Give a Gift
Ignite Hopes and Dreams
Celebrate the holidays this year by giving a gift that invests in the talents and dreams of women striving to create a better future for their children. Make an impact in the lives of women in Africa who are eager for the opportunity to work their way out of poverty.
You can invest in the lives of women in rural Africa by making a donation to help launch or expand a small business. With your gift to World Encounter women receive a microloan, business training, personal coaching, and participate in a peer group support program to ensure their success.
People want choices – not charity. They want an opportunity to better their lives and contribute to their communities. Join World Encounter as we provide the poor with tools of hope. This holiday give a gift that keeps on giving!
Dry Goods Store Supplies ($25)
Small kiosks (“Duka” in Swahili) in the local market are the norm in rural villages in Tanzania. Selling everything from soap to socks they provide the ordinary necessities of life. With a microloan women can increase the variety and selection and significantly increase their sales.
Tailoring can provide a steady income that is unaffected by the seasons or the weather. But the initial purchase price of a treadle sewing machine is beyond the means of most families. A microloan helps a woman over that hurdle.
Pigs will eat just about anything. They are one of natures most utilitarian recycling devices. With just two piglets you have a passel. With a passel of piglets you start a herd. With a herd you…well, you get the picture. It grows into an enterprise.
In much of the world cycling is considered a leisure activity. But in places like Tanzania it is an important part of the private transportation system. It helps our entrepreneurs transport products to customers and is used as a taxi service for those who don’t have a bicycle. It’s the difference between a long walk or a quick trip to the next village.
$65 buys enough seed to plant one acre. Sunflowers are raised as a cash crop and sold to the mill to press for cooking oil. Sunflower seeds do not spoil and can be stored for many months following harvest. Women use their microloan to increase the number of acres they can plant. It also enables them to hold onto their seeds until the off-season when prices are much higher.
Women in Africa spend a great deal of time gathering and carrying firewood for cooking. $35 will purchase cement, sand and chicken-wire reinforcement to build three stoves. The newly developed cement stoves produced by women in the microloan program burn 80% less firewood than a traditional 3-stone fire. So they dramatically reduce time spent gathering an increasingly scarce resource. The cement stoves also produce 80% less smoke which reduces smoke inhalation and respiratory problems.
Cut costs, save time, improve health, protect fragile environment. It’s a win, win, win, win proposition!
Fabric, Patterns and Supplies ($55)
Often a tailor provides only her skilled labor. It is difficult to set aside the capital to invest in inventory such as fabric and patterns. So villagers bring their own material to the tailor. With a microloan women can purchase inventory at wholesale prices and increase their income with profit on the fabric they provide to the customer. Everyone likes selection and choices.
Tea Stall and Restaurant ($235)
All you need is a charcoal stove, a couple of large pots and pans, a few extra chairs and service for six. That’s what it takes to convert your front room into a restaurant by day and your living room by night. Wood is scarce and expensive in north-central Tanzania. So even a small table is out of reach for many living near the poverty line of $1.25 USD a day. $235 is enough to acquire the basics to launch a restaurant and tea shop.
Basic Business Training ($120)
Training in business development and simple record keeping is difficult to obtain in small rural villages. Many girls drop out of school before the 4th grade to help at home. As a result women feel at a disadvantage with limited schooling. For $120 business training can be provided to a group of 10 women once a month for one year.
