ACTIVE PROJECTS

Giving Women the Ability to Help Support Their Families

In places like Malawi it can be impossible to get ahead, let alone to make ends meet. Many women work from sunrise to sunset and still earn too little to feed and shelter their families or provide the resources for education.

The Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) model, pioneered by CARE, gives women the ability to form autonomous groups, accumulate savings and make loans to each other. This in turn allows them to create and invest in small-scale businesses such as running restaurants, selling secondhand clothes, and fish mongering.  Some women are raising goats, pigs, and cows using the proceeds from their businesses. The women who take part in these VSLAs repay their loans with interest to help grow the pool of funds for the next round of borrowing.

Since 2009, this Join My Village project has helped to form more than 400 VSLAs, reaching more than 7,000 women. The additional source of income helps empower these women financially; it gives them the ability to help support their families with basic necessities, such as food and education, and gain a little extra money for themselves.

You can help Join My Village support VSLAs in Malawi, just by watching and sharing this video.