Microfinance

For the women of Inyakurama , the availability of microfinance loans from US sales of Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee has made a significant difference in their lives and those of their families.

The loan recipients are often not only genocide widows, but also the adopted mothers of the tens of thousands of genocide orphans. In Rwandan culture, inheritances are typically passed to the male heirs in a family. Often brothers and uncles receive the little money or land that a wife in the West would expect to receive if she was left a widow.

In a developing country a microfinance loan of between $50 and $200 is an opportunity for a widow to not only provide for her family, but to become an entrepreneur.

To receive a loan, the women of Inyakurama must first fulfill a number of requirements:

• Potential recipients must join a solidarity group, a small sub group within the greater Inyakurama association. Each member of a solidarity group that receives a loan is answerable to their peers, and collectively responsible for each others missed payments. Solidarity groups teach and assure accountability.
  
  
• The loan must be approved by both the solidarity group and the greater Inyakurama association as a solid and profitable business idea.
  
  
• Loan recipients must save 5% of their monthly profits from their new business.
  
  
• Loan recipients must pay a small amount of interest on the loan to help fund the provision of future Inyakurama projects.
  
  
• Initial loans must be paid back within 8 months and not exceed $200.

To read and learn about both current and past loan recipients click on one of the ladies' photographs.