Microloans
The kerosene lamp flickers as we sit listening to our downloaded preaching from the internet. Which century are we in? At night when the electricity is cut, it's pitch black. It makes all those bible verses about light shining in darkness much more meaningful.
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I've been thinking about microloans and put it in my prayer diary as with a big '?'. I was also re-reading something I wrote down to the effect that God wants to work through us, rather than us rushing around trying to do things for him. In effect all God wants is for us to place ourselves at his disposal. We should expect God to use us and be alert to what is happening. However useless we may feel, God wants to use our lives to bless other people.
Having been thinking and praying along these lines, I had an interesting week. For those of you read the blog two weeks ago, we have given Elizabeti her loan for her shamba (farm). Part of the money is a gift and the rest she will pay back when she starts to make a profit.
A few days later I was talking to my house lady Sarah about her house lady (Everyone has a houselady). I asked her how much she paid her. The answer was 7,000 shillings a month which is equal to about £3.50 (Three pounds and fifty pence, just in case you thought it was a typing error). That's for a whole month. She has 4 children and no husband.
Just to put that in context, a litre of milk costs 30p and Ugali which is the basic staple costs around 30p/kilo and she would need 3-4 Kilos per day! Life is fairly tough for my house ladies and I pay them £35 per month. It boggles my mind how you can even begin to live on £3.50/month. I've encouraged Sarah to increase her house lady's wages a little, subsidized by me. My other plan is to help both Sarah and her house lady set up small businesses selling things. Samosas, doughnuts, chapatis etc.. I can't pay them any more because we already pay very good wages for Dodoma, so the best way to help them is to help supplement their incomes. (Although Daniel calculated that their wages only represent 23% of what we actually pay them if you include medical, school fees and other gifts). For such a small amount (to us) - maybe only £5-10 - I can set them up in business. Don't worry this isn't an appeal for you to donate money, although it sounds like one.
Yesterday another lady called Eunice turned up at the gate asking for money. She comes every month and I normally give her something. She has 7 children and an absentee husband. I didn't want to give her any more money, not because I didn't want to help her, but because it doesn't seem fair just to hand out money when there are so many others in the same situation who are actually trying to earn a living. I invited her in for Chai (tea) and I proposed to help her set up a small business. The result she has gone away with 5 litres of parafin and 100 boxes of matches to sell in her village. I've told her to bring back the capital and any profit she makes next week. I'm not so optomistic about this situation because I'm not sure how keen she is to work and how much of her tale is true. But I figure she at least has to work to sell the goods before she sees any money which seems better than just handing her the cash. Please pray that she will make a go of it.
A big thank you to everyone who supports us financially. It gives us the means to help people here. Your money is really making a difference!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been thinking about microloans and put it in my prayer diary as with a big '?'. I was also re-reading something I wrote down to the effect that God wants to work through us, rather than us rushing around trying to do things for him. In effect all God wants is for us to place ourselves at his disposal. We should expect God to use us and be alert to what is happening. However useless we may feel, God wants to use our lives to bless other people.
Having been thinking and praying along these lines, I had an interesting week. For those of you read the blog two weeks ago, we have given Elizabeti her loan for her shamba (farm). Part of the money is a gift and the rest she will pay back when she starts to make a profit.
A few days later I was talking to my house lady Sarah about her house lady (Everyone has a houselady). I asked her how much she paid her. The answer was 7,000 shillings a month which is equal to about £3.50 (Three pounds and fifty pence, just in case you thought it was a typing error). That's for a whole month. She has 4 children and no husband.
Just to put that in context, a litre of milk costs 30p and Ugali which is the basic staple costs around 30p/kilo and she would need 3-4 Kilos per day! Life is fairly tough for my house ladies and I pay them £35 per month. It boggles my mind how you can even begin to live on £3.50/month. I've encouraged Sarah to increase her house lady's wages a little, subsidized by me. My other plan is to help both Sarah and her house lady set up small businesses selling things. Samosas, doughnuts, chapatis etc.. I can't pay them any more because we already pay very good wages for Dodoma, so the best way to help them is to help supplement their incomes. (Although Daniel calculated that their wages only represent 23% of what we actually pay them if you include medical, school fees and other gifts). For such a small amount (to us) - maybe only £5-10 - I can set them up in business. Don't worry this isn't an appeal for you to donate money, although it sounds like one.
Yesterday another lady called Eunice turned up at the gate asking for money. She comes every month and I normally give her something. She has 7 children and an absentee husband. I didn't want to give her any more money, not because I didn't want to help her, but because it doesn't seem fair just to hand out money when there are so many others in the same situation who are actually trying to earn a living. I invited her in for Chai (tea) and I proposed to help her set up a small business. The result she has gone away with 5 litres of parafin and 100 boxes of matches to sell in her village. I've told her to bring back the capital and any profit she makes next week. I'm not so optomistic about this situation because I'm not sure how keen she is to work and how much of her tale is true. But I figure she at least has to work to sell the goods before she sees any money which seems better than just handing her the cash. Please pray that she will make a go of it.
A big thank you to everyone who supports us financially. It gives us the means to help people here. Your money is really making a difference!
posted by Daniel & Libby @ 4:08 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great entry. It is wonderful to hear the interesting ways that you are dealing with a problem or issue that is plaguing (sp.) the third world. We to have given out loans that were partly gifts and partly to be paid back but your entrepeneurial idea are great. Keep up the work.
Lovely blog, Lib. it's great to hear the everyday things. I liked your idea of helping Eunice setting up a business. You really are a genius! I wouldn't have thought of these things. To me it seems like God has given you the gifts to really understand and help ppl out in your community. I'm excited to see where things will take you once you have more time on your hands when caleb is at school. i'll really miss you all this Christmas and think of you lots while we warm ourselves in cold switzerland! lots of love pips
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