Kaphinda 5 Group

Kaphinda 5 Group is a determined group of five women entrepreneurs from Salima in Malawi who are working together to uplift their households through small businesses. The group consists of four married members and one divorced member, and together they are responsible for supporting 21 children. The women work in sectors such as fish selling, grocery trading, vegetable vending and knitting, all of which help improve daily living conditions and sustain their families.

Mele, a 45-year-old member of the group, is married to a fisherman and is the mother of four children. For the past 15 years, Mele has been practising knitting as a way of supporting her family with essential needs such as food, clothing and schooling. Over the years, Mele has built strong experience and a steady customer base, producing knitted items that are well received in her community.

Despite her long experience, her growth is limited by a shortage of materials needed to meet increasing demand. She is intending to use her portion of the loan to purchase additional knitting supplies that will allow her to expand production and improve her income. She is supported by one family member who assists her in managing her knitting activities.

Mele dreams of expanding her business further, with the long-term goal of venturing into livestock farming to create a more diversified and stable source of income for her family.

The Microloan Foundation, Lendwithcare's local partner in Malawi, employs a unique 'centre' model for lending to female entrepreneurs. A centre comprises several sub-groups, which share the same name as the centre. As such, you may have seen similarly named group loans from Malawi, all belonging to the same centre. In this system, each woman is individually responsible for repaying her loan, but the group offers mutual support by assuming overall responsibility together.