Micro Loan Program
Micro Loans
Micro loans are used to describe small loans granted to low income individuals that are excluded from the traditional banking system. They are to help those who are paralyzed by poverty and who have too little funding to start any project. Often they can't read or write and need a trusted helper who can get them started with a very small project in order to make just a little money to place them on their feet so they can take on larger opportunities. The goal of micro loans is to empower the many capable people, that just have not been given an opportunity in life, to take control and through their own work create some economy for themselves and the community. Currently there are 2 projects using micro loans, goat project and shoe project.
Goat Project
Over the last 1.5 years we have been working to kick off our first goat micro loan project. We are so excited to now have the program kicked off. The families that are selected to receive 5 goats would have to be able to provide care, shelter, and enough land to feed the goats. During our January 2018 trip our team members met with the two men that run the program. Both have the first name of Daniel. Our team members visited the families, spoke to them, and took pictures of the signed contacts. The team members discovered that the program is going very well. There have been a couple goats that have already had babies. The families with the goats are ecstatic about the program and the children love them. One of the families had their male goat die. The family was very upset. In this case our team member provided the money for them to buy another male goat. Just after the trip we got pictures of the program leaders administering the goat vaccines that we had brought with us. Everyone is excited to see this program grow and expand as the goats we have give birth to more goats. We will stay in close communication with the program leaders to keep track of the number of goats, the overall program status, and the plans as more goats are born and provided to new families. We really want to get the goat microloan project going because everyone agrees that once we get a family going with a goat microloan project we can take them out of the poor families assistance program. If the program continues to go well we should consider expanding the program by purchasing more goats. Our current funding for this project is very limited, but we may need to start knocking on the door of our Lord for much greater funding for this project.