Courier Systems supports Five Talents
Five Talents is a small charity specialising in microfinance. We like microfinance because:
- it's direct
- non-patronising
- doesn't foster a culture of dependency
- ultimately it leads to growth benefiting whole communities.
We support Five Talents as a provider of microfinance because:
- it's trustees are people with a track record in business (accountants, lawyers etc with BP. and Goldman Sachs among others). Read for yourself on the trustee page of Five Talents web site.
- it works within a pre-existing infrastructure to direct the money where it is needed. That infrastructure is the Anglican church. If you are not religious and we just lost you, then please think again. The Anglican church has bases (churches) in many of the poorest areas of the world. Their priests are talking on a daily basis with people in need. They are there, they know!
If we've convinced you then please help us, help Five Talents, by donating on our Just Giving web page. We have an ambitious target! Alternatively, give direct to Five Talents through their web site.
If we still haven't convinced you, read about some of the people who, like you, are trying to run a business - only they are not based in the U.K.!
Mrs Atni’s idea and a small loan turns around the fortunes of her family
Mrs Atni lives with her husband and five children in Jakarta, Indonesia. Unfortunately, her husband can no longer work after having typhoid fever and being ordered to rest by the doctor. Previously, to provide for her family, the mother of five worked as a laundry woman, and by picking up the garbage for her neighbours. The family often had to go hungry, as they had no money to buy rice.
Mrs Atni then had an idea that changed the life of her family; she began selling drinks for children using the money that she got from laundry work. The small profit that she received she managed to turn into capital. Mrs Atni was introduced to, and joined GERHATI (the Five Talents programme partner in Indonesia), by one of the members of the group. She received her first loan of IDR 400.000 (£28) which she used for capital. Mrs Atni was able to expand her business. She now owns a small stall behind her house which generates a steady income from selling drinks, coffee, fried banana, fried cassava, vegetable soup and coconut rice. Mrs Atni’s business is successful and she is very careful with the profit which she uses to expand the business.
The livelihood of Mrs Atni’s family has increased remarkably. Her family is now able to eat 3 healthy meals a day, with eggs/fish or meat, and her children can even drink milk. Mrs Atni is also able to support her parents. “We are now thankful that we can go to the clinic and purchase generic medicines if any of my family members are sick. I can buy uniform and books for my children,” said Mrs Atni in a tearful smile.
Skills and hopes stitched together with small loan
Purity was unemployed and struggling to have enough money to buy food, and pay school fees for her young son. With her mother’s encouragement, she joined the Muthaara Trust Group, a local savings group supported by Thika Community Development Trust (the Five Talents programme partner in Thika, Kenya).
Purity decided to join the savings group with a plan to start a tailoring business. Within six months, out of savings earned from casual labour, she had saved Kshs 6,000 (£47), and qualified for a loan of Kshs 18,000 (£143). With this sum, she was able to purchase a new sewing machine, and partly buy the initial stock. Purity has a certificate in dress making which gives her an edge over the other tailors in her locality. She has taken advantage of the readily available market within her densely populated locality, and is very keen on making quality outfits. This earns her on average Ksh3000 (£24) per week.
Purity has now acquired some financial independence, and is able to meet the subsistence needs of her family, quality meals, and is planning to register with the national health care insurance scheme. She no longer relies on her mother to pay school fees for her child, and is planning to shift from her mother’s compound to her own house. Today, Purity regularly repays her loan as well as saves in her group.