Lushomo 0602 Group

There is a group of five women belong to the group is called Lushomo 0606. The average of these women are forty years. The small income generating activities these women do are selling second-hand clothes, groceries, dry maize and selling potatoes. The women are requesting their second loan. The proceeds they receive help them to cover their household costs and send their thirty-six children and four orphans to school.

Brenda is our focused member of the group. She is a very committed to her small business because she loves financial independence and likes to be action oriented. Brenda’s husband is an entrepreneur but his funds alone do not completely provide for her family’s needs and her children’s school fees. Three years ago, Brenda opened up a grocery shop when she got a loan from Microloan Foundation. She enjoys running her shop and she gets decent profits to help her husband meet their family needs.

The Microloan Foundation in Zambia lend to female entrepreneurs using the ‘centre’ model. A centre is typically made up of 3-4 sub-groups and these sub-groups almost always have five members. Each centre has its own name and the sub-groups within the centre share the same name. Each person within the group of five women is responsible for repaying her loan but the members support each other and if a member is unable to repay her loan on time, then the group assumes responsibility for repayment. Loan officers provide training to the groups, although it is expected that centre leaders will eventually assume responsibility for providing some of the basic training.