I met Pauline Papouti (fourth from left, wearing a checked dress) on 23 March 2012.
Pauline Papouti took a loan to buy two bales of cloth called 'pagnes' and the profit from this loan has enabled Pauline to join a women's group which sells yams and grain, along with the pagnes described on her loan request. Pauline joined the group because it gives the women better bargaining power and allows them to share ideas with each other.
They buy grain and yams directly from farmers and then sell them in a wholesale market 3 days a week in the small town of Anie. Having access to credit has improved their business as it has allowed them to buy in bulk and therefore make a greater profit. They store their grain in a communal warehouse. When I asked about their hopes for the future they said that they would like to have a bigger warehouse so they could buy and store grain when the buying price is low, and then sell it when the price is higher (one of their problems is the fluctuating price of grain). They also told me that they would like to be able to have some adult literacy classes as they were not lucky enough to go to school when they were children. They are pleased that they are able to afford to send their own children to school. The biggest problem that affects all their lives right now is access to clean water. The well where they used to collect water has dried up and they now have to go to a river about 5 miles away and the water they fetch is not clean. This results in them having to use some of their profits to buy medicine to treat the water borne diseases their family frequently contract.
Tracey Horner March 2012