Economic Growth Sierra Leone Project #2492

Workforce Empowerment in Sierra Leone

by Develop Africa, Inc.

Project Report | Aug 30, 2016
Sarah Excitedly Launches Her Small Business - Thanks to Microfinance Funds You Helped Provide

By Sylvester Renner | Project Leader

Sarah excitedly opens up the bag of powdered milk

Dear project supporters,

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Sierra Leone. During this visit, I talked to over 20 young ladies, one on one, at the Creating Pathways Centre. These school-going ladies became pregnant during the Ebola crisis and dropped out of school.

The ladies told me a bit about themselves and each ended with an appeal. Many of them requested funding assistance to start a small business. The business goal is to help them take care of their kids or support their education. They wanted help to get their lives back on track.

The appeals of these ladies deeply touched my heart. I listened to story after story of these girls who were destitute and had fallen "between the cracks", so to speak. They explained their gripping and precarious situation. Their future looked bleak with no hope and no prospects.

I conveyed to them OUR passion and joint interest. I explained that I would present their situations to you. I gave them a message of hope - that we would try to assist as many of them as possible.

These ladies are most deserving of our support. Providing a loan of $100 to $200 would help many them get their lives back on track - and on the path to self-sufficiency.

It would be phenomenal and life-changing if each one of us could decide to support one of these ladies - around 90 of them in total. We will connect you with the specific lady that your donation supports. Would you consider doing this today?

While in Freetown, I distributed microfinance funds to Sarah. Sarah is married with 3 kids and her husband is currently unemployed. As you can see in the photos that I took, Sarah, with the funds that I provided, purchased a large bag of powdered milk. She repacked this into small plastic bags - to be retailed in the market. These smaller packets of milk are affordable for families living from day to day. From sales, she will earn enough to feed her family each day.

For Sarah, access to the funds, as in the case of the Ethiopian entrepreneurs, opened up a new door of opportunity. She was exuberant and extended her deep appreciation to YOU.

Thanks again for joining us in changing the course of history of one more family. Today, Sarah and her family have food on the table, thanks to your support.

Excited about impact opportunities,

The Develop Africa Team

she shows us the open bag of powdered milk

Sarah repacks the milk into small bags

she show us the plastic bag

Sarah outside her small apartment

Links:

Ethiopian entrepreneurs find solace in a micro-credit program

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Jun 1, 2016
Looking Back and Looking Ahead - The Need For Flexibility

By Sylvester Renner | Project Leader

Mar 8, 2016
Microfinance Loan Brings A New Start For Memunatu

By Sylvester Renner | Project Leader

Happy Memunatu

Dear project partners:

Microfinance continues to be in high demand in Sierra Leone. This is due to the fact that this is a proven way of helping people get out of poverty and develop a new sustainable income. Thanks to your support, we offered this lifeline of support in February to Memunatu.

Memunatu comes from a very poor family who lives in a slum dwelling. She has 4 brothers and 4 sisters. Both parents are alive but very poor and unable to take care of their children. Memunatu struggled through her primary and secondary education with meagre support from the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). Due to her challenging family background (e.g. difficulty in getting a meal a day, no conducive place to study, little or no learning materials, etc.) Memunatu did not do well in the final Senior Secondary School examination (West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination-WASSCE).

However, because of her due determination and quest for advancement in life, she was supported by an individual to pursue a two-year catering course. She graduated with a good result, but has not been fortunate to secure a job.

We have supported Memunatu with a micro-finance grant to embark on micro- enterprise. Based on the nature and volume of her business, Memunatu has requested to utilize the funds in phases as she improves on her business skills as well as minimize risks of losing the seed money due to poor management.

She is using the knowledge and skills acquired in the catering school to prepare and sell by snacks such as fish ball, fish-in-batter, fried sausage, meat pie and kebbe (local food). She makes a return of between Le15, 000 and Le20, 000 ($2.54 -$3.39) a day. She is using part of the profit to take care of herself and her family (i.e. parents and siblings).

Memunatu is very grateful to YOU for this support. She promises to work hard and advance herself and improve the standard of living of her parents and siblings.

Together we are truly changing the world, one life at a time.

Save The Date: Starting at 09:00:00 EDT on March 16th, all donations until midnight are eligible to be matched at the Pro-Rated percent. The Pro-Rated percent is based on the total amount of funds raised on Bonus Day, the amount Develop Africa has raised, and the amount of matching funds that are available. This means we don’t yet know what the matching percent will be but we will find out at the end of the Bonus Day. With this structure, GlobalGiving is able to offer matching funds for every online donation during the day.

Thanks so much for your kind support!

The Develop Africa Team

Memunatu - full of purpose

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