Latest SPM adventures

It’s been a non-stop Social Performance Management (SPM) adventure the last few weeks! Chiko, the SPM Officer, and I have been travelling all over the country facilitating workshops for all the field staff in the various regions. With the help of a training committee – composed of our star trainers from each region – the workshops have allowed our staff to focus on key SPM issues using role play, small group discussions, games and songs. The staff came up with all manner of good ideas, including using secret voting for groups to screen potential clients to ensure group quality, providing more standardised guidance to groups in how to formulate their Constitution which governs the way the group runs, and ensuring clients take responsibility for each other’s loan sizes and visit each others’ businesses to check on progress. The picture shows a training committee member explaining ones of the games.

We’ve also gone to all the regions assessing how the two new loan products that are being piloted are faring. One is aimed at reaching the poorest and the other involves longer repayment intervals. Generally they are progressing well, though a few tweaks are necessary.

Just to illustrate that you never quite know what’s going to happen on any given day, we were sitting with one of our groups getting a sense of how their businesses were progressing, whether they had faced any challenges and the like. Suddenly out of nowhere a small copse of trees ran towards us! (see picture) These ‘trees’, I was afterwards told, are young men in the community undergoing an initiation ceremony into adulthood. The unexpected is a part of most days here – though no day more so than that one!

And back to work..! Finally we’ve been checking up on how the poverty assessment work has been doing in Central Region. This is the assessment we’re doing using Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI). Again, overall the trend is positive, though we need to fine tune some issues, for example Loan Officers not doing the assessment at the new loan application meeting but ahead of time, meaning that clients are more likely to make themselves seem poor to access the loan.

Field staff training

I’ve been back in a hot November Malawi for a week now, fitting in meetings with management and visiting branches and groups. It’s very nice to be back, to catch up with everyone, and meet a number of new staff at the head office. Chikonzero (SPM officer), Julius (Operations Manager), the Regional Managers and Senior Branch Managers have been planning our three regional workshops, which all Loan Officers and Branch Managers will be attending over the course of this month. The purpose of these is to ensure that the main messages of the SPM workshop in July are trickling down to field level, and give the field staff tangible tools for putting these changes into place.

For example, we’ll be talking about making sure client groups screen themselves carefully, loans are the appropriate size to the business and savings are made regularly and not in a lump sum. We’ll have on hand three of our star MicroLoan trainers who are helping to facilitate the workshop, and will share their best practice for training clients using games, songs and role play. Our first workshop is taking place in the Southern Region this week.

Whilst in the south, we’ll also check to see how the piloting of the new products aimed at reaching the poorest (smaller loans with no initial savings required) and in response to client requests for longer repayment intervals (3-weekly rather than fortnightly repayments) are faring.

More updates to follow once we’ve been in the field!

Preparing for my return to Malawi

It’s all go as we sort out the plans for my 5 week visit to Malawi in November. We’ve got lots to cover including checking the progress of the Progress out of Poverty Index roll out and completing the training of the final branch in the Central Region; talking to our star trainers about the detail of how we’re going to structure our redeveloped training approach and what delivery methods (like songs, dancing, games, etc) we’re going to use; and facilitating workshops with all our Loan Offers across the 3 regions of the country.

The workshops are a really exciting opportunity to meet with the people – our Loan Officers – who work at the front line with our clients and know them the very best. They’ve been kept up to date with all the Social Performance Management work we’ve been doing and have started making changes to the way they work, but now’s we’re taking the time to meet with them all personally. We’ll cover important issues including helping clients to appraise the appropriateness of each other’s loan sizes, ensuring that clients save regularly and don’t just dump in a large sum right before disbursement (which wouldn’t therefore be representative of their cash flow and probably means they have borrowed the money), empowering the clients to problem solve within the group, and so on. We’ll be using interactive approaches – like role play – to make the messages fun and help our staff to remember them.

The operations team have also been hard at work piloting some new products, one of which is a small loan aimed at the poorest clients which doesn’t require them to have any savings as a deposit and has a maximum loan size of K5,000 (just over £20). The other is in response to clients telling us they don’t like the fortnightly repayments: we’re therefore trialling a 3-weekly repayment product aimed at those clients who have already demonstrated their capabilities, and are ready to move to slightly bigger loans than our average standard loan sizes, of between K30,000-K60,000 (around £125-£250). So whilst I’m in Malawi it’s a good opportunity to see how these pilots are progressing, talk to the branch staff about any technical difficulties and to the women about how they’re finding the products. It’s still very early days, but important to catch any potential problems as early on as possible.

Poverty assessment rolled out in Central Region

I am happy to report that we are now ready – following lots of field testing and piloting to make sure all the processes are easily operationalized and results are accurate – to roll out the Progress out of Poverty tool (PPI) in the Central Region of Malawi. It’s an exciting next step in the Social Performance Management (SPM) work, as it means we’ll be able to gather data on clients’ poverty levels at entry, during the course of their time with MicroLoan and at exit. We’ll therefore be able to see the poverty levels of the clients we’re reaching and the changes to their poverty status.

Chiko, the SPM officer based in Kasungu, has been in the field the last couple of weeks training the Loan Officers at branches in how to carry out the PPI. They’re given classroom training and lots of hands-on experience in the field to test their new skills.

Muzungu nowhere near Kasungu

Despite now being back in slightly more chilly and grey England, the Social Performance Management work we're doing continues unabated. Chikonzero (or Chiko to his friends and colleagues) is working incredibly hard on all sorts of projects: making sure that the Progress out of Poverty Index (measuring clients’ poverty likelihood) pre-implementation work is going well and preparing for roll out across the Central Region, putting in place pilots testing new products aimed at reaching the most poorest and providing a longer repayment period to fit in with clients’ business schedules, documenting MicroLoan’s training best practice…etc.

Training in practice

On the subject of training, we’re going to be integrating a different training methodology for our clients. Loan Officers will be taught to use the ‘adult learning approach’, which is designed to help clients with limited formal education to learn more effectively. Before that can happen though Chiko’s been speaking to our star training Branch Managers and observing them at work training the groups. We’ll pull together all the best bits from our current in-house training as well as looking at the way other organisations across the globe do their training to develop a new and improved training programme, helping our clients to become even more effective businesswomen. We’re hoping that we can start piloting this very early in the new year.

Above is a picture of one of our Branch Managers working with a group. One of the exercises he has developed which highlights that clients need to know each other well before forming a group is to ask each woman to add a chitenje (cloth worn as a skirt) to a pile. Each potential client has to then give one chitenje back to another potential client, demonstrating that they know each other and recognise each other’s possessions. These kinds of practical exercises are part of the adult learning approach and ensure that lessons are more easily understood and remembered by clients.

Tionana (see you later) Malawi

Sadly this will be my last post for a while, as I head back to the UK this week, leaving MicroLoan Foundation’s (MLF) Social Performance Management (SPM) work in the capable hands of Chikonzero.

It’s been an amazing experience for me! An opportunity to work with MLF’s hard-working and inspiring staff, to learn so much about what the nitty gritty of microfinance really involves, see how clients are benefiting and listen to clients to serve them even better – and of course the opportunity to spend almost a year working in the beautiful and welcoming country that is Malawi.

I am not going altogether, but will continue to work for MLF based out of the UK until the end of the year, assisting Chikonzero with the many facets of SPM work that are coming up. This includes amongst other activities…starting to roll out poverty assessments for new, ongoing and exiting clients to better understand who MLF’s client base is and the differences MLF is making in their lives; integrating the adult learning approach into training methods so it’s easier for clients with limited education to apply the messages; using exit data at branch level, and allowing exiting clients to discuss their issues and suggestions with their Branch Manager.

The plan is to be back in Malawi in November so more updates will follow then. However, until then, it’s tionana!

Visiting Zambia

MicroLoan Foundation doesn’t just work in Malawi, but have two (soon to be three) branches in Zambia too, so I headed over there to see what the issues in relation to Social Performance Management are. I was looking at whether the team there are working with the poorest, how they do their training and what can be done to address client exit. I came away feeling extremely positive: though poverty levels seem to be less severe than in Malawi, the team are being proactive in working with the poorest, the training is thorough and effective, and exit rates are being kept down by good communications between staff and clients, and by responding to clients when they raise a complaint. For example, clients said that they weren’t keen on fortnightly repayments, so the Zambian team have reacted by piloting a 3-weekly repayment loan product.

Otherwise, I was well looked after at a small local guesthouse just 5 minutes walk from the office, where the staff were delighted to learn that I could speak (a few!) words of Chichewa, which is very similar to Nyanja spoken in Zambia. They therefore took it upon themselves to create dictionaries for me to further my education and made sure I was fed the tastiest Zambian chicken and Nsima (local staple)!

Putting Social Performance Management (SPM) into action

We’ve just held our second MicroLoan Foundation (MLF) SPM workshop, with no fewer than 35 attendees, including Malawi and UK management and all of the branch managers from across the country. The purpose of the discussions was to present the findings of all the piloting research that’s been going on over the last 6 months or so, get everyone talking about the issues and ready to commit to tangible actions to ensure that MLF really is reaching its clients in the most effective way it possibly can! It was two days of intense workshopping, including role plays (and great hilarity!), voting and group discussions.

The highlights were:
• agreeing to pilot a couple of new products to make it easier for the poorest to join MLF
• committing to increased focus on training for field staff and clients through a dedicated training development programme
• focusing field staff more on the reasons for client exit via exit assessments and interviews

Integrating the many valuable and practical commitments made on the day will be Chikonzero’s job, though working closely with the Operations Manager.



Picture:
Workshop attendees discuss key operational issues

Senior management in the field

Chikonzero is certainly being kept very busy! This last week he’s taken part in the 3-day internal training course on PRA (see previous post) which also included going to the field to try out his new research skills. In addition, he’s been out doing more business assessments to hone his PRA skills and get more insights into the issues that clients face in running their businesses.

Members of MicroLoan Foundation (MLF) Malawi’s senior management have been coming along to the business assessments to get a feel of what the issues are on the ground for their clients. It was a great opportunity for clients to meet management staff, and for management to reconnect to the charity’s clients, and understand in more detail the ways in which they use the MLF loans. So far we’ve had the CEO, Finance Manager and HR Manager attend the assessments, with more planned.


Chikonzero with James Kajamu (CEO) with a client



Chikonzero with Julius Kamanga (Finance Manager) interviewing another client

Welcome our new SPM officer!

I’m very pleased to report that we have found my replacement! His name is Chikonzero Undi and he comes to us with lots of relevant experience and bags of enthusiasm for making sure MicroLoan Foundation is achieving its social mission. Chikonzero’s background is in research and monitoring & evaluation, and he’s also set up his own community based organisation working on a voluntary basis with vulnerable people.

Chikonzero is being kept extremely busy not only learning the ropes of what MicroLoan Foundation does on a day to day basis – all the way from clients and Loan Officers up to management at Head Office – but also shadowing me on my various SPM activities. He’s already taken on an active role in carrying out some social assessment questionnaires and a business assessment. Next week there’s a 3-day internal Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) course taking place for him, the internal audit staff and regional managers. He’ll use the people-centred research skills he learns in his ongoing work with clients, ensuring that MLF’s operations are always working hard to meet their needs. Just as well he’s able to soak information up like a sponge! When I leave (in just over a month) I know that Chikonzero will keep the momentum up on the SPM activity.



Picture: Chikonzero interviews a client as part of MLF’s social assessment work

A client’s business under the spotlight

Part of what we’re also looking at with the Social Performance Management work we’re carrying out here at MicroLoan Foundation (MLF) is protecting the clients from over-indebtedness. One way in which this is currently addressed is by the savings clients have to have as a deposit in order to access a loan: 10% for their first loan and 20% for subsequent loans. This ensures clients are taking loans that are appropriate to their means. Another way is the group themselves. If they feel that a client is asking for a loan that’s too high, they will step in and suggest she reduces the amount requested. For example, they would know that she might have struggled to pay her loan back in the last cycle because, say, there was an illness in the family, so would advise she does not put undue pressure on herself in the next loan cycle until her family situation has settled down again.

In addition to this, we’re also looking at how business assessments might be integrated into MLF’s operations. These would give further insight into the relationship between the client’s business and her ability to repay her loans. I’ve therefore been trialling the methodology and in the process have gained some fascinating insights into what it means to be a MLF client and small businesswoman. I’d like to share just one client’s story with you now…

Magret Msimuko is a widow and on her 6th loan from MicroLoan. She is based in Nkamenya, a small trading town in the Central Region of Malawi. Her first four loans were spent her business of trading chitenjes (the colourful cloth used as skirts) in the local villages for maize. The maize she would then sell in the market-place. Before setting out she would work out how much maize she needed to trade for the fish and cloth in order to ensure she made a profit. It was hard work, and involved walking long distances between villages to carry out her trading business, but she made a profit, was able to send three children (one of whom is an orphan) to secondary school and make regular savings into the MLF group savings account.

Recently in her 5th cycle, she decided to change her business to a small restaurant which doesn’t require her to spend her days walking. It’s based in the bustling main market centre of town, and she serves tea and scones, as well as the staple nsima (made of maize) with vegetables and meat or beans. With the two most recent loans she has set the business up, buying tables, chairs, pots and plates as well as the necessary food-stuffs and fuel. Though she set up in the rainy season, a difficult time of year before the harvest when people are at the most vulnerable to food insecurity and don’t have much money, she is optimistic that now the harvest is in full flow the business will start to take off.

Why clients decide to leave MLF

Part of the piloting activity we’re doing is to look at why clients exit MicroLoan Foundation. The Branch Managers have been working hard, visiting clients’ homes and carrying out questionnaires looking at the client’s business and any problems she might have had, what she thinks of MicroLoan’s procedures (interest rates, repayment frequency, savings and so on), how the group functioned and what changes she would suggest making. I went out with the Central Regional Manager, Susan Kondowe, this week to do some follow-up unstructured interviews with a selection of the ladies who’ve already done the exit questionnaire. This allows us to compare the results from the questionnaires and the more informal interviews, to see if we’re really getting to the heart of the issues clients are facing. We’re pleased by the level of similarity between the two methods of data collection, which goes to show the Branch Managers are doing a great job.

The types of reasons clients are giving for exiting are varied but include personal or family illness, having to focus on farming during the rainy season and disliking the repayment frequency of 2 weeks.

To give you more of an insight into the types of issues a client might face, here is Mary Chauma’s story. Mary runs a successful small restaurant in the centre of Kasungu, and originally joined MicroLoan a few years ago right after the death of her husband because she wanted to grow her business. After 5 loan cycles she decided she didn’t need any more loans, as she’d done what she’d set out to do with the business and it was thriving. Then last year she was keen to rejoin, wanting to further strengthen the business, but sadly her younger sister was very sick and ultimately passed away, meaning she had to spend time nursing her and then paying for her funeral costs. This meant that the funds she had set aside for her deposit to access a MicroLoan loan were diverted to the funeral costs. Despite these family tragedies the restaurant continues to flourish and is assisting her with her household financial needs, and she’s hoping to rejoining MicroLoan as planned soon.



Photo: Susan Kondowe (on the right) speaks to a client about her reasons for leaving MicroLoan Foundation

Recruiting my replacement
It’s amazing how the time flies! One minute I’m wandering around Kasungu not really knowing where I’m going or what I’m doing, and now we’re immersed in piloting the social performance management activity and it’s time to recruit my replacement. We’ve had over 50 applications for the role and interviews take place this week. I’m sure we have a gem in there!

Field training

The last week has been busy, spending time with staff at both of the MicroLoan pilot branches doing lots of field based training. There are some questions that are still causing a bit of a problem (that dreaded chair question!) but we’re making progress. I’m hoping by next week the branch staff will be carrying out the piloting activity solo, though I’ll still be in very regular contact to talk through any issues, and will be doing quality control checks on a number of interviewees. The photo shows me with Olivine from the Kasungu branch interviewing a client in her home.



Getting to the clients’ homes has proved tricky at times. The rains have made the roads almost impassable at times, and my off-road driving skills (which were non-existent a couple of weeks ago) have certainly been tested! I’m happy to report that I’ve managed to negotiate the roads, water and mud with no ill consequences!



Photo: one of my driving challenges!

Floods, canoes and bridges – all in a day’s work

Although the field staff at Kasungu and Mchinji branches are now carrying out the piloting activity solo, I’m still on hand of course in case of questions or problems. For example, recently Olivine (the Kasungu branch manager) had travelled a large number of kms to interview some new clients in their homes, only to find the area was flooded and their homes totally inaccessible. The situation was rescued though, and Olivine was able to replace the original new clients with others that were less likely to involve the need for a canoe!

To make sure that everything’s going as it should, and also to see whether there are any major differences between clients being interviewed in the home and in groups, I’ve been doing field spot checks. It’s still very early days so no firm conclusions yet, but the checks have illustrated some other complications…such as what to do when we’re asking questions about a client’s home but she lives part of the time near her field to carry out farming activity and part of the time in town to do business. These are the sorts of bridges you can only cross once you start the piloting! (The answer to the question is, ask the questions about the place she considers to be her main home.)

A focused song and dance!

Although we’re speaking to women one-on-one in their homes about what they think about the training MicroLoan Foundation provides, we also wanted to get a feel of how a focus group discussion on the same topic would work. The discussion was facilitated by Martha Nkhoma, the operations manager, who got everyone feeling relaxed by starting off with a group song and dance! She then sat in amongst the women, and guided what turned out to be a very lively discussion. The women were clear about what they liked – understanding the importance of business diversification, knowing MicroLoan’s procedures for example – but were likewise vocal about what they thought needed improvement. This included more focus on ongoing training and more detailed understanding of how to plan their business and keep accurate financial records.

These sorts of discussions are great for letting conversation take their own course, giving clients the opportunity to voice all manner of issues and ensure they have a chance to ask any burning questions. Not having met Martha before, the women were also delighted to have the opportunity to have quality time discussing issues important to them with the operations manager.



Picture: the group warms up with a dance (Martha in the centre in black skirt)

Loan Officers get to grips with the PPI

The MicroLoan Foundation Loan Officers involved in the piloting activity have had their first taste of the PPI (Progress out of Poverty Index) live in the field on real clients! The day was rainy and all three Loan Officers, 19 clients and me crammed ourselves into the group chairlady’s small front room. It proved that the questionnaire isn’t as simple as it may seem (see ‘What is a chair?’!) as there were quite a few discrepancies between the Loan Officers’ answers. We are undeterred however – more training sessions and we’ll get everyone on the same page!


Photo: two of the Mchinji branch team focus on the PPI

Workshopping MLF’s social mission

We’ve just held a workshop with 22 MicroLoan Foundation staff, including management staff from the UK and Malawi, as well as Malawi’s Regional Managers, key Branch Managers and a couple of Loan Officers to give a flavour of what’s happening on the ground. The purpose of the workshop was to get everyone discussing what they think the social mission of MicroLoan Foundation is, and how this links in to the piloting activity we’re doing (which is focusing on social assessment, training feedback and getting a sense of why clients are exiting).

Lots of animated discussions were had and the levels of enthusiasm were really encouraging. The group agreed that MLF social mission is all about client empowerment, the sustainability of the client and MLF, and the requirement to focus on the poorest clients. Trying to get to the bottom of what MLF needs to do better to achieve this mission included listening better to clients’ suggestions, improving training for clients and Loan Officers, being more aware of exactly what the poverty status of clients is so we know if we’re really reaching the poorest, and developing social targets for the organisation to assess itself against. The pilots I’m working on will directly link into these areas of development.

It was a powerful day, and inspiring to see how everyone understood the various issues at hand, and to have the opportunity to incorporate their suggestions into the ongoing piloting activity.

What is a chair?

No, the muzungu in Kasungu is not getting philosophical! The chair question one of many issues that I was discussing yesterday with the Branch Manager and two Loan officers of Mchinji branch, our second pilot location. They’re going to be doing the PPI (Progress out of Poverty Index) in a group setting, compared to Kasungu branch where we’re testing it in the home setting.

Martha Nkhoma, the Operations Manager, and I were training the branch staff in how carry out the questionnaires that make up the three pilots (social assessment including the PPI, training feedback and exit surveys). One of the PPI questions asks, ‘does your household own a chair, table, upholstered chair, sofa set or coffee table?’. On the face of it this looks like quite a simple question, right? Not so much. We have to define what constitutes a household (does a relative who stays every so often count? what about children who are away at boarding school? or orphans being cared for in the home?). Then, silly as it sounds, we have to define what a chair is. It has to have a back, not be a stool or bench, it has to be functional and not lying broken in a corner. Quote of the day at this point is “if you can sit in it, then it’s a chair. If it’s a pile of sticks then it’s not a chair.” And so it goes on, with definitions for an upholstered chair, coffee table etc. The details of data collection are complex and it’s important the front line staff understand not only the intricacies, but comprehend the bigger picture of why we’re doing this so they can explain it to the clients.

Martha and I came away from the day’s training activity feeling positive. The staff were engaged and asked searching questions. The next step is for the staff to test their new knowledge in the field and for me to discuss any potential problems and feedback with them before the pilots can kick off.

Celebrating the contributions of MicroLoan Foundation clients on International Women’s Day

To mark International Women’s Day MicroLoan Foundation held a discussion group of four clients from Nkhamenya town to talk about issues that are important to them as businesswomen. The attendees are all on their sixth loan cycle. They are:
• Febbie Chaponda who sells second hand clothes and bakes and sells samosas.
• Magret Msimuko who runs a small restaurant selling rice or nsima with meat and vegetables.
• Witness Banda who runs a grocery selling soap, oil, rice, flour and sugar.
• Sella Mkwewe who is a tailor.

When it comes to the differences that MicroLoan Foundation has made to their lives, the women are clear: the profits from their businesses have helped them pay for their children’s school fees, buy better clothes for their family and make improvements to their homes. In fact, Febbie says that it was through seeing a MicroLoan client’s success in her community that she herself first joined as a client. Now, the women agree, it is up to them as MicroLoan clients to act as mentors to others ‘who don’t know business so that they learn to do business to help their families’. The contributions they have been able to make in their homes and communities give the women great pride. Febbie says she was able to pay for her children’s school books recently as her husband’s salary had not yet come through. Witness adds, ‘although it is the hungry period [i.e. before the harvest, when people struggle the most to feed their families] I have been able to buy maize and a big pot for cooking nsima!’.

Although women in their communities look up to them as MicroLoan clients, the clients also continue to aspire to be like other successful businesswomen in their communities. Sella explains, ‘there is a woman in Nkhamenya who owns a wholesale business. I admire her very much because her business is expanding and she owns a number of houses that she rents out. She is a leader. When there is a funeral she helps people by giving them food and money’.

These are just a snapshot of a few of the women who work hard to run their small businesses in order to improve their lives, and those of their families and communities. We celebrate their contributions and achievements this International Women’s Day!



Photo: (left to right) Febbie, Magret, Witness and Sella

A bus adventure

The other day I had to get my visitor’s visa extended in Lilongwe. I managed to get a lift there with a MicroLoan Foundation vehicle that was heading that way for meetings, and the actual visa extension process was very painless. However, heading back would be on public transport, and that’s always a slightly more drawn-out and random undertaking. You never know what you’re going to get!

Arriving at the bus station, I found it bustling as usual with travellers and vendors with all manner of goods on offer. Pretty much anything you want you can buy through the window of a bus – shoes, jeans, gift bags, drinks, maize cobs, sweets…the list goes on! I worked my way through the crowd and identified a big bus that was heading to Kasungu. Quick tips if you’re ever using African buses: 1. always get on the fullest bus possible because they wait until they’re rammed before departing. If you get on a nice empty looking one you’ll be waiting anything up to three hours for it to get suitably jam-packed; and 2. always ask where the bus is going rather than saying where you want to go. Inevitably if you ask ‘is this bus going to Kasungu?’ the answer will be ‘yes’ even if it’s going in the opposite direction!

Despite getting on the fullest bus I could find that was going the right way, I still had to wait two very hot hours before we set off. It wasn’t all bad though. At one point a chap in front of me turned around and said ‘hello Daniella, how are you?’. Turns out this was a guy I’d sat next to on a previous bus journey! I really am becoming part of the bus scene! The other unexpected event was a near uprising by the passengers who after many hours of waiting decided enough was enough. I’m used to waiting patiently and operating on African time, so was very pleasantly surprised at this civil revolt! And so we were off! After a 23 point turn to manoeuvre the bus out of position wedged between other buses, minibuses and a ticket hut that is…

A Staff Story

There are a couple of options for where we do the Progress out of Poverty Index, either in group meetings or in the client’s home. Today I spent the morning working with Kasungu’s branch manager, Olivine, training her how to implement the Index in the client’s home and doing role plays. We’re going to be carrying out one set of pilots here at the Kasungu branch so Olivine’s input will be crucial.

It’s not just the clients who have inspiring stories to tell. Olivine started working for MicroLoan as a branch office assistant eight years ago when MicroLoan was just starting out, and has worked her way up to loan officer and then branch manager. She has seen the charity grow and has herself grown with it, and really understands MicroLoan and its clients. She says, “as long as MicroLoan is around I will be around. I am very proud of how MicroLoan has grown. My favourite thing about working for MicroLoan is working with the women, particularly helping them to develop their businesses to improve their lives. When a group is struggling I don’t give up, I keep coming back until they realise I am not going anywhere. I encourage the women.”

Agriculture and MicroLoan Foundation

In a slightly separate vein from my usual social performance management work, I’ve also been involved in setting up a partnership between MicroLoan Foundation and a local charity based in Mchinji, who focus on agricultural sustainability and food security for the most vulnerable. An agreement is being worked on whereby they provide the agricultural training and support and help groups access markets and form associations. MicroLoan will work in the same geographical area, providing its clients with loans and group dynamics/leadership training. The idea is that the most vulnerable in this area of Mchinji therefore benefit not only from better agricultural skills, but have more access to credit to buy inputs (like fertilizer) and support to market their produce more effectively after harvest.

To introduce the local charity to MicroLoan Foundation’s way of working, we went to visit a ‘tilime’ group. This is a special kind of MicroLoan group, who are given a loan not to invest in their business, but to spend on agricultural inputs. It’s made during the rainy season when most people are planting their fields. This particular group welcomed us in matching group chitenges (the colourful cloth women use as skirts) and exuberant singing and dancing! They told us that they used their loans for fertilizer to grow maize, legumes and groundnuts, and that their fields are flourishing. One lady informed us that this is her fourth loan, though her first tilime loan. With the first loan’s profits she managed to invest in a goat, with the second a bicycle, with the third she extended her house, and now she is expanding her area under cultivation with the tilime loan. The sense of group solidarity was undeniable. Recently when one member was bitten by a snake and forced to stay in hospital for a month, the remainder of the group tended her fields for her, harvested her crops and assisted her family.

Tragedy

I got home to my guesthouse last night to learn that the young son of one of the owner’s cousins passed away a few hours before. He was just three years old and died from cerebral malaria. Though saddened, the owner said ‘these things happen’. When you read of malaria fatalities and under-5 death rates it shocks you, but somehow this has brought it much closer to home and shows how much a part of life death is here.

Of mice and maize

Back home most food supplies are available throughout the year in our well-stocked supermarkets. Living here though you come to appreciate the availability and seasonality of food much more. We’re still mid-mango season, and avocados and pineapples are available from street vendors all around Kasungu. That said, the staple (maize) is in short supply. Now is the hungry season whilst people have planted their fields and wait for crops to be ready for harvest; last year’s stocks are dwindling and the cost of maize is rising.

I enjoy the local staple, msima (made with maize flour and roughly comparable in texture to mashed potato) with beans or local vegetables. One of my more adventurous attempted forays into local food, however, was an altogether less enticing prospect: mice on a stick (photo). I somewhat foolhardily agreed to try them as they are a local delicacy. However, when faced with the critters, looking uncooked, furry and in a state of toothy rigor shock, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it! They did make one of the guards of the guesthouse I stay at very happy though and he polished every last mousey morsel off in no time.

No pain no gain

Having just spend the day on the back of a loan officer’s motorbike, I now have even more respect for loan officers, who spend most of their days travelling on their motorbikes (come rain or shine) to distant rural areas to visit client groups. I wanted to attend some new loan application meetings, to see if they would be an appropriate setting for us to do the Progress out of Poverty Index in future. It was a very long day, and in the process every fibre of my being was shaken into submission on the bumpy back roads - everything hurts! That said, we attended three group meetings and I got to see the ins and outs of new member vetting and selection, the local Chief signing off new members (photo) and how loan sizes are agreed, so definitely a case of no pain no gain!

Rain, mud and flowery bikes

The rains have well and truly set in now, and though the South of Malawi is suffering from a lack of rains, here in the Central region the rains are looking quite healthy. Welcome news for crops. From a purely selfish point of view, it does make my half-hour walk to and from the office somewhat treacherous, as the un-paved roads are instantly transformed into mud-baths! It’s also very hot and muggy. Therefore I’ve recently been treating myself to a ‘kabaza’ to work. This is basically a bike taxi but there’s no roughing it here…it has a wonderfully comfortable passenger cushion behind the driver, and separate passenger handle-bars and foot rests (photo). It’s Kasungu’s answer to the black cab and a popular mode of transport for local commuters. They zip up and down the main and back streets during Kasungu’s rush hour, ferrying children to school and workers to the office. Depending which one you get they can also be quite bling, decorated with rainbow handlebars, up to 15 reflectors, a bushel of mirrors and carrier baskets decorated with bouquets of plastic flowers!

What works and what doesn't...

I’ve been testing some food security questions on clients to find out which ones work best – that is, give the best information, are easily understood by the clients and don’t take too long. Some caused lots of misunderstanding and took ages. I now know which ones I can discount!

All systems go

We’ve narrowed down what out social focus areas are going to be for the remainder of my stint out here. We’ll be looking at clients’ food security status as well as their poverty status (the latter using the Grameen Foundation’s Progress out of Poverty Index – more info at http://progressoutofpoverty.org/) when they very first take a loan, checking that training is taking place and what the quality of that training is, and getting detailed feedback from clients when they leave MicroLoan to see what can be done differently to encourage them to stay. The plan is to restructure the operations department whilst I’m here so they have the capacity to take on operationalising this work going forward.

Time to get stuck in – there are pilots to plan!

The paper-trail

I’m struck whenever I visit client meetings by how efficiently they fill in the various pass books and other records. Especially older groups who have experienced a few loan cycles need little to no prompting from the loan officers when it comes to doing the minutes, counting up the loan repayments and savings, and filling in the forms. At repayment meetings there are forms, receipts and booklets in abundance, and the women know they have to account for every last kwacha (photo). Those clients who can’t read and write put a thumb-print on the documents – other groups members help them out and explain where to make their mark.

Learning the ropes

I spent the latter stages of 2009 learning in detail what MicroLoan does, and now feel I’ve got a good insight into what everyone from the team at head office, to branch managers and loan officers do. The best bit was meeting the clients though and hearing from them the difference microfinance has made to them, from being able to send their children to school and feeding their family to building a new kitchen and buying a push-bike or a bed. They welcome visitors with exuberant songs and dance that are totally infectious!

My job with MicroLoan

I’ve been tasked with looking at MicroLoan’s ‘social performance management’. The Imp-Act Consortium defines social performance management as an “institutionalised process which involves setting clear social objectives, monitoring and assessing progress towards achieving these, and using this information to improve overall organisational performance” (http://www2.ids.ac.uk/impact/). Said another way, microfinance institutes are a hybrid of financial and social objectives. Financial benchmarks are relatively easy to measure – repayment rates, portfolio at risk etc – but social benchmarks are less tangible and harder to measure. I’m therefore working with the UK and Malawi MicroLoan teams to define what their social objectives are and putting in place piloting activity that will ultimately be operationalised. This will mean a better understanding by MicroLoan of its clients, a better ability to respond to their needs and therefore better social outcomes for the clients themselves. But that’s enough jargon – what I’m doing day to day will hopefully give a much better insight!