Our recent calls with the young women in Kantolomba have centered on micro-businesses. As we’ve shared before, one of the most eye-opening realizations from this project is that getting a college degree doesn’t automatically lead to a job or to the income needed for long-term sustainability.
That’s where the idea of loans for the young women to start micro-businesses comes in, a model that’s familiar to us, as for many years now, the cooperative has worked this way. The cooperative maintains a shared fund members can borrow from that has supported such offerings as the roof loan program and the alternative stove program. Many cooperative members have also used loans to start their own businesses!
On a recent call, Theresa told us the impact of these loans. “Many of the cooperative members now run small businesses, using what they earn to supplement their income. Even if Living Compassion ended tomorrow, they wouldn’t say, ‘What am I going to do?' They’d continue in their businesses that they’ve started.”
Wow.
As we continue working on sustainability with the young women, we see what is possible already through the work of the cooperative members. It’s a tremendous milestone in the project!
Gasshō,
Sreedevi