unlimited partnership e.V.
The Project has Started...

At the beginning of the implementation process all applicants answered about 25 questions related to their family structure, health, schooling, challenges and problems in life etc. Thereby the aim was to get an idea about the candidates and to determine their suitability for a micro-credit. After we had completed the interviewing process in cooperation with our local partners and the chiefs of the village within a few days, i we finally selected 46 women out of 70. The most striking finding was that out of 70 interviewees only one of them was able to read and write. The rest of them barely ever enjoyed formal schooling. The age range of our micro-finance women is between 20 and 52 years. All of them are married and do have several children. Most of them even have „co-wifes“  since polygam is still very prevalent in Sierra Leone. A peer groups consists of 5-6 women (individual loans were not granted, only group loans) and every group has a group leader.

After the women had been selected they attended a one day workshop carried out by Marie Bob Kandeh, who is not only a leading figure in Sierra Leone’s civil society but also the General Secretary of the Market Women Association. Hence she could provide our women with valuable business advice, basic business training, reference to how to take care of themselves etc. During the training day the women also jointly decided together through the guidance of Marie about the „by-laws“of their micro- finance contract. This way it can be ensured that the women are supportive of the by-laws and that they will abide by them since they did decide about them in consensus.

Here are a few examples of the by-laws:

  • In case there is a default among a group member, the group leader will compensate for the loss
  • regular meetings to exchange experience and help each other will be held
  • solely usage of the loans for business purpose only
  • Addressing the village chiefs and the police in case problems emerge within a group and can’t be resolved by the group leader etc.

The day we disbursed the money, the loan contract was signed by the women, their husbands and the section chief. Those who are unable to read, signed by fingerprint. Every woman received a loan of about 33 Euros which is to be repaid within 3 month. Since the loans were disbursed on the 20th of September they have to be fully repaid by the 20th of December including the interest rate. They repay in monthly installments.

The women utilize their first credit solely for retail. They merchandise fish, rise, fruits, palm oil and cassava as well as clothing, soft drinks and sometimes even possess their own little kiosk.

On the 20th of October all the women successfully repaid their first installment. Only in one group the group leader had to add for a group member that was unable to repay fully by herself.

So far the women did complain that the loan amount was not sufficient. Hence before the disbursement they tried to negotiate a different loan amount or a longer repayment period. In consultation with our local partners we however decided to stick to our arrangements and to observe their success in dealing with the loans.

Once the loans are repaid completely we will once more analyze with our partners the first loan cycle. Based on the results we will then define the terms and conditions of the next loan cycle starting in January 2012 (loan amount, loan period etc).

For further pictures concerning our Microcredit Project in Telu please visit our public photo album on facebook.

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