WR Microfinance Stats Update

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Haiti - Short Trip

I am currently on my way home from spending the week in Haiti. I was fortunate to be joined by some of our HIV/AIDS team, Dr. Esther Gwan and Joanna Mayhew, as well as Jeff Demers who provides support to the Haiti office. Later on during the week, we were all joined by a friend of World Relief, Mr. Ken Graber.

My primary purpose for the trip was to work with Ken to start the merger between our microfinance program and another microfinance program managed by World Concern. From looking through our books it is clear our program will definitely benefit from being a part of a larger microfinance program, as I believe will World Concern's program.

We met with USAID and ANIMH (the local microfinance network) and found that this would be the first merger between microfinance programs. This created quite a bit of excitement with the agencies. They are keen for consolidation in the sector, and we hope that we can document lessons learned through our merger, so that we can help other microfinance programs in the future.

I also sat with our HIV/AIDS team to discuss greater support to people giving care to HIV/AIDS sufferers and orphans. We have had a microfinance scheme within our program that has provided them with loans, this year through a grant from Tearfund UK, we are extending this.

Haiti amazes me every time I visit. I have lived in Liberia, immediately following the end of their 14 year civil war, but I think Haiti would be even harder to live in. Port Au Prince is densely populated, and very polluted. Houses cling to steep slopes that are prone to landslides due to the destruction of the environment and soil erosion. With Haiti so close to the US, it is sad that this place is one of the poorest countries in the World.

Much of the food and goods consumed in Haiti are imported. The agricultural sector is very fragile, the regular hurricanes can wipe away crops in a heartbeat. But the food that is produced is often organic, not necessarily by design, but because fertilizer is out of the reach for the majority of farmers.

Our microfinance program is looking at how we can better support the agricultural sector, how we can create 'green' loans to promote good environmental practices, and how we can help the poorest of the poor take small steps out of poverty.

Help World Relief support more people in Haiti, donate now and designate your funds to Microenterprise Development.

Thank you for your support. Gareth

STATS UPDATE

Wait for Wendy's Network Update, but here is a sneak preview:

Active Clients 159,239
Outstanding Loan Portfolio $37,666,000
Portfolio at Risk > 30 days 7%
Percent Female Clients 82%
Operational Self-Sufficiency 94%
Total Staff (Local/Expatriate) 1,138/6
Average Outstanding Loan Size $237

as at June 30 2008

Women rise in Rwanda's revival
Female entrepreneurs run farms and other businesses following genocide
By Anthony Faiola
The Washington Post

MARABA, Rwanda - Sun-kissed plantations ring this village, renowned in recent years for growing the rich arabica beans brewed and served in some of the world's finest coffee houses. But the secret to success here has had far less to do with the idyllic climate and volcanic soil than with a group of people who have emerged as Maraba's -- and Rwanda's -- most potent economic force: women.

In the 14 years since the genocide, when 800,000 people died during three months of violence, this country has become perhaps the world's leading example of how empowering women can fundamentally transform post-conflict economies and fight the cycle of poverty.

Read the full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24659361/

World Relief has been helping to empower women in Rwanda since 1997 - just three years after the end of the genocide. Urwego Opportunity Microfinance Bank - the current joint venture between World Relief, Hope International, World Relief Canada, and Opportunity International, serves over 30,000 clients - 83% of which are women - with loans and savings services geared to lift the burden of poverty in Rwanda's recovering economy.

Click here for more on UOMB's work.