Access is to financial capital is a constant struggle for most members of the communities with which we work. Many women desire a life where they can be self-reliable and profitable enough to care for the OVC in their communities, yet there is no model within the communities for these women to utilize for sustained economic growth.

In 2011, Kindernothilfe (KNH) provided OSA with a Self-Help Group (SHG) model for micro-lending, which enables OSA to facilitate women-only micro-lending groups within Community-Based Organizations (CBOs).  The primary purpose of the SHG model is to empower women by providing them with a forum to gather and discuss community issues, as well as by making loans accessible to them.  Neither KNH nor OSA provide these loans, but instead, this micro-lending model is designed to be sustainable by accumulating capital that comes from within the group.  OSA currently facilitates 21 SHGs in Malawi, and as these groups demonstrate success in their communities, more and more women see the benefits of such a model and want to begin their own SHGs.

The first step in creating SHGs is a community mapping process. During the community mapping process, village members gather to vote on the most vulnerable homes in that village.  Once the members vote, they invite the women from the most vulnerable homes to join the village’s Self-Help Group. Each group consists of 12 to 15 women.

Once the SHG is formed, the women make plans for bi-monthly meetings.  The only role OSA plays in these SHGs is to attend the meetings and observe; the women themselves plan, coordinate, and run the meetings. Besides hosting meetings twice a month, the women contribute a small, pre-determined amount into a general fund.  It is important these groups remain homogenous so that all members are of the same income level – this reduces the risk of one or two more wealthy women contributing more than the rest, thus wielding power to borrow more than the other members.

At the end of the month, the women discuss who, within their group, should be the recipient of a loan set at a previously decided interest rate.  The SHG tracks loan repayment in a record-book, and uses a revolving record keeping system (whereby each meeting a new person is recording the information) to guarantee transparency and to guarantee each woman a chance to lead.

Through this micro-lending program, women are able to create their own incomes, which indirectly support OVC, both under their care and throughout the community.  By utilizing this sustainable approach, OSA assists women in becoming self-sufficient through capital collection and savings, which benefits not only the women themselves, but their households, their communities, and the orphaned and vulnerable children often residing within both.