Chikuyu 1 Group

Chikuyu 1 Group, from Rumphi, is made up of five married entrepreneurs who have created small businesses in order to offer brighter futures for their families. Together, they are responsible for fifteen children and earn their living through selling snacks, vegetables, groceries, clothes, and livestock. By working together as a group, they encourage and support one another so that they can secure more stable household incomes.

Anastazia is a thirty-six year old married woman and mother of five children. She has been running a business selling snacks, groceries, and livestock for the past two years, after deciding to start trading as a way of providing the basic needs for her family and reducing poverty. Through hard work and determination, her business has become an important source of income and now provides employment for two other family members.

Like other members of the group, Anastazia is seeking additional capital to expand her business. She hopes that continued growth will enable her to purchase a motorcycle, making it easier to manage and develop her enterprise.

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.