The Ladies Association for Christian Education (LACE) is a support group for women in Bokoko, Buea, Cameroon. The group provides a safe environment where women share ideas and encourage one another to save and start/expand their businesses. 4 months ago each member contributed what she could and they gathered 300$ they gave as a loan to the most vulnerable among them. We want you to be part of this, your contribution will be used to join what they've gathered, pushing their efforts further.
Although the group is diverse and counts with some benefactors, most women suffer the hardships of extreme poverty. Women like Elisabeth, who uses a capital of less than 5 dollars (2500 CFA) to buy and roast corn, to generate a profit of less than 2$, every day, yet she manages to save something every end of the month. Women like Cecilia, elder of 10 orphans who is keeping together a family cooking and selling food while taking care of her young sister's baby, the father nowhere to be found.
The group is working. After joining, several women have started business, being pushed by the example and lessons of the rest and being helped by the initial capital of the loan. We just want to step it up, increase the capital they can be lending, train them to complement their internal lessons and give cash transfers to the most vulnerable ones. Therefore securing a journey out of poverty of which they are the main actor. We are only trying to complement, accelerate and secure their work.
By tackling a self-organized group we are securing that our impact is lasting, LACE Bokoko meets every Sunday at Church of Christ Buea; the business lessons we will teach will be repeated and implemented, the loan scheme that we support will continue through the years autonomously, and the cash transfers will provide necessary jumps to transform the lives of those most vulnerable. The group will increase its membership and will provide substantial support to newcomers.
This project has provided additional documentation in a XLSX file (projdoc.xlsx).
