“When We are Together, We are One” – GHAPE

Salut-oh,

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here so I should say what’s up to the world. Things here are going well. I’m still in my three months of observing as a Peace Corps Volunteer and will be attending In-Service training (IST) next month (at the beach at the beach at the beach at the beach! Also near the volcano!), where we gather all of the people from our training group and talk about our experiences so far. For now, I’ve been busy with my primary NGO as we’ve launched an intensive training course for four Small Business Consultants. Business consulting is lacking in Cameroon, especially compared to its neighbors Nigeria, Ghana, etc. There seems to be a need since small businesses constitute the majority of the job sector here in Bamenda, as it is the third largest business sector to Douala (the financial capital) and Yaounde (the political capital). People consistently demonstrate an interest in taking business courses as well – especially in an oral culture where records are not kept, it is important to teach people to manage their inventory, cash book, credit, separating business accounts from personal accounts, etc. I’m pretty excited about these trainees – they’ve completed their university studies recently and seem eager to learn. It’s great to be surrounded in an environment where people are genuine and passionate about what they do.

Another NGO I have also begun working with is Global Welfare Association (GLOWA), which specializes in anti-child trafficking. Here in the Northwest region, families living in poverty are pursued by traffickers promising their children money for education if they come into the big city to work for them in their homes. Because these poor, rural families cannot afford tuition, book fees, and food for their kids, they allow for them to leave. What they don’t realize is that the traffickers place them to do various activities, such as manual labor, selling items on the streets, prostitution, etc. The families may never see their child again, or if they’ve found out their children’s jobs or if their children have contracted HIV/AIDS, they are shamed from returning or simply do not have the means to bring them home. Since Bamenda is the regional capital of the Northwest and this region constitutes the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Cameroon, we recognize that child trafficking contributes to the disease. And obviously, exploitation of children is deplorable and GLOWA is fighting to combat this through awareness at all levels. I think I can really assist this organization in bringing resources through international channels, because this is not only a Northwest Cameroon problem – it’s a global human rights issue. They also have a documentary, (insert link), which I will be marketing to the U.S. and European countries, and trying to figure out some income-generating activities with it. This NGO, like many, has a worthy cause but is struggling financially.

A third NGO I am starting to pursue here is called GHAPE. It’s a microfinance NGO that is modeled after one of my hero’s (Muhammad Yunus) organization Grameen Bank. The idea is that banks in third world countries, even microfinance banks now, do not approve loans for those who want to start small businesses because they have no credit history or substantial collateral. So this population of the extremely poor are further marginalized and Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh created the idea of group loans & savings. You can read more on the history of Grameen Bank: (insert website). Here in Bamenda, GHAPE works to bring (mostly) womens’ groups together to request for loans and create savings accounts. Women (there are men’s groups as well but women are more trustworthy, and yes there are studies proving this) from their own cartiers/village/town/city group themselves as five individuals. Each center office has eight groups of the five, which equals forty. GHAPE works with a microfinance bank to provide and approve loans with low interest. So if a woman wants to borrow start-up capital to begin a beignet (fried dough) stand, she discusses first with her four other group members and they approve to ensure it’s not too large of an investment. Once approved, they submit her request to a GHAPE loan officer. Every two weeks, the woman pays back the loan/interest rate to the loan officer. If the woman’s business fails, she will refund the principal amount requested but GHAPE does not charge interest.

I joined Peace Corps with the intention to learn more and work with microfinance orgs like GHAPE. I finally attended one of their group meetings yesterday at their office. Talk about poverty alleviation at work. These eight groups met and the rule is to pay all the money owed for the two weeks to your group leader. The group leader gives the money and passbooks to the center leader (elected by the forty borrowers), who places each groups’ money onto the desk of the GHAPE loan officer. The loan officers will not count the money and start the meeting until all eight groups have paid in full. Also, if you’re late to a meeting you are fined 25 francs and if you miss a meeting you must give your money to one of your group members. The issue yesterday was that there was one woman who owed a great sum of money but had an emergency and could not attend the meeting. Now, the loan officer does not care so long as the money is paid. So either her group members pay on her behalf, the money is taken from her savings account, or the center group of forty women have to chip together to pay. The biggest element here is trust. These women trust each other enough in groups of five and support one another. But they are also involved with the other seven groups – if one member struggles, the rest of the center helps. I really agree that this model works because it adapts to the local culture of community and trust (which makes me hippie-ish when I say that this model works all across the globe in other countries in Africa, South America, Asia, etc. and that we are all together). Anyway, I can go on and an on about how awesome the Grameen model is, as manifested through GHAPE (also funded by www.kiva.org – check them out), but I am just happy to have finally observed a meeting. I used to intern at Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International) in DC, but it was too administrative and it’s great to watch microfinance in action. One more note: it’s great also that GHAPE teaches business classes to these women to manage their money as well as encourage savings because that’s just as important as earning money. You must prioritize your savings, like your children’s school fees, and not squander it on things like alcohol and cigarettes (that’s another conversation for another time).

So that’s my life right now. I’m still hungry to begin a fair trade project and I am assisting with our Peace Corps regional project on HIV/AIDS, so I am keeping myself busy with my time here. Thanksgiving is coming up and I’m super excited to celebrate, but the President is coming to visit on the 29th so I’m cautious of all the security measures (like curfews) that are taking place this month. Could be very interesting.

Next time-oh…

P.S. Some food for thought. I heard this yesterday in a lecture: “What does ‘poor’ stand for? Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly.”