The Effects of Child Sponsorship and Microfinance

On a recent field visit I had the opportunity to travel to a Canadian sponsored ADP (Area Development Program). I was there to gather information about World Vision Ethiopia’s relationship with Wisdom Microfinance, World Vision’s affiliated microfinance institution, and about the Child Savings Program. In addition to talking with staff at each organization’s office, I had the chance to visit beneficiaries.

The first farm that I visited was a modest small family farm of approximately 1.5ha. Two of the household’s children are World Vision Canada sponsored children. The 16 year-old male has ambitions to be a pilot while his 13 year-old sister wants to be an engineer. While I enjoyed speaking with these two (through not one but two translators: from English-Amharic and again from Amharic-Oromifa), it was their mother who I was in awe of.

She had 6 children, ranging from ages 7 to 22, and her and her husband started with a small piece of land which they farmed, but they struggled to get by – ten years ago they would have qualified as food insecure and living in extreme poverty. When World Vision and Wisdom Microfinance came into the community, she saw an opportunity. She received a small loan from Wisdom and used it to by a donkey, 4 goats and seeds for potatoes. After she repaid her initial loan, she joined a local savings group and withdrew a second loan. With this loan she bought 2 cattle, more vegetable seeds and loaned more farmland. After repaying this loan, she withdrew her third loan and bought an ox. She worked to fatten the ox for about a year and sold it for a large profit – her profit was several times the amount of her initial loan! She is now applying to receive her fourth loan.

This lady is seriously smart and is a savvy businesswoman. She knew exactly when to buy and when to sell her assets, and now her family is considered to be food secure. Additionally, with her savings she was able to support her two oldest daughters (ages 19 and 22) through high school. The nearest high school is about 10 km away from their home, so they rented a room in the school’s village. Her daughters are now working abroad in Saudi Arabia as maids. She wants to be able to support her younger 4 children in the same way so that they can have a different life from subsistence farming.

And the coolest part about this woman? When I asked if she had any questions for me or if she thought there should be any changes in the services offered, her response was: “Train other people the way I was trained. Before I had nothing, but now my family has so many assets. Give others the opportunity that I had.”

She shows the strength of women. She shows the power of microfinance.

To sponsor a child through World Vision Canada, go here.

Arrival and First Field Visit

Hello all! I am safe and sound in Addis Ababa. Firstly, all the rumours you have heard about Ethiopia – the friendly and beautiful people, the good food, the amazing coffee – they are all completely true. I am settling in with the city, although work is starting out slowly.

However, I did get to visit one of World Vision’s ADPs (Area Development Program). Jeju is east of Addis Ababa and is one of the ADPs in Ethiopia sponsored by World Vision Canada. World Vision Ethiopia has 5 main projects in this area: livelihood development, water projects (such as irrigation), education (such as building schools), health (like building primary care clinics) and savings accounts for children.

Wisdom Microfinance is World Vision Ethiopia’s partner for livelihood development projects, and it is these projects that I am working on. In Jeju, Wisdom Microfinance has over 2,000 active borrowers, making it the organization’s largest branch. The loans given out are in 4 different categories: personal, family, agriculture and business. The borrowers are over 75% women and this area has less than 1% of borrowers default – an impressive number, even in microfinance! The average loan is approximately 3,700 Ethiopian birr (about $200) and are paid back in anywhere from 3 to 15 months. The impact of this project reaches approximately 10,000 children, and all of the borrowers I had the opportunity to meet were sending all school-aged children to school.

Three borrowers at the Wisdom office to receive their loan.

Some of the borrowers we visited and their families. One of the borrowers I met told me (but keep in mind that it was translated from Oromifa to Amharic to English): “This is a great project. Before this, we had no opportunity and no access to financial services. But now we have this opportunity and can farm and send our children to school.”

So, if you are a World Vision sponsor, this could be the type of project that your money is going to support!

All in all, it was a successful first visit, and I am very excited to dive into work and to visit the ADPs my project is focused on.