We are excited to introduce Amuna and Joyce from Yei, South Sudan!
This week Tabitha Muthui (AID’s East Africa Manager) has begun training these two ladies to lead a new microfinance project in Yei, South Sudan.
Many women in Yei, a state in the south of the country, struggle to afford basics such as food and education for their children. This is often because they do not have access to opportunities like jobs or bank loans which could help them to create an income. The goal of microfinance, therefore, is to provides this access to finance and training so that women can start sustainable businesses.
Amuna (above right) is 43 years old and has five children whilst Joyce (below) is 30 and has two children. They are both committed members of their local churches and are excited about the prospect of leading a microfinance project. Tabitha reports that they have knuckled down straight away to learn the basics of microfinance.
‘The ladies are very intelligent; they are learning quite fast. They have amazed me on their zeal to learn.’ Tabitha Muthui
We have provided Amuna and Joyce with smart phones so that they can do their training in Yei whilst Tabitha is in Nairobi, Kenya. This avoids any COVID induced disruptions and also saves on training costs.
“It’s amazing we can learn all this in distance. We are very much excited.” Amuna and Joyce
After two weeks of training Amuna and Joyce will launch their first microfinance group of 5-10 women. The group will train in microfinance skills for several weeks before individuals receive a loan of about £47. Then the women will be able to buy resources and begin a small business.
Escaping Poverty
The effects of microfinance are widespread. For example, if seven women enrol in the Yei microfinance group and each has five children, then 42 people are supported. As mothers are able to feed their children and send them to school, more and more young people have a greater chance of employment and of becoming financially stable in the future. In this way the poverty cycle is broken.
Please Pray
Please join us in praying for:
- Amuna and Joyce, for their training and their families.
- The right women would be selected to join their first microfinance group.
- Women to develop sustainable businesses and for many lives to be transformed as a result.
- Partnership with the local church.
If you would like to give to our microfinance work please visit our donate page.
AID has been supporting a microfinance project in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for 10 years. Manna Microfinance has enabled over 1000 women in Juba to develop businesses so that they can provide for their families. We hope and pray that this can be replicated across the country so that more and more women are equipped to find their own way out of poverty, supported by the local church.
