Democratic Republic of Congo Village Savings
$0 needed of $40,000
Implementing Organization
United Methodist Comm on Relief
Program Summary
This program offers training focused on Village Savings and Lending (VSL) with the goal of empowering women. This training is offered to complement a more extensive agriculture initiative. All VSL members involved in this program are also part of the agriculture training. Participants are encouraged to take loans which allow them to pursue small business opportunities and put their learning into practice. Traditionally these VSL groups would only use community money to give one another loans. However, income levels in the program area are extremely low and it would take time for participants to build up enough capital to allow them to take loans. To offset this delay, funds are being injected into each savings group, serving as a base from which revolving loans can be taken. This allows participants to continue their empowerment journey and start micro-enterprises right away.