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.