Central Region Livelihood Security Program (CRLSP); USAID/CARE

Olivetta Mkwenembela is forty-three years old and comes from Nyanja village in TA Khongoni of Lilongwe district. Olivetta has six children, five of whom are still in school. She is currently separated from her husband.

Olivetta is a member of the Tithokoze business group, which has ten members, comprised of nine women and one man. The group started as a savings and loan group and received CRLSP funded training in both savings and loans and also in basic business management. In October 2000 the group was linked to Malawi Rural Finance Company (MRFC) to access a loan. After a rigorous appraisal process by MRFC the group was determined to be eligible for a loan in November 2000. Using their savings, each member of the group paid MK50 to MRFC as collateral. Some of the group members were given a loan of MK2,000, but Olivetta was among those given MK3,000. The interest rate is 50%. In order to qualify for a business loan Olivetta says a group has to satisfy MRFC that the members are honest, that there are no previous defaulters of any loans, members have to have tangible assets and group cohesion must be strong.

Before accessing the loan from MRFC Olivetta says she used to sell home baked cakes and a few groceries. Today, thanks to the loan she has received, she has increased quantities of items for sale and started a tearoom business.

Olivetta says that before she was separated from her husband, she used to rely on him for all her family's financial needs. Today, she is able to meet her family's financial needs through her own economic activities. She is now able to pay school fees for her children, buy for maize milling and purchase groceries such as soap. She is also paying back the loan.

Olivetta also made this confession: "Before being trained by the CRLSP project, I used to run my business the best I could, but now I am more organized and I have plans to expand my business and develop new ones."