally displaced women, single mothers, women living with disabilities, school dropout and widows who lost their sources of livelihood as a result of the ongoing crisis. She was being identified alongside 107 beneficiaries selected to be empowered in a keep a girl Alive program. Her capacity was built on entrepreneurship, booking Keeping, savings, sexual reproductive health right for three days. After this capacity building sessions, she was supported with a business startup capital of 57,200FCFA ($96.84) for the first level grant in which she went into buying and selling of unripe bananas from farmer and preserves it to get ripe and resell in the Muyuka Market.

To add , after 6 months of continues onsite business coaching by Reach Out social worker she was seen to be consistence and progressing in business as her capital increased to 100,000frs ($170.53) and a profit of 45,000frs ($76.76) was made monthly. She was given 114,000FCFA ($193.69) as her second grant , this money was given to her after a two days refresher training alongside the 107 beneficiaries who attended . it was all about experience sharing and best business practices among the beneficiaries. She used the money to expand her fruit business; in which she buys unripe bananas from local farmers, preserves it to get ripe and resell it in the Muyuka market and also within the community she sells ‘’accra banana’’. Her three children are also involved in this business as they accompany her in selling. With skills gained during the entrepreneurship training offered by Reach Out, she has been making use of these entrepreneurship skills such as customer service, choosing a strategic location for her business, which has stood out in her business growth. Through the bank account that was created for her after the training, she has been able to save up to 300,000FCFA ($507.92). Her business capital to 200, 000F ($260.73). She can comfortably provide for her family and sponsor them through school this academic year. She has also been able to rent a space for herself and children to live in.