{"id":4640,"date":"2011-07-29T07:26:18","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T14:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2014-05-14T15:29:32","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T22:29:32","slug":"how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/","title":{"rendered":"How Microcredit Benefits an Entire Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\"><em>Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foundationforwomen.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Foundation for Women<\/a> (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. A longtime supporter of Phil and his work, Kevin Castner is traveling with him and reporting back to us from the field.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As mentioned in my previous post, often microcredit is organized around &#8220;solidarity groups&#8221; or &#8220;village banks.&#8221; \u00a0Learn more about how these groups work on FFW\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foundationforwomen.org\/microcredit-lending.html\" target=\"_blank\">site<\/a>.\u00a0 The leader of the next group we visit is a woman named Koruba Johnson.\u00a0 In addition to the goals of the individual group members they also want to raise enough money to build a church.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1143\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/img_0430\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1143\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1143\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1143\" title=\"IMG_0430\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_0430.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Community at Church &#39;72&#39;<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The partly built church, \u201972\u2019 is a dark shell of a building now, but the profits will drive completion.\u00a0 I have heard and seen situations similar to this a couple of times now.\u00a0 There is no construction financing, so people build as they can, a room at a time or whatever they have the cash to afford.\u00a0 A thought creeps in that it is sad that they have so little and yet they are using a good deal of their profits to build a church.\u00a0 But then I reflect that this church gives them hope and purpose and community.\u00a0 Am I really so callus I would want to take that away from them?<\/p>\n<p>Plus, when war came the public school system disintegrated.\u00a0 The only functioning schools were provided by the various churches &#8211; Baptist, Methodist, Adventist, 7th day, etc.\u00a0 Of course, they could only handle a fraction of Liberia\u2019s displaced youth.\u00a0 So, the illiteracy rate went through the roof.\u00a0 Some semblance of a public school system is being contemplated, but for now only churches fill this vital role.<\/p>\n<p>Charles, FFW\u2019s Program Director, talks to the group\/congregation.\u00a0 He tells them that FFW respects them because they want to raise themselves up.\u00a0 Then Emily, \u2018Mommy\u2019 is introduced and she reiterates the difference between FFW and other microcredit agencies; FFW is not just about loans, but also about training and support.\u00a0 She introduces Deborah and Phil to rounds of \u2018Jesus\u2019 and singing.\u00a0 Then the chief woman goes out and comes back with three live chickens and my heart goes into my feet. \u00a0I think they\u2019re going to sacrifice them.\u00a0 Phil says he thought the same as he has seen it before.\u00a0 But in this case it is just a tradition where they give chickens to important guests.\u00a0 Thankfully, I\u2019m far too unimportant to rate a chicken!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1130\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/img_0434\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1130\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1130\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1130\" title=\"IMG_0434\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_0434.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1130\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FFW Founder Deborah and Emily &#39;Mommy&#39; Peal Receiving Chickens<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Phil interviews two of the women from the group while I run around &#8211; like a chicken &#8211; trying to remember all the stuff I need to help him \u2018mic\u2019 someone.\u00a0 He has to find the right light, some place as quiet as possible while kids are running around and people are talking.\u00a0 The two women we talk to have similar stories:\u00a0they are poor; they were forced to give up school and work (in one case so a brother could go to school).\u00a0 With the money from the loans they can earn enough to put their own kids into a church school.\u00a0 Both are proud that all their kids are getting an education.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1131\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/img_0463\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1131\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1131\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1131\" title=\"IMG_0463\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stirringthefire.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_0463.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1131\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kevin Helping Phil Interview Deddeh Goun<\/p><\/div>\n<p>These women have various levels of education and articulation, but it is a mistake to equate that with intelligence.\u00a0 With an FFW loan Deddeh, 32 with 3 kids, discusses how she can improve her profit margins in the little shop out of which she sells soft drinks, water and cement, by buying more in bulk.\u00a0 She might not be able to read and write but she knows how to drive her P&amp;L!<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0Much more about<\/em>\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foundationforwomen.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Foundations for Women<\/a>\u00a0programs to come!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of Foundation for Women (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. A longtime supporter of Phil and his work, Kevin Castner is traveling with him and reporting back to us from the field&#8230;.  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read How Microcredit Benefits an Entire Community\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,22],"tags":[136,137,215,216,139,161],"class_list":["post-4640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-documentary-training","category-stirring-the-fire","tag-foundation-for-women","tag-from-the-field","tag-kevin-castner","tag-liberia","tag-microcredit","tag-social-documentary-photography"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Microcredit Benefits an Entire Community - Phil Borges<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.philborges.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/how-microcredit-benefits-an-entire-community\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Microcredit Benefits an Entire Community - Phil Borges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Phil is in Liberia documenting the work of Foundation for Women (FFW), an organization that strives to continually support and encourage impoverished women, both globally and locally, by funding and creating microcredit programs. 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