Topic: Economic Justice

Love for her family is what keeps a mother going

In the local Lotuko language Ituba means ‘united we progress’. It is also the name chosen by a group of 30 women in Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan for their one-month old village savings and loans (VSLA) group. A statement of purpose and of hope.

Before CARE built the community pond, Thy had to buy water when this became scarce. If she hadn’t learned to make a good income from her home-raised livestock, she wouldn’t have had additional money she could spend on this water.

A cotton flower is soft, fluffy and beautiful. But a 40 kilo bag of cotton is a 40 kilo bag - and Severine and Maina, two middle-aged women, have come a long way transporting their heavy load to the buyers' market here in Muape, northern Mozambique. They are tired but happy: It is payday, and selling 800 kilos of cotton each to the local cotton company means food, shelter and schooling for their families for the coming months.

“Remember one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in recent history? 11 years ago, a Tsunami killed over 230,000 people in Asia and Africa, and devastated large parts of Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. The latter country was in the middle of a bloody civil war, which had lasted almost 30 years. Sri Lanka was not a good place to be, despite the beauty of its landscape and its people.

When Chan’s son suddenly became ill, she knew she needed to take him to the hospital. But the hospital was far away and she did not know how much she would have to pay to get her son the medical care he needed. Fortunately, she was member of a community savings group and was able to quickly get a loan to cover her expenses.

The former president of the United States Bill Clinton recently visited a microfinance programme in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, which was established and managed by CARE International UK in collaboration with Plan UK and Barclays and is part of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

After a one hour drive on tortuous roads outside of Dame Marie, I finally reach “Nan Sapou.”, a commune of Grande-Anse. Coming out of the car, I am greeted by a vivacious young woman that immediately reminds me of a bee, buzzing back and forth; she can’t seem to stay in place, hopping from one foot to another.

CARE Kenya recently had the pleasure of hosting first-time Senator, Naisula Lesuuda, at our Group Savings and Loans Banking on Change project in Embu. Senator Lesuuda has also been invited by CARE Germany to attend a conference in Bonn in June 2013, with the theme of