Project Description:

To build the capacity of African women to lead their families and communities to increased well-being, including better health and higher incomes, through business training and microcredit access. Ongoing support is provided through trainers and local solidarity groups.

This five year project will improve the quality of life and standard of living of families in marginalized communities in Sierra Leone through the promotion of women’s education, leadership, health and economic development.

This project provides weekly business classes to women in marginalized communities; it utilizes weekly classes to train women in financial management (including budgeting and savings) and family health matters; and, it also promotes business growth through access to microloans.

Update from the field: December 2011

The business development and microfinance activities of the Salone Women’s Empowerment Trust (SWET) are continuing to progress well. Clients and potential clients in rural communities continue to be trained in various business and integral development topics including savings and loans, supply and demand, marketing and customer service, water, health and nutrition.

Training and lending activities are ongoing in 43 communities (four new) in six chiefdoms in Koinadugu District. Between April to September 2011, 77 new clients undertook initial business training and began borrowing from SWET,  producing a total of 1,614 active borrowers in 304 active solidarity groups in the District. Additionally, SWET opened a sub-office in Kamakwie, Bombali District, and officially launched its program there in May. Since then, SWET’s Kamakwie office has trained and disbursed loans to 189 women in 35 solidarity groups from three communities. Clientele is 100% female.

The top loan amount from SWET has reached a high end of Le1,500,000 (or about $350) per client. September 2011 ended with a gross outstanding loan portfolio of $126,750 and 98.87% repayment of loan interest and principal in Koinadugu District and a gross outstanding loan portfolio of $8,554 and 100% repayment of loan interest and principal in Kamakwie. From April to December 2011, the entire SWET program disbursed a total of $333,536 in loans.

Clients report that the program is helping them to better manage their finances, save for future investments and emergencies, provide good food for their families, support their children in school, build houses, and invest more in their businesses.

Update from the field: April 2011

The business development and microfinance activities (SWET) are progressing very well. Training and lending activities are ongoing in 38 communities (10 new) of six chiefdoms (2 new) in the Koinadugu province. During this reporting period, 328 new clients underwent initial business training and began borrowing from SWET. There are 1,279 active borrowers in 245 active groups.  Clientele is 100% female. This represents a 36% increase in enrollment from the previous reporting period. The top loan amount increased from Le600,000 to Le1,000,000 per client. September 2010 ended with a gross outstanding loan portfolio of $82,054 and 99.69% repayment of loan interest and principal. The program disbursed a total of $193,500 in loans during this reporting period.

The Loan Life Insurance (LIF) program is very popular among participants. This program charges 1% of the loan capital to cover the loan write-off in case of client’s death and an additional $40 is given to the next-of-kin for funeral expenses. During the reporting period, LIF payouts totaled $2,245, while LIF contributions totaled $1,935. As of the end of September, the LIF program account contains $605.
 

Update from the field: September 2010

CAUSE Koindadugu Operations Map

Salone Women’s Empowerment Trust Brochure

Women’s Integral Empowerment Program Brochure

Update from the field: May 2010

The business development and microloan program (Salone Women’s Empowerment Trust, or SWET) is growing strongly; March ended with 912 active clients in 175 solidarity groups; repayment remains at 100% due to superb staff follow up and client selection.  The current loan portfolio is 197 million leones.

Mariama is the president of a solidarity group now in its 6th cycle with no late or defaulted payments. Her share of the current loan was 600,000 Leones, close to $160, and enabled her to expand on the products she offers. She was particularly pleased to have purchased a large bag of soda soap for Le110,000 which she will divide up into smaller bags and sell for a Le25,000 profit. That’s a profitable capital investment made possible through access to previously unavailable capital resources. Currently she sells consumer goods like earrings, elastics, and jewelry, but she knows that when the rainy season begins it will be food items that are most profitable. She’ll switch over to take advantage of seasonal shifts in supply and demand.

Updates from the field: November 2009

Thaya Kamara is a joyful and positive mother to many more then just her 2 biological children. As a member of a 6-person all female solidarity group, Thaya is a beneficiary of CAUSE’s small business training classes and follow up microcredit scheme, the Salone Women’s Empowerment Trust (SWET).

Mrs. Kamara lives in Kabala town, the district capital and a large market centre with lots of activity. For several years, Thaya would walk for miles into the bush to seek out communities that would sell locally tapped palm wine. With the makeshift wooden crate that rests on her head, Thaya would buy one or two 5-gallon containers and make the trek back into town to resell the product. This work exhausted her, had a small profit margin, and kept her from attending to her family. Eventually, her entrepreneurial nature kicked in and she decided to try her hand at a stationary business; last year she opened a petty trading table outside her house that sells biscuits, powdered milk, candles, and other similar items. After hearing aboutCAUSE’s community-based classes on small business management, Thaya signed up and after a few months joined 5 co-participants to form the solidarity group they call “Le Wi Lek Wi Sef” a Krio phrase which translates as “Let Us Have Love For One Another”. In August of 2008, the group applied for a small loan from SWET and now the group is well into their 4th loan cycle, almost three times the first cycle loan amount.

The increased profits she has seen since her membership in “Le Wi Lek Wi Sef” has led her to begin constructing a mud brick structure next to her home that will soon act as a full-fledged shop. Her ambitions are bold and she approaches them systematically; the half-built structure will be completed in a few months; in the near future she will plaster the outer walls so the shop is reinforced to withstand the intense rainy season; eventually Thaya will buy a small generator and multiple outlets so for a small cost, neighbours can charge up the battery in their mobile phones.

I asked how many other children she feeds besides her own and the names just keep flowing, “Alhaji, Nenie, Kaday….she’s actually a student at [CAUSE Kids supported] Baptist school…Yeabu…” You can tell she is beginning to lose track. “Mohamed, Nenie…no I said that one already…Marie…” One can only speculate if the number of children she provides for will increase in proportion to the growth of her business.

Update from the field: March 2009

Sierra Leonean Katie M. Koroma has a thorough understanding of what it means to work hard. A biological mother of six and a guardian to three more, Katie is known far and wide as “Baby Beans” for the mouthwatering combination of beans, meat, and root crops she prepares and sells on a daily basis. Ask anyone in the CAUSE office: a lunch with Baby Beans is an unforgettable one.

Katie’s day begins by visiting the market before 8am and then spending the next 3 hours preparing her delicious concoction in several massive pots. She and an apprentice will then carry the huge loads on their heads directly to their clientele scattered throughout Kabala, Sierra Leone. The day is done when the beans are, and that can be 8, 9, or even 10pm! Excluding Sundays and regular bouts of illness, 41 year old Baby Beans has held this routine for the past 31 years, first as an apprentice to her mother, and then for herself from the age of 22.

Due to a lack of access to capital, Katie has been forced to purchase her raw product in small quantities. For example, the beans she buys at the market were, until recently, purchased at 700 Leones ($0.30 CDN) per cup. This has now changed. Through the Business Development Component of the CAUSECanada Women’s Integral Empowerment Program, Katie has attended training sessions that covered topics such as customer service, market research and price-setting, Katie formed a solidarity group with three other micro-entrepreneurs. Together, the four women applied for a small loan fromCAUSE Canada’s Microcredit Program. With her initial loan of 150,000 Leones ($50 CDN), Baby Beans now buys beans in bulk—half the cost as before!