Did you catch the hype and fury around the KONY 2012 video about Uganda last week? The video, by Invisible Children, Inc. told about the violence in Uganda in the recent past. However, many people in Uganda are presenting their own responses to the video.

“How do you tell the story of Africans?” asks Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan blogger, “because if you are showing me as voiceless, as hopeless… you shouldn’t be telling my story if you don’t believe that I also have the power to change what is going on.”

Godfrey shares the growth of SIA in his community.

How people and organizations present their work is as important as the work itself. Is the grant recipient downcast, child-like, and dirty? Or are they smiling, confident, encouraged?

Meeting all our Spirit in Action Small Business Fund Coordinators last summer in Kenya confirmed for me that THEY are the work of Spirit in Action. Our coordinators are not voiceless or hopeless – they are leaders working to make their communities better places to live.

Today I want to share some excerpts from my interview with Godfrey Matovu, SBF Coordinator in Uganda, about his work to uplift and empower his fellow community members. I hope that listening to him tell his story will also confirm for you that Godfrey, and all of our SIA partners, have the power to change their communities.

Godfrey Matovu:
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: “One time a local leader asked and I had to explain about Spirit in Action and what it is doing. I explained to him: SIA is bringing people together in Uganda.

Ugandans learning how to weave baskets

COMPASSIONATE WORK AT THE CROSSROADS: ”I organize and I train [people] and people know they are welcome to learn or to work. So these things come through Spirit in Action. One of the local leaders said, “this thing that you are sharing, is very good. Why don’t you start over there [at the crossroads] – they are drunkards.” So we are targeting the youth at the crossroads. I started teaching them how to start a business; the handicraft work [like weaving, pottery, and brickmaking]. I tell them “you can make this, you can make this.” We started to gain respect. So far we have trained thirteen people. I am planning more small workshops, for the school dropouts, and those who have lost their parents to come and to start doing this quality work. So that is why I give.

ON DEL ANDERSON, SIA FOUNDER: ”I tell people that Del Anderson came from a poor family. So he decided also to help the poor. I tell them and they understand.

HELPING THOSE WITH HIV/AIDS: ”There are people who are not involved in these programs who are suffering. So what do I do? I just care and counsel them, just give them advice when they are sick or suffering with AIDS. What do I do? I just counsel them; tell them how to handle the sick.

DEALING WITH PREJUDICE: ”Sometimes, most especially in Africa, when you are suffering from HIV/AIDS, some people they fear to touch you, they fear to be near you. So I go there and I am preaching the word of God. I again talk to them and the members who are around, tell them not to avoid him or her, just to get friendship with him.

Godfrey and Tanya in Kenya, August 2011

DEFINING CARE: ”I remember I went to one family and met with a man who was sick. He had skin that was [bad]. He was not doing much bathing or washing. So I started helping, that is what I call care.

GIVING THANKS: “So I have to thank you for this brotherhood of workers. It is not easy but I am doing very good. They are doing very good. We have the groups there [in Uganda] and we are doing good.”

Thank you, Godfrey, and all SIA partners, for serving God by empowering others! We are honored to support these committed change-agents.

Matthews (MAVISALO's Secretary) giving us one of his big smiles.

“COMSIP…” called out Matthews, holding his hand in the air. “…Chop!” responded the fifty people gathered in the meeting room, as they brought down their hands in a chopping motion. The group is the Manyamula Village Savings and Loans organization, or MAVISALO, which Boyd and I visited last summer. And COMSIP is a Malawian government program designed to reduce (chop!) poverty by promoting a culture of saving. After the cheer, a feeling of enthusiasm remained in the room as the group settled down to start the meeting.

I held this exuberance in my mind as I read Canaan Gondwe’s most recent report on MAVISALO’s progress. MAVISALO, which already works to encourage savings among members and provide local loans at reasonable rates, is growing rapidly. They recently welcomed 80 new members for a total of 130 members!

Capacity Building and Training

In addition to the initial “seed money” from Spirit in Action, MAVISALO also was awarded an $800 grant from COMSIP (Community Savings and Investment Promotion) for training in financial literacy management and business management. Some of the topics covered at the recent training for MAVISALO members were:

COMSIP training for MAVISALO members

• Savings mobilization
• Credit management
• Monitoring of financial operations
• Business idea generation
• Business planning, records, and evaluation
• Market research and marketing
• Product costing
• Planning for profit

“These trainings have impacted on the members positively,” wrote Canaan in his report, “in that members will operate their small enterprises with skill and positive attitude.” Many of these topics are also covered in the Small Business Fund program training and so MAVISALO members who are not involved with SBF also have a chance to learn these skills. Also, everyone who has received some training in the past can review, refresh, and evaluate their current business models. The MAVISALO Executive Team is working to certify the group as an official COMSIP Cooperative, which will open up even more opportunities for leadership building, business training, and community grants.

All this is part of creating a stable, prosperous, rural economy in Manyamula Village through locally led education and entrepreneurship. Canaan closed his report with a few words of encouragement, echoing that hopefulness of the group “chopping” together, “All is well as we work together to alleviate the suffering of many poor households.”

**Click on photos for a full-sized version.

The first week of December, Nalu Prossy, gathered together 18 people to prepare them to start and run their own businesses. Nalu, a Spirit in Action Small Business Fund local coordinator in eastern Uganda, is soft-spoken and hard-working, and when I met her this summer in Kenya, she told me that this work “is in my heart, I have that spirit of helping others.”

Nalu Prossy shows us some of the baskets made by SIA business owners in Uganda.

This new round of small business owners came from the rural villages of Isegero and Nakigalala, south of Kampala (see map below). The 18 people formed themselves into 5 groups, chose a leader for each group (4 of the leaders are women), and started to think through their business plan. Two of the groups are families and other groups are colleagues and friends that have decided to go into business together.

Please join me in welcoming these five new Spirit in Action-supported businesses in Uganda! We’ll follow their progress over the next year as they face challenges and become successful in their chosen enterprises.

* Brick Making and Pottery – “We will produce and sell our wares along the roadside.”

* Mat Making – People use mats for many things in Uganda, for sleeping, sitting on in the house, screens, and drying food in the sun.

* Chicken Rearing – This is a family business led by the mother, Betty Nabuso.

* Mat Making –  This group already has needles, thread and weaving skills that they will contribute to the business.

* Tailoring and Sewing – This family business will take advantage of the inexpensive cloth made in Uganda and will use the sewing machine that they already own.

Related Posts:

• Quote of the Day: Nalu Prossy
• Welcome our new coordinator, Nalu!
• Realizing potential with just $150! Small Business Fund FAQs
• Nalu was also highlighted in our Winter 2011 Newsletter, which you can download here.

View Larger Map

Saul (Malawi) was able to expand his crop of green maize with a SIA grant.

Have you heard about “angel investors”? In the business world, Angel Investors are wealthy, entrepreneurial-minded individuals who provide capital to start-up companies.

Now, imagine a world where Angel Investors didn’t just back Silicon Valley tech start-ups. Actually, aren’t SIA donors already Angel Investors for small business entrepreneurs in Africa?

“No successful company in the U.S. started with loans,” said Alan Patricof in his article about microfinance in developing countries, “Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and Mark Zuckerberg did not borrow from their local banks to start Apple, Dell, and Facebook. They got angel investors.”

Grants, Not Loans

With Spirit in Action we all have the opportunity to be Angel Investors. Think about it, if I have just $150 I can give it to a family in Africa to start a business. I don’t need that $150 back. It’s only $150 and it can make a world of difference! Corporate Angel Investors give to projects that inspire and excite them, projects that give them hope for something better in this world that their precious money can go to help. What’s just money for me, is a tool for empowering our partners.

You may have heard about other micro-loan organizations, like Kiva. However, these traditional micro-finance institutions take people down the path of dependence with high-interest loans and by making them prey to in-country loan sharks. I was shocked to hear stories of interest rates as high as 48% for a two-week micro-loan in Malawi! How can that possibly create success?

Businesses started with SIA Small Business Fund (SBF) grants are more likely to succeed and thrive than those started with a high-interest micro-finance loan.

Justina Phiri (Malawi) sells beans and popcorn. She can now afford to pay for one child to go to high school and one to university!

Our SBF grants, give people a windfall to start their business without debt, to start off in the black. This means that their first $150 in profit goes to pay for school or health care, rather than to pay back a comparatively wealthy investor. We realize that $150 can have a much bigger impact when it’s given graciously to an entrepreneur, rather than restricted through a loan process.

Because Angel Investors assume a high level of risk, they are also betting on a high return on investment. At SIA, we bet on the entrepreneur’s success, rather than depend on their interest to earn our money.

Invest Early

A Minnesota angel investor group found it is best to fund a project early on, when there is still a chance to lead and plan with the group for a successful business. In addition to the micro-grant, Spirit in Action also provides business training in the early stages of the business. Our  local coordinators participate in the development of the business plan by guiding initial group discussions and helping them estimate costs and income. This direct, early (and then on-going) support is crucial for the group’s success.

Be an Angel Investor

Juliet Namusobya (Uganda) received a SIA grant in 2007 and is still in business today!

Spirit in Action also puts the “angel” in Angel Investor. We are an organization founded on compassion for others and the world. We encourage SBF groups to pray together for their needs and for the needs of their customers and communities.

This Christmas, I’m choosing to be an Angel Investor to a new shop keeper in Kenya, a new tomato farmer in Malawi, or a new mat-weaver in Uganda. Boyd and I give to Spirit in Action because we believe that it’s worth at least the $150 “investment” to see these businesses started, these leaders trained, and these families changed forever.

————————–

You can also be an Angel Investor, through a tax-deductible donation to SIA.

Are you new here? Welcome! Sign up for SIA eNews in your inbox.

How much a difference can $150 really make? While visiting Kenya and Malawi, Boyd and I saw many thriving businesses established through the Spirit in Action Small Business Fund. Read on to learn more about this life-changing program.

1. What is the SIA Small Business Fund (SBF) and how does it work?

Woman selling doughnuts at the market in Malawi.

The Small Business Fund (SBF) is SIA’s program to support economic development in developing countries. SIA has supported 445 small businesses in Kenya, Malawi, DR Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, India, and Philippines since the program started in 2003.

Groups of 3-5 people receive business training and a $100 initial grant to start or expand their business. After three months, if the group is successful, they receive an additional reinvestment grant of $50.

The SIA office receives a copy of the business plan, a 3-month Business Report and a One Year report, so that we can follow the group’s successes and challenges.

2. So it’s a grant, not a micro-loan?

Our grants are the first step out of poverty and can eventually lead to micro-loans once the businesses are established. Micro-finance institutions, even ones that claim to help the poor, often require high collaterals and have crippling interest rates – we were heard countless stories about families losing their belongings and being charged as much as 48% interest on a two week loan. SIA works with people and in areas that are often ignored or exploited by micro-finance institutions.

It is a rarely acknowledged fact that no company in the United States begins without start-up capital from outside investors. These investors are known as “angel investors” because they believe in the business model and they are willing provide the entrepreneurs with the capital needed to get their idea off the ground.  SIA follows the same principle; SIA donors are effectively Angel Investors for people in developing countries.

3. Who are the SBF Coordinators?

We currently work with eight SBF Coordinators who serve in their local communities. They are dedicated volunteers with experience in community development, who work with our SBF Guidelines and send us reports and stories of the businesses. Before people become SBF Coordinators, we get to know them over the course of many months to establish a relationship of mutual trust. Through this process, we also come to better understand the specific needs and challenges in their community.

4. How do you decide who receives the grants?

Our SBF Coordinators develop location-specific criteria to identify the poorest households in their community. They visit families to ask how many meals they eat and if children can attend school, and to detect the opportunities and skills that the family could use to start a new business.

5. What do you provide in addition to the grant?

Benoit Malenge goes over record-keeping with a new business leader in DRC.

Before anyone receives a SBF grant, they receive business training from our Coordinators. They learn about record keeping, accounting, decision-making, marketing, and budgeting.

After receiving the grant, the Coordinators continue to check-in with the group, offering tips to help them improve their business and giving words of encouragement. Many people we met in Kenya and Malawi appreciated this individual support and saw this as a crucial part of their success.

6. Is $150 really enough to start a business?

Yes! Without capital, capable business people cannot get the start-up supplies needed to open a business. The initial $100 grant can enable them to buy materials for repairing bikes or items for their new store.

To ensure that the businesses continue to thrive, our SBF program also requires reinvestment. Members often reinvest 25-50% of their profits to expanding their business.

7. What kinds of businesses do people start?

People start businesses to fill the needs and wants in their community.

Some typical businesses are:

• Farms (maize, vegetables, tomatoes, cassava, etc.)
• Bakeries and restaurants
• Bike repair
• Brick making
• Basketry and other handicrafts
• Buying items in bulk and reselling in the market
• Small grocery stores

8. What do people do with their business profits?

Woman in Malawi with iron sheets ready to go on her new house.

SBF members use their profits to expand their businesses and improve their lives. After receiving the small SBF grant, their businesses can generate enough profit to:

• Send a child to school
• Buy roofing for their house
• Buy new clothes and shoes for their families
• Provide better food
• Buy a bicycle, so that they don’t have to walk everywhere
• Buy more items to sell in their stores

9. Shouldn’t people have to pay back the grant with their profits?

Rather than ask people to pay back the funds to SIA, we ask them to pay it forward, through our Sharing The Gift initiative.

Once a business has been successful they give back to help someone else. For example:

• Winkly in Malawi received the gift of a piglet from a successful SBF piggery
• 5 groups in Nigeria saved $150 from their business profits so that someone else could start a business.
• Mary in Kenya trained another woman to make wedding cakes, so that she could open a new business.

10. How do your Christian principles enter into the SBF program?

Most of the people we work with come from a Christian faith tradition and people from many different churches and denominations come together through the SBF program. Our training guidelines teach about listening prayer and starting prayer groups to help group members share their problems and pray together for solutions. However, SIA is not evangelical and does not require anyone to declare his or her faith to participate.

Your donation of any amount helps people start small businesses and live up to their potential! We invite you to become an Angel Investor and take a chance on these worthy business-people. You can donate online or find more information here.