Madeira Consorcio

124 Madeira Consorcio Meeting 12.2.2022

Feb 13, 2022 at 11:59 am | Posted in Posts | Leave a comment
Tags: Consorcio, lendwithcare, Madeira, microfinance, toilet twinning

Hello Team,

Based on an idea from H., we watched a short animation on www.lendwithcare.org

 and a video clip on Youtube:

(Another one here about supporting women in Bosnia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTaWMOqLfGQ )

Lendwithcare is a part of Care International, which after 1945, organized the CARE parcels sent from all over the world (also from Madeira Island) to the German population. Lendwithcare is asking for donations to keep the organisation going, but this is not a prerequisite to help an entrepreneur.

LendwithCare works in Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Georgia, Peru, Ecuador, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.

This is lending without interest and it is not a handout, from person to person, with the help of a local, carefully selected supervisory agency. CARE has a Conduct of Microfinance agreement for these agencies and does Due Diligence on them.

M.J. was nonconcerted that the money given is not costing anything and if something is free, that the entrepreneurs would not pay it back or even feel that they ought to pay it back. But it seems that as the lending is local, there is peer pressure in a population to pay back, in order to keep a good name with the neighbours. The whole system is based on trust.

M.J. said that the Governments should do the job and support their people but many Governments don’t do this. Cl. said that investigative journalism is essential, to keep the Governments in line and that there are organisations which support this kind of journalism  (https://fij.org/ and https://www.investigativejournalismforeu.net/)

Poor people would not get a bank loan, NGOs do it instead.  Grameen Bank started loans a long time ago (https://grameenbank.org/, the founder received a Nobel Peace Prize.

Lendwithcare works with local agencies which are selecting the entrepreneurs and are strict on the payback in time. The entrepreneurs are aware that the money would dry up if the funds were not paid back.

The person giving the money receives regular feedback on the payback situation, When the money is repaid the/she can reclaim it from Lendwithcare or keep it in the system to support other recipients. The system is transparent for all. The numbers show that the risk for the “donors” is low.

Another idea is “Toilet-Twinning”: https://www.toilettwinning.org/ A donor can give 60 GBP and facilitate a decent toilet for a family in a Third World country.

The website says:

Without proper toilets and clean water, people are trapped in a vicious cycle: They’re likely to become sick through sanitation-related diseases Illness means they cannot work or farm their land, so they earn less or grow less food Children often miss school, because they are sick or because they’re busy collecting water Girls often drop out of school altogether when they start their periods if there are no toilets or changing rooms Parents have to pay for medicines or food, so they may fall into debt Women and girls risk being attacked or bitten by snakes as they go to the toilet in the open, especially if the culture dictates that they have to go out at night Water and sanitation projects enable families to build a toilet, have access to clean water, and to learn about handwashing and other hygiene principles. Dignity is restored when the whole family can use a private, hygienic toilet at their home and no longer have to squat in the bush.

The website also explains how toilets are designed and built. But yes, they are holes in the ground within a cabin… better than nothing!