1,000 Microloans for Rural Women in East Africa

This is Pamela, who was trained and received her first WMI business loan in April 2012. With her loan she started a drug shop, and with each successive loan she has expanded her business --stocking a larger inventory of drugs. Of course, her business isn’t what you probably were thinking when you first saw the headline. A drug shop is the rural Ugandan village version of a pharmacy. Most operators have some medical training and are allowed to treat common illnesses such as malaria and AIDs. Pamela’s open air drug shop is located in Atiak, the site of the largest massacre by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. In 1995, the LRA shot over 300 young men in the village, rounded up others and took many young girls as sex slaves.

Ravaged by a twenty year bush war, famine and subsequent under-development, life in Northern Uganda is difficult. Luckily, Atiak has begun to prosper as a result of trade and development in the new nation of South Sudan. The village sits on the main truck route between the capitals of Uganda and South Sudan. Atiak’s energetic women have profited from selling water and meals to the truckers, hotels and other businesses are cropping up and the village is beginning to look more prosperous. Last year, the local women contributed bricks and land to build a community meeting pavilion with the help of WMI funding. The pavilion provides a place for WMI borrowers to meet, learn and work out of the stifling sun or torrential rain.

In addition to her business Pamela has taken an active role in managing the local WMI hub. She has been a local coordinator, helping new borrowers with their businesses, collecting loan payments and keeping track of 40 borrowers! An English speaker, she also serves as a translator when non-speakers of the local dialect come to visit. Because Ugandan’s speak so many dialects, conversations must often undergo translations through English.

Pamela’s two children have also greatly benefited from her business. She is a role model for her children – something that you can’t put a dollar value on or count in a survey. As the women’s financial circumstances improve, they are able not only to better feed, clothe and educate their families; they are able to save for emergencies. Domestic violence is reduced.  Families are healthier and happier.  Children are educated and the vicious circle of poverty may be broken.  Women are becoming leaders in their communities. They are becoming knowledgeable advocates for themselves, their families, and their villages.  Their children are beginning to follow in their footsteps.

October 15 is a Global Giving match day! Please consider a donation to help other women in Atiak like Pamela.  Thank you so much!