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MICRO CREDIT OR COMMUNITY LENDING SYSTEMS
It is Zahana’s goal to create a community based lending system in and
for Fiadanana. In many communities where people live from subsistence agriculture,
the lack of access to cash for emergencies or purchasing goods or seeds is
a major obstacle for improving quality of life or overcoming poverty. Making
cash available to the community members at reasonable rates is a vital step
to addressing this common problem.
Micro credit or community lending systems have been used worldwide successfully
for years for e.g. the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, SEED of Sarvodaya in Sri
Lanka and bigger national or international schemes. In the last few years,
microcredit programs have become the darlings of the development community
and, while they are by no means a magic bullet, they are a step in the right
direction. Some larger institutionalized microcredit systems are operating
in Madagascar, but their interest rates are steep and they are currently not
widely utilized.
It is Zahana’s philosophy that micro credit works best when it is community
run, administered and controlled. The closer the lender and the borrower are
to each other, the better a truly community run microcredit can work.
Funding needs
To initiate a micocredit program Zahana will need to provide the seed money
and training needed to launch the program. Financial matching contributions
by the villagers as a buy-in will complement the fund.
BRICKS FOR THE SCHOOL BUILDING
The villagers will soon begin making the bricks for the school
building. More than 20,000 bricks will be needed and the villagers
will provide
these and their labor to build the school. Bricks made from local
clay that is shaped in forms and burned are commonly used for
houses in this part of Madagascar. The villagers have already
gathered
the sand and pebbles needed for the foundation and mortar. Zahana
is
currently procuring the materials (doors, beams, roofing materials,
nails etc) that need to be sent to Fiadanana.
With the help of the village elders the children are already
practicing the songs that will be sung during the inauguration
of the educational
building. For the villagers, and especially the children, the
school is becoming a reality.
LIVING FENCE
Some families have already provided little banana and papaya
plants for the living fence to surround the school. These plants
are tended
and guarded from cattle and pigs and will provide both a fence
and food supply in the coming years.
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