microfinance solutionssustainable solutions for the working poor

ISSUE 5 . APRIL 2015 . PUBLISHED QUARTERLYP.O. Box 360, Berlin, OH 44610

97.3%Loan repayment rate

(3 year average)

7,610SALT clients

What is SALT?SALT is an acronym for Shared Accountability, Lending, and Teaching. This CAM program reaches out to people in material poverty through microloans, savings groups, agricultural programs, and Christ-centered teaching. Our goal is to walk alongside clients, helping them use the resources God has placed in their care and teaching them the impor-tance of following Jesus in everyday life.

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Do you charge interest or fees on SALT loans?

Answer: We do not charge interest, but we do charge a small administrative fee used to help pay local indigenous instructors who oversee the program. We believe it is important that clients don’t view the SALT Microfinance program as a charity. Rather, we are partnering with them and helping them discover new ways of providing for themselves. Allowing them to assist in paying for the instruction they receive helps them feel they are contributors in the project.

CommonQuestions

More questions will be featured in future issues.

AT OVER 4,500 feet, El Naranjo, Honduras, is often shrouded in cool mist and fog. Coffee thrives here in the rich terrain, moist soil, and tropical climate. In fact, the El Naranjo economy depends on the coffee industry. But the price of coffee on the world market has often been unstable.

Five years ago, Javataza—a coffee importing and roasting company—researched the possibility of buying coffee from El Naranjo growers. Javataza seeks to help coffee growers by of-fering good, reliable prices for their product. Together Javataza and an El Naranjo coffee growers co-op approached CAM to request a loan for a coffee dryer and small ware-house. The coffee dryer would help produce high quality coffee that could be sold for a consistently higher price than other coffee. The warehouse would provide a place to store the coffee until it could be exported.

The first year after the coffee dryer was in operation, Javataza purchased 10,000 pounds of coffee from the El Naranjo co-op. Some farmers were skeptical at first, but as the project proved itself successful over the next several years, more growers joined the co-op. This year twelve grow-ers will sell 35,000 pounds of coffee to

Honduras Coffee Project UpdateAgri-Plus Program

continued on page four

Perfecto and Amanda sort through the coffee they just picked.

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—Matthew Schmidt, Cambodia

POVERTY IS one of the challenges many missionaries face in de-veloping countries. Working in Cambodia is no different. While our main goal is to reach lost souls for the kingdom of God and to strengthen believers, we are surrounded by people’s physical needs. Meeting these needs can be a challenge. We must first assess the reasons for these needs. Sometimes it is because of poor management of the resources a person already has. Other times it is a result of poor financial choices, laziness, or lack of available work.

WHY DOES CAMBODIA NEED THE SALT PROGRAM?Debt is a big problem among Cambodians. They often view

THIS YEAR SALT Microfinance began operating in Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh are friendly and open to teaching, but many tribes live in extreme poverty. SALT staff have visited the new savings groups and are training the group leaders.

In the Shultunpar tribe pictured at right, it is common for girls to be married at 14 or 15 years old. Because of this, families are large. Parents often struggle to provide for their children. We hope that the SALT program will brighten their futures and provide opportunities for these families to support themselves.

Bringing Financial Literacy to Bangladesh

borrowed money as a way to help them in a time of need but don’t consider the high interest they will need to pay. It’s easy for Cambodians to borrow money from banks or loan sharks. At some places, the interest is over 100 percent annually. It’s not uncommon to meet people who have two loans on their property, and their debt is twice the value of the property.

Most Cambodians have had little or no teach-ing about how to use money. As a result they often struggle with financial problems. Many of these people grew up in poverty and some-times had barely enough money to buy food.

Even though many young Cambodian fami-lies are better off than they were growing up, they often don’t know how to save for the

future. They have learned how to survive with very little, but have not been taught how to save and manage money to im-prove their situation.

Because of these needs, we are starting Christian Aid Ministries’ SALT Microfinance Solutions program here in Cambodia.

HOW WILL THE SALT PROGRAM OPERATE IN CAMBODIA?The microloans and the savings groups are two aspects of the SALT program that we plan to implement. We hope to work through local churches as well as try to start some groups among non-Christians. The Bible-based teaching included with this program is a tool to reach the lost, encourage the Christians, and help the Cambodian people become financially sustainable.

We have translated the teaching materials into the Khmer lan-guage and are working to train a Cambodian to teach the lessons.

Please pray for wisdom and direction as we launch the SALT Microfinance Solutions program in Cambodia.

SALT Program Launched in Cambodia

Countries where SALT is operating:Haiti, Nicaragua, Ghana, Honduras, Cambodia, and Bangladesh

Dollar amounts listed on this page are in USD.

*Amounts include the savings given out as loans to savings group members.

SAVINGS GROUP STATISTICS

2015 2014 % of growth

Number of families in program 3,660 2,703 35.4%

Average savings held per client* $15.55 $12.05 29.0%

Total savings held by savings groups* $56,900.60 $32,580.04 74.6%

MICROLOAN PROGRAM STATISTICS

2015 2014 3 Yr. Avg.

Overall repayment rate 96.5% 96.7% 97.3%

Overall average loan size $201 $201 $211

Overall number of clients 3,950 3,811 3,534

Overall savings per client $60.19 $59.56 $68.88

MICROLOAN REPAYMENT RATES

2015 2014 3 Yr. Avg.

Haiti 94.0% 93.0% 93.9%

Ghana 99.8% 98.0% 98.6%

Nicaragua 100.0% 100.0% 99.3%

NUMBER OF MICROLOAN CLIENTS

2015 2014 % of growth

Haiti 2,313 2,174 6.0%

Ghana 1,523 1,521 0.0%

Nicaragua 114 116 -2.0%

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LIFE HAS been difficult for Efua Konyiaba from Ghana. Since her husband doesn’t help support the family, Efua is left with the responsibility of providing for her six chil-dren who are living at home. They live in a house Efua built herself.

To help put food on the table and send her children to school, Efua started a business of selling kinki, a popular Ghanaian corn-based food. She spends one day making a batch of kinki and the next day she takes it to the seaside town of Elmina to sell it. This business provides enough income to support her children.

With the loan she received through the SALT program, she bought a roof for her business. But that isn’t the only reason Efua likes being a part of the program. She wants to learn how to raise her children, and appreciates the practical family teaching she receives at SALT meetings.

SALT Helps Neglected Wife Care for Her Children

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Shared Accountability, Lending, and Teaching

Christian Aid MinistriesP.O. Box 360, Berlin, OH 44610

Phone: 330-893-2428

The Ongoing Effects of Biblical TeachingDORA BUSCHTING from Nicaragua credits the SALT teachings for showing her how to turn her life around and live for Christ.

A few years ago, Dora’s husband had left her with four children and no income. When the SALT program first came to Waslala, Dora joined it. She saw the program as an opportunity to provide for herself and her children. But before long, temptation got the best of her and she began selling illegal items. Soon she found herself in jail.

Dora began to search her heart for the meaning of life. The words of her SALT teacher came back to her over and over again. She became convicted and purposed that she would allow Jesus to change her life.

When Dora got out of jail, she searched for the SALT group to thank them for the teaching that helped her find new free-dom in Jesus. When she found the new SALT loan manager and told him her story,

he asked if she would like to join the program again. She was overjoyed, since she never expected to get a second chance.

With a new focus on life, she took a $200 loan and bought items in bulk to begin baking. She now has a successful baking business and va-riety store. She has made many friends in her loan group and buys milk from one of the group members because she can trust him. “The SALT family is very dear to me,” she spills out with excitement.

When asked the benefits of being in the SALT program, Dora is quick to tell about the teachings of Jesus. “The Bible says, ‘God will not let His people go hungry. Be meek and kind to everyone. Do not live in fornication or adultery.’ ”

The SALT teacher taught her all of these Biblical truths, and Dora learned firsthand that God blesses a repentant sinner. She has not married again, and her life is now free of a hateful spirit that once led her to mis-treat her children and friends. Dora looks forward to going to the SALT meetings to hear more about Jesus and be encouraged by the other members of her group.

“The loans have helped my business, but the teaching has helped my life,” she says.

Javataza, an average of 2,900 pounds each. Each grower will receive approximately $2,100 more than he would receive at the average market price. This is a significant increase in profit for these Honduran coffee growers and will have a huge impact on their families. Some of them rely wholly on the sale of coffee to support their families.

“A hard life, many disappointments, and broken promises are all these mountain folks have ever known,” says Javataza’s Nathanael Yoder. “As we wrapped up our time with each grower, a common chorus was, ‘Can you please buy more next year . . . so my relatives can have a guaranteed price.’ ”

Pray that this business relationship between Javataza, SALT Microfinance Solutions, and the El Naranjo community would continue to bless the people of Honduras.

Honduras Coffee Project Updatecontinued from page one

BREAK THE CYCLE OF POVERTYIf you are interested in join-ing the effort to help families in developing countries be-come self-supporting, use the enclosed response coupon or earmark your donation SALT Microfinance Solutions and mail it to Christian Aid Ministries, P.O. Box 360, Berlin, OH 44610. You will receive a tax-deductible re-ceipt unless you note otherwise.