Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan: What role for Islamic microfinance?

Conventional interest based microfinance has come under increasing scrutiny and its benefits questioned in recent years. Does Islamic microfinance present a viable alternative? Quite possibly.



 
Islamic, more correctly termed Shari’ah compliant’, finance is based on principles that include linking transactions to tangible economic activities, excluding financial speculation and excessive uncertainty, and funding only socially productive activities, in addition to the well-known stipulation against charging or paying interest. The core tenet of Islamic finance is to encourage ‘fairness’ in business and trade between different parties.

Successful Islamic microfinance programmes can offer several potential advantages. They may engender higher rates of economic growth as evidence suggests that microentrepreneurs are willing to undertake more profitable ventures if risk is shared. They can build greater levels of trust and understanding between lender and borrower because of the deeper relationships built through partnership rather than a service provider-client relationship. Because only investment in socially beneficial activities is permitted, they may promote ethical investment and business practices among microentrepreneurs. Indeed, Islamic finance shares many of the features of socially responsible finance.

It could also be argued that by adhering to Islamic financing principles some of the well-reported ‘excesses’ of interest-based microfinance, such as over-indebtedness among poor clients, might even have been avoided. This is because risk is shared and lenders stand to lose their capital if the funded venture is unsuccessful. Neither can they insist on repayment if borrowers, through no fault of their own, are unable to repay on time.

Despite the fact that the Islamic microfinance sector is growing though, it still accounts for less than 1% of total global microfinance outreach. While many predominantly Muslim countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia have vibrant microfinance sectors, Islamic microfinance only has a limited outreach. Since many Muslims (estimates vary from approximately one-fifth to almost half of the population) refrain from accessing interest based finance for fear of breaching their religious beliefs, it is reasonable to conclude that the unavailability of Islamic microfinance constrains the development of many Muslim owned small businesses.

Why is Islamic microfinance not more widespread? One of the main reasons is that Islamic financing – which includes profit and loss sharing techniques and the purchase and delivery of items to microentrepreneurs – is typically more time consuming, costly and complicated to manage than interest-based microfinance. Furthermore, while interest based microfinance institutions have had ready access to funding (arguably some institutions have had too much investment directed at them which has in turn encouraged over lending), the development of Islamic microfinance has traditionally been constrained by lack of investment. As a consequence, Islamic microfinance providers generally remain small with an average client base of just 2,400. Finally, with a few notable exceptions, governments have generally failed to provide appropriate regulation and supervision for the expansion of Islamic microfinance or developed comprehensive guidelines on microfinance accounting principles, pricing methodologies and Shari’ah audits.

What can be done to encourage the development of Islamic microfinance? Increasing operational efficiency and developing sustainable operating models that increase scale and outreach are absolutely crucial. Increasing interest from Islamic investors, such as the Islamic Development Bank as well the many commercial Islamic financial institutions, may alleviate the traditional constraint of lack of investment. However, this must be accompanied by a concerted effort to increase technical expertise and training opportunities, as Islamic microfinance generally requires a greater level of staff involvement and understanding of microentrepreneurial activities. Islamic microfinance providers also require a better legal and regulatory framework, not only to monitor their activities, but also to encourage them to experiment, innovate and develop. Apart from ensuring that products and processes remain authentically Islamic, there also needs to be greater clarity and understanding on what qualifies a service as Shari’ah compliant by seeking the necessary support from qualified Islamic scholars. It is imperative that Islamic financial products and services comply not only with the letter of Shari’ah but also the spirit. Otherwise, there is a real danger that Islamic microfinance will merely mimic interest-based finance.

lendwithcare.org hopes to include Shari'ah compliant microfinance partners from Pakistan and Indonesia from January 2013. Potential partners must meet our eligibility criteria and this means prioritising social development as well as possessing strong financial performance. As part of our due diligence procedure we always visit prospective partners and the entrepreneurs they support to understand more of their policies, procedures and impact in the field.

By Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan, Microfinance Advisor at lendwithcare.org

This article was first featured in Business fights poverty on 17 December 2012.
 

Day Three: BBC3's Stacey Dooley returns to Sarajevo to meet more lendwithcare.org entrepreneurs

On her final day visiting lendwithcare.org entrepreneurs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Stacey Dooley returns to Sarajevo and meets Mediha ...

Stacey with Mediha in her tailor shop in Sarajevo© CARE/Jon Spaull

Today we were back in the capital Sarajevo. I met Mediha, who runs a tailoring and craft shop, a business she started when she lost her job after the war.

Starting from home, Mediha worked hard to move her business into small premises. And now with help from Lendwithcare, she has a thriving business with the equipment she needs.

I could tell how much the loan had meant to her. She said it was the only way to get her family back on their feet after the war and broke down when she talked about the journey she'd been through.

Mediha wanted to thank lenders back in the UK who'd supported her to grow her business and urged them to continue to provide the chance for Bosnian women to start a business of their own.

Although I've only been here a short time it's become very apparent, very quickly, just how important these loans are, with one of the entrepreneurs telling me she literally sees this as the only option for women in Bosnia. Lendwithcare is a fantastic opportunity for people who ordinarily would have no other option. 

And with Christmas around the corner I guess there's no better time to check out Lendwithcare.org and maybe buy your pal or loved one a gift voucher.

Get lending! Merry Christmas :-)

Day Two: BBC3 journalist, Stacey Dooley, visits lendwithcare.org entrepreneurs in Srebrenica

On her second day visiting female entrepreneurs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, BBC3's Stacey Dooley travels to Srebrenica to see how microloans provided through lendwithcare.org are changing lives.

BBC3's Stacey Dooley with Sefika and her son, Adnam© CARE/Jon Spaull

Second day here in Bosnia. Today I spent time in and around Srebenica. Srebenica is significant in Bosnia - this is where the genocide took place in 1995. At the Srebenica memorial, we heard first hand about the thousands of men and boys who lost their lives, from someone who managed to survive. Seventeen years on, the war has finished, but the problems created by the war are still visible. Lives were destroyed then and people are still trying to rebuild them now.

Just outside Srebenica we met Sefika, who's 21 and married with a 20 month-old son, Adnam. It was a real pleasure spending time with Sefika. She was able to explain very clearly the benefits of being involved with Lendwithcare. She told me if it wasn't for the opportunity of a loan, she doesn't think her husband's wage would be sufficient in supporting the whole family.

Sefika used her loan to buy a cow. Initially the cow was used to feed her baby and now the plan is to sell the calf, which will enable her to continue supporting her family, including her young son Adnam.

Sefika lost her father during the war and her brother soon after. She tells me her, and all of her girl friends who are of a similar age - early 20s - have no real hope of becoming employed any time soon, which unfortunately I'm learning is a massive problem here - youth unemployment. Despite being up against it, Sefika was so welcoming and incredibly positive about the future. Sefika wanted to thank lenders in the UK. She said she was very grateful for the loan and had invested it wisely.

To read more about women like Sefika, who are using microloans to rebuild or improve their lives, please visit the lendwithcare.org webiste: www.lendwithcare.org 

Lendwithcare.org is an initiative of aid and development agency CARE International UK and is supported by The Co-operative

BBC Three journalist, Stacey Dooley, visits lendwithcare entrepreneurs in Bosnia-Herzegovina

This week BBC Three journalist, Stacey Dooley, is visiting female entrepreneurs in Bosnia-Herzegovina who have received microloans through lendwithcare.org. Below she describes her first day meeting Azra Vatrenjak ...

Azra Vatrenjak in her shop in Sarajevo © CARE

DAY ONE

So here we are, arrived in Sarajevo. I've been given an amazing tour of the city by lendwithcare.org's local microfinance partner and CARE Bosnia. Then straight off to meet the lovely Azra. Amazing lady, remarkable story, massively inspiring. Azra's husband is very poorly and so she's had to take full responsibility in supporting the whole family. Her young lad is 11. Thanks to Lendwithcare, Azra has been able to make this happen. Her loan ensured she could get her own small business (a small general store in a suburb of Sarajevo) up and running. Better news still, she told me this afternoon she's moving premises to a bigger and better shop this Thursday. Cracking news. Hoping to pop my head round before I fly home. She told me she literally can't imagine where she would be if it wasn't for the loan.

Can't wait for tomorrow. Ciao!


To read more about Azra, and other women like her, please click here
You can read more about Stacey's trip to Bosnia on The Co-operative Join the Revolution blog

Loans for people on DSS benefits-Why disabled people take unsecured loans against monetary hazards

Any kind of disability makes your life sorrowful and painful as disability don’t leave of capable of working and earning money for meeting your need  and leading a normal life. Disabled people generally depend on their relatives or on other people for meeting their various needs. Department of social security allocates a small sum as DSS benefits (A Small sum of money) to such needy people so that the basic needs of these people don’t get affected.  Any kind of unplanned expenses can’t ne entertained with DSS benefit income.  

So, Money lenders in the USA have explored a new loan scheme called Loans for people on DSS benefits. This is an exclusive cash aid for disabled people when then go through the sudden cash crunch and have no cash to deal with the problem. Having at least $500 is necessary to get the advantage of this cash aid. It is basically a short term unsecured cash aid that offers small cash amount to the loan applicant. You can have cash up to $1500 by means of this loan with high interest rates because of lack of collateral alongside the loan. You get 14-31 days for loan repayment and no credit check is made when you apply for the loan. So, you can get this cash aid  even if you are a bad credit loan borrower.  

Apply online for this loan without any paperwork and get swift approach to funds in some minutes. No additional charges are applied against  online cash transactions. Provide right personal details in an online application form  to the chosen lender to get accepted for the loan.

For complete information visit www.disabilityloans.net

Microfinance over the last 10 years | Reflections and suggestions for the future

The UK's All Party Parliamentary Group on Microfinance recently celebrated 10 years' of raising awareness of microfinance and the role it can play in reducing poverty. At an event, hosted by CARE International, Dr Ajaz Khan (lendwithcare.org's Microfinance Advisor) reflected on the last 10 years and made some suggestions for the future.

Since the All Party Parliamentary Microfinance Group was started 10 years ago, although I am sure the link is coincidental, microfinance has become much more widespread and received increasing recognition – the United Nations proclaimed 2005 as the year of microcredit, one of the pioneers of modern microfinance Muhammad Yunus and Grameen won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 and perhaps the ultimate accolade of all, as my children pointed out, in 2010 microfinance was featured on an episode of The Simpsons.

As it has grown though, microfinance has also come under increasing scrutiny and its benefits questioned. We have had much cause for reflection and, for those of us that come to microfinance from a development background, some soul searching as well. What have we learned from our accumulated experiences and what needs to be done to make microfinance more effective? To begin with, I think there is a lot of agreement on some of the main issues:

Firstly, our experiences have shown that when poor people have access to a range of appropriate financial services – such as secure savings, fairly priced loans, insurance, money transfer, and advice and training provided by institutions possessing a strong social development mission, that is when microfinance is properly provided – poor people can and do improve their lives.

Secondly, despite the fact that microfinance has grown so much (it is now a $7 billion dollar a year business), only a small fraction of the world’s poor have access to financial services - more the 2.5 billion people in developing countries still face financial exclusion. In most low-income countries more than two-thirds of the population have no access to formal financial services, and financial exclusion is highest among the world’s poorest, that is those living on less than $2 a day.

And thirdly, we know that there are limits. Simply increasing the provision of microfinance is not necessarily beneficial and in certain circumstances it might even be harmful. Therefore, given that there is now such a wide range of institutions involved in microfinance with differing objectives, methodologies and products, we need to give far more consideration to the types of microfinance we encourage and support.

Looking forward to the next 10 years, how might the All Party Parliamentary Microfinance Group and those of us who are practitioners and investors best support the development of the microfinance sector? Well, with the ultimate aim of strengthening the ability of microfinance to improve poor people’s lives, might I be bold enough to suggest that there are several areas that merit our collective attention:

• Firstly, for far too long we have equated microfinance with microcredit. We need to encourage a greater focus on other financial services. Indeed, arguably for the very poorest people, basic savings accounts and simple insurance services are generally of far more importance than access to credit. Unless we provide a range of services, we cannot claim to be promoting microfinance in any meaningful sense.
• Secondly, we need to encourage more effective regulation of the microfinance sector. This includes both direct microfinance providers (that is the institutions entrusted with providing loans and taking people’s savings) and also, although it is not often mentioned, microfinance investors – and I refer here to the large microfinance investment funds. Of course, what effective regulation looks like, particularly in countries where state capacity and legal enforcement is often difficult, is less clear, but it could start with very simple steps such as supporting the establishment of credit bureaus to help reduce cases of over-indebtedness.
• Since clients of microfinance tend to be from the most marginalized and vulnerable sectors of the population, it is absolutely imperative that we encourage the design and importantly enforcement of consumer protection policies to safeguard and protect poor people’s money. Initiatives such as the SMART Campaign’s Client Protection Principles are, of course, very welcome. However, the difficulty is not convincing microfinance providers to sign up to such initiatives but ensuring that they actually comply.
• We also need to invest in and expand access to financial literacy. Perhaps we should even support the inclusion of financial education on the national curriculum as has happened in secondary schools in Peru. Perhaps we should also support the production of short films that are shown to potential clients making them aware of the potential pitfalls of microfinance as has very belatedly happened in India. I think with greater financial literacy some of the worrying instances of client over-indebtedness and taking out too many loans for consumption purposes might even have been avoided. More generally, perhaps there should be a movement back to accompanying financial services with a range of training and advice. 
• Having spent my career working directly with dozens of microfinance institutions throughout the world, in practice one of their greatest challenges remains strengthening their human and institutional capacities. Even the most well thought out policies and procedures ultimately depend upon the qualifications, ability and experience of people entrusted to carry them out. Capacity building is absolutely critical, yet it is often not commercially viable, investors should, therefore, be open to providing grants to support the process.
• In many ways, this is an exciting time to be involved in microfinance because technological innovations, such as mobile banking, are reducing the costs of providing financial services to the poor – particularly for those people that are geographically isolated. We should encourage innovation. On a trip to the Philippines last month I was amazed to see borrowers on outlying islands making repayments and even buying things in local shops using their mobile phones.
• Finally, we should encourage better reporting and research into how exactly and to what extent microfinance impacts upon poor people’s lives. We should not assume anything. Not only will this encourage further investment and support, but will demonstrate which institutions and which interventions work best and this in turn would allows us to take more considered investment and policy decisions.

How might we best achieve all this? Well, I think it would be a significant step forward if promoting financial inclusion formed part of the new Millennium Development Goals from 2015 (perhaps a timely reminder since our government is, perhaps even at this very moment, discussing what these goals will look like). Why should financial inclusion rank so highly? Well because the people who make most use of microfinance are small businesses. Small businesses account for almost half of all employment in developing countries, and their growth and development is absolutely vital both to creating jobs and to increasing economic prosperity.

Of course it is extremely important that microfinance reaches more poor people around the world. For it to work best though, it has to be the right sort of microfinance. And in this regard the work of the All Parliamentary Group on microfinance, and in our own humble way, each of us present here, is extremely important in steering the development of microfinance in the right direction. 

By Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan, Microfinance Advisor at lendwithcare.org

A Day in the Life of ... A Loan Officer from Ecuador

Laura Sarango is a loan officer at fundación FACES, lendwithcare.org's partner microfinance institution in Ecuador. She has very kindly taken time out of her busy schedule to describe an average day in her office.

Laura (in the purple t-shirt) with her colleague, Fernando, and loan officers from the Malcatos office
© CARE

"My name is Laura and my official role within FACES is to provide financial and health education to all of FACES’ customers. I am also in charge of collecting the customer profiles that we send to lendwithcare to be uploaded to their website. When I start my work day the first thing I do is review all the activities that I have planned for the day and write them down in my notebook. I then usually log-on to my computer to check my emails and then log-in to the lendwithcare system so I can check the status of the loans we have on the site as well upload any outstanding stories.

When I have a training workshop with a group of micro-entrepreneurs scheduled I review all the teaching materials that I need to bring to the workshop, I gather the handouts, flipcharts, school supplies and anything else I need and put them all in my bag and then leave the office. If the workshop is near the city then it does not take me long to get there but sometimes these workshops are very far (3, 5 and 7 hours away) and in these instances I have to make sure I have all the materials prepared for the workshop the day before.

When I get to the place where we will hold the workshop, I unload all my stuff and then I start the workshop, inviting attendees to actively participate in the two-hour workshop.  The workshop involves a number of activities that are designed to make the workshop interactive, motivational and thought-provoking. At the end of the workshop there are always a lot of participants who want to know more about the microfinance services FACES provides so I always leave time to talk to them and answer their questions as well as give them some material to read. There are two types of groups we currently hold workshops for: heterogeneous groups of micro-entrepreneurs and heterogeneous groups of people with physical disabilities.

I am usually back in the office in the afternoon and I will check whether my fellow loan officers have forwarded the profiles of the entrepreneurs we have selected for lendwithcare.

When I do not have a workshop planned, I spend much of the workday collecting and uploading profiles to lendwithcare since we have seven offices throughout the southern region of Ecuador and they send us a lot of profiles to be uploaded. I also write reports on workshops we have already held and plan for upcoming ones as well as develop materials to send to potential customers.

On other occasions I travel to the offices of all our agencies to feedback on the process of collecting their clients’ profiles and, together with my colleague Fernando and loan officers from each agency, monitor the progress of existing lendwithcare customers.

That's my job with FACES."

                                                                             - LAURA SARANGO Q

Compiled by Laura Sarango, FACES Loan Officer & Nancy Thomas, Lendwithcare.org Executive

If you have any questions you would like put to our partners overseas for this blog series please email info@lendwithcare.org with the subject title 'A day in the life of blog'.

Can Microfinance Create Sustainable Businesses?

Lendwithcare.org's Microfinance Advisor, Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan, answers one lenders very pertinent question

Banking on Change in Uganda

© CARE/Tine Frank

A business owner and lendwithcare lender raised a very important question in an email to the lendwithcare team recently. Attracted to the lendwithcare model due to its emphasis on sustainable development and providing the working poor with a hand up instead of a hand out, he asked how, with loans alone, micro-entrepreneurs were able to create truly sustainable businesses that could benefit whole communities. We thought we would share Ajaz's answer with you all ...


In our experience low income people face many obstacles, lack of capital is just one. Thus, lack of appropriate skills, lack of markets, lack of mobility (particularly important for women in certain contexts), lack of rural infrastructure, etc. all impact upon their ability to develop their businesses - poverty is multi-faceted. As an organisation, CARE International works in addressing many of the aforementioned obstacles and many others (such as health and education), not just providing microfinance.

There are a wide range of institutions that provide microfinance, some tend to be very commercially minded providing nothing but loans, while others have a strong social development mission and provide a range of other services including savings (so that low income people do not always need to seek loans), insurance and training. We are very careful in selecting our microfinance partners and work with the latter rather than the former. Some of our partners provide extensive training to borrowers. For example, our microfinance partner in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Zene za Zene International has a sister organisation that focuses exclusively on providing women with training in basic bookkeeping and financial planning, new skills, marketing and presentation and even helps them to export products overseas. Once women complete the training courses (that can last several months) they then qualify for a loan providing they present a viable business plan from the microcredit foundation. However, in practice funding training programmes is a challenge and it is one of the reasons why they are not more widespread.

Our microfinance partners also lend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who typically require larger loans than those featured on lendwithcare. For example, around 10% of the loans given by our partner in the Philippines, SEEDFINANCE, are to SMEs. These are enterprises who typically employ several staff. We have not generally featured these loans on lendwithcare though as yet because they might take too long for us to fund, although as lendwithcare grows and we have more lenders we will support more SMEs.

Our partners are all experienced microfinance providers, often with a close understanding of the communities where they work and take the view that providing one loan to a microentrepreneur may not generate a cycle of sustainable development, rather that they require access to loans (supported by a range of other services and training) over an extended period of time to develop their businesses. However, since they also need to ensure their own organisational sustainability (despite sometimes being non-profit or member owned organisations) our microfinance partners tend to slowly increase the size of loans over several years as they see a business develop - certainly there are many instances of borrowers beginning with very small enterprises that have developed into much larger businesses that employ several staff. However, there are certain limitations also as I have explained in a recent blog http://lendwithcare.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/ecuador-microfinance-and-women.html#more that are often more difficult to overcome.

By Lendwithcare.org Microfinance Advisor, Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan

Ecuador: Microfinance and Women Entrepreneurs

‘No tengo con quien dejar los niños’

Mariana Robalino, an entrepreneur from Ecuador
© CARE

Looking through the types of business supported by lendwithcare in Ecuador, it is notable that many women manage shops, raise poultry or provide sewing or tailoring services – typically, activities that are undertaken from home. When during a recent visit to South America I asked women entrepreneurs why they favoured such enterprises, invariably the response was ‘No tengo con quien dejar los niños’ or ‘I have to look after the children’. Working from home enables women to earn an income while looking after young children – they can close the business while they drop off and pick up their children from school or attend to other urgent tasks such as taking an ill child to the doctor.

The experience of Carmen Castillo, who in May 2012 received a loan to buy another computer for her Internet café, is typical. Doña Carmen used to work as a radio controller for a taxi firm but found it difficult to combine work with looking after her three young children. She decided therefore to start her own business. She converted the ground floor of her home into an Internet shop while continuing to live on the first floor. Carmen opens the shop at around 10 am each day after making breakfast and taking her children to school. She then attends to customers throughout the day, closing briefly when she has to pick the children up from school. When her partner returns from work she switches to other tasks such as cooking, cleaning and making sure her children do their homework while he continues to look after the shop until it closes at 10 pm. 



Carmen Castillo © CARE



Women who have businesses that require them to work outside the home, for example managing a stall in the public market, rely on other family members, particularly grandmothers, to look after their children. Lendwithcare’s microfinance partner, Fundacion de Apoyo Comunitario y Social del Ecuador, estimates that in approximately one-third of families the father is absent. However, even in the remaining two-thirds of households looking after children is still considered primarily a ‘mother’s responsibility’ - although among younger parents in particular such attitudes are changing. I asked some of the many women who sell fresh fruit and vegetables in the markets how they used loans. Primarily, loans enable them to pay wholesale suppliers in cash, rather than taking items on credit. This is important because not only do they receive a discount, but they can also select the freshest and best quality produce available. The valued outcome is that they are able to sell their stock quicker, close the stall and return home early to care for the their children.

Undoubtedly, the types of business activities that women prefer to undertake or the time they spend outside the home is influenced by their ability to depend upon other family members to assist with child care, as well as the accessibility and cost of childcare facilities. Unfortunately children’s nurseries tend to be either heavily oversubscribed or too expensive for lower income families, while outside the larger towns and cities childcare facilities are simply non-existent. Creating more affordable places at nurseries would make women’s lives easier and it might also impact upon the range of business activities that they consider undertaking. In fact, in some respects the challenges facing women in Ecuador are not too dissimilar to those faced by women in industrialised countries such as the United Kingdom.

By Dr Ajaz Khan, lendwithcare.org Microfinance Advisor

Loans can be given as a gift voucher to a friend or family member, who can choose which entrepreneur they would like to support. The entrepreneur uses the loan to help grow their business, and later pays the lender back. The lender can either withdraw the money and keep it, or lend the same money to another entrepreneur.

Gift vouchers range from £15 and are available in various designs, which can be sent via email, downloaded and/or printed. They are available at www.lendwithcare.org/gift_vouchers.

Why I Lend: Compassion

Lendwithcare lender, Ia Uaro, tells us why she lends

 

 

© CARE

“I shall pass this way but once

therefore

any good that I can do,

or any kindness that I can show,

let me do it now!

for I shall not pass this way again.”

A version of that was written by a thirteenth-century Courtenay ancestor, Edward, Earl of Devon. Many people love this poem. I don’t know what they do with their love, but my protagonist says love is more than just a feeling. Love is a drive, a force to act! Many hearts are moved when they see sufferings.

GRANDPA
 

My maternal grandpa was born in 1900, in a very beautiful green village by a forest-covered majestic mountain. Close to the equator, it was sunny during the day; but at the village’s altitude of 6000 ft, it was very, very cold at night. Grandpa knew what cold was, because he came from a poor home.

Grandpa was an angry boy. He was way too smart for most of the people of his time. There was a school in the village, but he was forbidden to attend it. His father and uncles said he would grow up to work the fields like them, and do what they do because that’s what all the men do. Their people were strongly matriarchal. Women had been heads of the big houses for centuries. Only girls could inherit. Men? Men worked for them. Or moved away to other lands.

Seven-year-old Grandpa had to work shepherding goats and lambs when his father and uncles were at work. Grandpa soon figured lambs and goats were too stupid to run away, so he spent his time peeping through a class-room window, because he was dying to learn to read. One morning the teacher caught him, and told him he was allowed to sit in the classroom for free.

Young Grandpa was very proud. At school there was Grandma, a horrible, most annoying kid of his age who was already a landlady because her mother had died, poisoned by a rejected ex-suitor. Young Grandma used to make fun of Grandpa’s social status, telling him no matter how well he read and write, he would end up working the fields. They argued constantly. Once Grandpa’s family overheard that Grandpa had been attending school. Busted, Grandpa was banished to another mountain, far far away from home.

But nobody – nobody! – could stop Grandpa’s quest for learning. And when there’s a will, there’s a way…

Grown up, Grandpa returned to his home village, where he proceeded to send many kids to school. He was regularly seen talking to young food sellers in the market, asking them whether they’d like to study instead. If yes, he gave them scholarships. Grandpa assisted their parents financially in their business, so that these children didn’t have to work. I’ve met school principals and scientists who owe him their education.

DAD

My father was born as the son of a well-off butcher. When he was eight, my paternal grandfather adopted a brand-new religious view, and this caused the whole town to boycott his business. Restaurants and retail shops conspired to place their orders as usual, pleaded to delay the payment, but in the long run refused to pay my grandfather the money they owed him altogether, unless he give up his new beliefs. And there was no such thing like law in that town.

In short order my grandfather’s business took a nosedive. The family lost several of their properties to pay the cattle suppliers, my grandfather became very ill, and the family fell into poverty.

Dad used to reminisce of how, before going to school, he had to sell breakfast food prepared by his mother. At the age of ten, a horrible incident happened. A tiny wall lizard, common in the tropics, had the audacity to jump into the food, but his mother—who was so tired looking after her sick husband and the whole family on her own—did not see it.

Dad ended up feeling SO embarrassed when he served the lizard to his most generous customer. Right away Dad left home to get to his married sister who lived a thousand miles away. This elder sister had been ignoring Dad’s letters from home about the change in their family circumstances, because she could not believe it. Dad collapsed at her door, starving after not eating at all during his three-day bus journey, saying, “Please help Mummy!”

Dad did not live long. But in the short time I was with him, I watched how he was constantly active helping the poor by setting up small businesses for them, although he himself was a busy accountant. He did not only talk about compassion. He acted.

MY ELDEST SON

My son visited me last February, right after his holiday in the Philippines, horrified by the poverty he witnessed there.

“There was this woman with a son about ten-year old. They were scourging food rubbish, looking for something to eat. And people nearby just continued shopping, ignoring them! When I tried to help, my friend would not allow me to donate a lot of money, because these two would end up being robbed by the nearest crime gang.”

OTHER AUSTRALIANS

Many hearts are touched by news of sufferings. A large number of Australians are regular supporters of various charities, and many more jump in to help disaster-relief efforts. Compassion knows no political or religious boundaries. In this global era of ours, we can support people in need easily.

 

WHY I LEND via Lendwithcare

When I first heard of Lendwithcare, my first thought was, “Compassion.” My second thought was, “What a great idea!”

I had lost a large fund elsewhere last year, because I could not guide the people I lent the money to until they could stand on their own feet. I did not have the expertise. I did not have the time, nor the means to monitor the businesses. How I wish I had known LendWithCare earlier! While I still donate to others in need as gifts, I now lend via Lendwithcare, knowing my fund will continue to eliminate poverty and ease sufferings, one after another.
 

So how much is needed to lend?

As little as £15.

 

You can always add more of course. Save £1 a day, and in a fortnight you can support another project.

 

 

By, Ia Uaro, lendwithcare lender.

 

About Ia Uaro

Hello. I am Ia Uaro and I write real-life socio-fiction. Former teenage writer, petroleum seismologist, translator, I now do several kinds of volunteer work. Please read about my upcoming novel SYDNEY'S SONG on my website. and visit the Guestbook. You can also contact me on Facebook and Twitter.