Magic Moment

On every trip I always have one or two profound moments. They invariably last just a few seconds but, in those times, I’m reminded that God made us all equal and we have a simple responsibility to love and respect our neighbours – rich or poor. Mary Mtambo is 40 years old, married and a mother of 6 children.

Mary has built a maize and cassava flour business in the main Mzuzu market. “People always need to eat” is her thinking. A small loan from Opportunity International has enabled her to scale the business up and generate more turnover and improved profit margins. The long and the short of it is that she can care for her 6 children. She’s even managing to save £15 a month for a rainy day – she saves, of course, with the local Opportunity International bank.

AIDS looms large like a Harry Potter story book character who should not be named. But it's tragically all too real here. Mary's business success enables her to also care for 4 orphans and her sister.

After the discussion Mary and I said good bye. It was only a split second but the language barrier was breached by our eye contact. In that moment we were both parents doing the best for our families; we were both appreciative of each other’s kindness; and both equals because of that connection. I held back an unexpected tear.

I’ll probably never meet Mary again.

Thank you to all the donors who have made this possible for Mary and the countless others who have similar stories.

Dreams can come True

I made my way to Mzuzu today, in the north. Three years ago the Malawi team dreamt about bringing our operation up here. They put a plan together. We shared that plan with some special friends of Opportunity who backed it with their generous support. The Mzuzu hub opened in March 2008.

It was wonderful to see it in action. Our target was to be serving 20,000 clients by the end of 2010 and that was reached two months ago. 9 months early.

From that hub the team has pushed out satellite operations to Livingstonia, Nkhata Bay and Karonga. The pioneering bank-on-wheels has been a triumph too. It’s helped us to reach even more remote areas and decide which communities can justify a kiosk of their own. The overall impact in the region is hard to describe. The numbers are impressive but, as they say, not everything that counts can be counted. The attitude and passion of our team is hard to describe. They are so committed to the poor clients they serve and they do that by building caring and respectful relationships.

It’s impossible to measure dignity too but it’s evident that poor people’s dignity and self esteem has been boosted by the “Hand Up” that Opportunity has given them.

Set to Double Again

The operation has really shifted a gear since I was last in Malawi. The numbers tell their own story but nothing could have prepared me for the confidence, professionalism and ambition of the local team. They’ve doubled our impact in the past three years and are set to do the same again by 2012.

Success will be down to our staff as well as our donors so I was delighted to see the visionary new learning centre emerging from the building site in Lilongwe. We already employ about 450 staff in Malawi and their expertise will be all important as we grow. It’s vital that we invest in them and the learning centre will be a central to the drive for quality.

Then a short drive to our Malangalanga satellite centre. It’s been one of the many success stories and it was good to see the throng of poor clients waiting to be served by our client relations officers. Our services are evidently hitting the spot. I’ve never seen such a popular office. People were depositing savings, collecting loans and repaying earlier loans in turn. They were having to wait up to 20 minutes for service – which isn’t great – but all the people I spoke to were in good cheer. I think they were simply thrilled that we were in town and in business just for them.

Then on to meet some of the borrowers at their small businesses in a nearby bustling market. I loved this chap – Innocent Bondo Chifaka. With his third loan – of around £150 – he buys paraffin in bulk. 300 litres at a time. The locals buy it in small affordable units to light their home at night time. With no electricity this is the only way that life can carry on into the evening. It’s often when the children do their studies.

Innocent sells paraffin in 5 litre and 1 litre units as well as a smaller one-night only sachet. Many of his poor clients can only afford to pay for their fuel by the day. He’s making about £4 a day. He’s started saving with Opportunity International. And be plans to diversify by starting up a grocery stall soon.

He is a very impressive young man. But he left his biggest surprise until we started to head off. He took me aside and said he supports Manchester United.

Seeing it in Perspective

It's been too long. It's good to be back. As the plane approaches Lilongwe my heart for this place swells again. From 1,000 feet you can see so much detail and all in slow motion. Small groups of simple dwellings linked by faint tracks and red-earthed "highways" are a world apart from the sophistication of home. Small holdings punctuate the slopes near to water. The occasional corrugated iron roof flashes under the brilliance of the mid day sun. Perhaps it's a school, a community centre, or even a farmer who has managed to make a half decent living from his land. But the norm in rural Malawi is a small, mud-walled home with a basic thatched roof. A man pedals along a track with his partner sitting side saddle on the back. It's probably his wife. I wonder if they're returning from church - they seemed to be wearing their Sunday best.

I can almost smell the smoke, sweat and dust already. I can't wait to meet more of these wonderful people. They have so much to teach us about community, respect for the weak and care for their neighbours. And it's so good to know that we have something to offer them which honours their spirit and hard work. A simple Hand Up from Opportunity International gives a poor family dignity and allows them to dream dreams for themselves and their children.

There may be times when they need a hand out but they want and deserve so much more. I'm so proud that Opportunity employs a methodology that gives people a working chance to take control of their own futures.

Malawi - Planned and Delivered

I cast my mind back a couple of years, ahead of my visit to Northern Malawi.

In 2007 we had a dream and put together a plan to take Opportunity International up to Mzuzu for the first time. It was an ambitious move. Then we had to fund it. The Challenge Fund we presented to donors was effectively our prospectus - see the vision here http://bit.ly/cXsr3o

Many people and organisations placed their faith in us and responded very generously and the money was raised. The plan swung into action and we've achieved the targets 6months ahead of schedule.

I can't wait to see the result for myself. I also want to apply my head-held-high test. We can measure lots of things but not this. Opportunity does what it does to bring hope and dignity to poor people. To empower them to lead a full and abundant life as God intended. We know we've succeeded when thousands upon thousands of people can hold their heads high in their families and the wider community.

Northern Soul

Just heard that my itinerary will take me up to the North of Malawi next week. That's very exciting.

Our wonderful supporters have put £1million into the expansion up there. The Mzuzu branch has crashed through its targets recently - 8 months earlier than planned.

We're serving over 20,000 first-time savers already and we are backing 6,000 microenterprises with small loans. Those small businesses are supporting in excess of 30,000 poor people. Can't wait to meet some of them and hear their story. I'll share some with you and snap some pics.

Warm Hearted

The warm heart of Africa is calling me back. Can't wait to see the progress that's been made.

Lots more still to do but to be serving almost 10% of poor households in Malawi, from a standing start 6 years ago is some going.

I'm so grateful to Phil, Chandrima, John, Vanessa, Mark, Issy, David, Ann, Brian, Betty, Meg, Hugh, Ewan, Christine, Wiet, Carien, Martin, Helen, Robert, Margie, John, Mel, James, Charlotte, Tim, Dede, Alan, Alison, Amanda, Morfydd and countless more. You've made it happen. You've built something that will last and is now ready to move to the next level.

Tsalani bwino Malawi

Sadly, we say goodbye and depart Malawi today. It has been such an insightful and inspirational week and we will return with many encouraging stories of our clients and Malawian colleagues. It can be hard to fully understand the transformation that is taking place without seeing it firsthand but we can tell you now that change is really happening!

During our last meal in Malawi (which of course included Chambo, the local fish), we reflected on the highlights of the week. What are we most excited about for the future?

• We look forward to seeing continued outreach to the rural communities, which are certainly the poorest, through the expansion of OIBM's mobile banks, satellite branches and POS devices.

• We love the work that OIBM's agriculturalist specialists are doing with the smallholder farming clients. The tailored loan products and agricultural training will empower farmers to move on from subsistence farming and will help provide food security throughout the country.

• The focus on financial literacy. OIBM's educational programme will equip clients with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed choices on financial services (something that would also be beneficial back home!). It will also help individuals understand the importance of savings and insurance in order to manage risks and reduce vulnerability. This training will not only improve the welfare of our clients, but will lead to a stronger financial sector across Malawi.

• Finally, the ongoing empowerment that can be seen in our clients, especially the women, as they pull themselves out of poverty. There is nothing like seeing a woman in a trust group meeting stand up in confidence in front of her peers and proudly explain how her business has grown, her profits increased and the quality of her family's life improved as a result of her own hard work and the financial services provided by OIBM.
  

On that note, we will leave you with one of our favourite client quotes of the trip. This is from Grace, an OIBM trust group client who is on her fifth loan cycle. Grace is the mother of 3 and runs a successful business selling second hand clothes. When we asked her why she and her girlfriends decided to form a trust group and take a loan from OIBM she responded:

"We wanted to empower ourselves. We wanted to show that even women can do it. Where we live, men already have access to most of the good things in life. Let's give women a chance."

Teach a man to fish...

What an amazing day. We travelled off the paved road, on a dirt track, for 1 and a half hours outside of Lilongwe. After the first five minutes, there was not a single electricity pylon or running water in sight. Literally, just miles of dirt track, maize, tobacco, ground nuts and occasional oxen (the major form of transport in these parts).

Why were we travelling for two hours in the rain? To meet the lovely Amosi Kasamira. Amosi is one of OIBM’s smallholder farmers who grows maize. In the past year, he has seen a fivefold increase in his family’s income. When is the last time anyone you knew saw this sort of jump?! This is partially due to OIBM’s loan which enabled him to buy seeds and fertilizer and to double the size of his plot. But arguably of more importance, Amosi received training and support from OIBM’s agriculturalist specialists. This training covered best practices in agricultural techniques and helped him to build a long term vision for the future. For example, helping him move away from just subsistence farming towards producing enough crop to sell for other basic needs. In Amosi’s case, he is responsible for 2 children and an orphan. He needs cash for school fees and hopefully this year’s surplus will enable him to do this.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world but there is no reason it should have a hungry season. If we could teach more people like Amosi to fish...or farm...the country would have no issues with food security.

Cash back?

As part of its strategy to reach out to the rural areas, OIBM has launched a new innovation called a POS- Point of Sale- Device which gives the option of cash back. Now, we have been hearing about this product for months as our local colleagues have been raving about the impact it might have on financial inclusion in the rural areas. But to be honest, we weren’t that fired up about it. We were imagining something similar to walking into a supermarket in the UK and casually adding a £20 request at the cash out.

In reality, seeing the POS in action has completely changed our opinion. We now believe that this is the way forward to reach the rural poor. Take Rhoda for example. Rhoda is typical of an OIBM client. She is currently living on $2 a day, she sells doughnuts and before she opened her first ever savings account last year, she was hiding her money under her bed. Before her POS device was installed in her local farm shop in Likuni (and by farm shop, we mean a room with maize, seeds and iron sheeting), her nearest ATM or bank branch was over 10 kilometres away on a dirt path. A journey that would cost her $1 a day, or half of her daily wage. As well as now being able to withdraw cash for basic necessities, Rhoda doesn’t feel intimidated when entering her local farm shop.

We asked Rhoda why she was saving money. Her answer- “to save for my daughter’s education”. We now believe that innovations like this can help transform the lives of the rural poor and that OIBM is once again taking the road less travelled.

Tea Time

Today we spent our time in and around the rural area of Mulanje, the largest tea growing region of Malawi. As we are nearing the end of the rainy season, the area is particularly green and lush and we lucked out with a beautfiul sunny day! OIBM is already serving over 2,000 clients in the Mulanje area with payment and savings services. The tea farmers are currently serviced by a mobile van that docks at the major tea estate once a week. OIBM is in the process of opening a branch in Chitakale at which point an ATM machine will also open directly in the tea estate for our clients.


We started the day by attending an orientation training session for a recently formed trust group in the Chitakale area. The trust group is called Kachere and consists of 8 members, 5 men and 3 women. What I found most notable about the orientation was that they spent the first half of the meeting discussing the clients' rights: the right to transparency, the right to any question to any OIBM representative, the right to information. It was very empowering. They also discussed the importance of savings and how it can provide security.

We were able to meet with a few individual trust group clients in the morning including a woman named Rhoda Matukwiri. Rhoda, age 54, is on her first loan cycle with OIBM and is making her final payment soon. She took out her loan for 10,000 Kwacha (£40). Rhoda runs a small street business in Chitikale selling tomatoes, groceries and fish. She used her loan to purchase additional stock and has really seen an improvement in her business over the past few months. Before, she would make sales of around 2,000 Kwacha a month and now she makes over 3,000 KWA. She is also able to make regular deposits and already has a total savings of 2,500 KWA. She sells her groceries around town on her bicycle.

Rhoda is a single mother of 3 children. Her eldest 2 are married and her youngest is 12 years old and in primary school. Rhoda is looking forward to taking out her second loan with OIBM and would like 20,000 Kwacha. She currently has a small subsistence plot on which she grows maize as a food crop for her family. She would now like to invest in more money and to be able to grow a cash crop on her land, to diversify her income. The new loan will help her buy fertilizer. Rhoda’s dream is to build a house of her own. We think she will realize this dream soon!

The highlight of our afternoon was visiting a different type of loan client- a low income private school in the rural area surrounding Chitakale. The Pak Foundation private secondary school took out a loan for 2 million KWA (£8,000) in September. The owner of the school had recently purchased the premises and had applied to the government for a school licence. Unfortunately, due to the appalling conditions this licence was not approved. The owner came to OIBM for a loan to conduct the renovations. Since then, the entire school has been painted, the kitchen has been renovated, a water supply has been installed and desks and supplies have been purchased. They are also installing solar panels. Now the children can read in the evenings; before they just had candles. Before many of the units had no roofs or windows. Now, new iron sheets can be seen everywhere. Before the school was renovated, it had only 22 pupils. Today, there are 108 students, 79 of which are borders, and 11 teachers. By the end of year, they hope to increase this to over 300 students. The new pupils have come from much poorer schools in the surrounding area where the standards are bad and there is poor education. The school is located 10 kilometers from Chitakale and is served by OIBM's mobile branch.

The OIBM regional manager explained to us the challenging climate for these types of institutions- “No other banks will serve these types of schools, they are seen as very risky. However, once other banks see that we are willing to loan to these low income schools and once we have proved it's successful, I'm sure others will follow".

Let's hope that OIBM sets the trend....once again!!

Not Such a Waste

Today was our first day out in the field and we went to an urban slum community called Ndirande, one of Malawi's most deprived townships. OIBM has been serving poor entrepreneurs in this region for the past two years and just last week opened a new branch in the heart of the community. Having only been open for 7 days, the new branch already has seen nearly 100 people open savings accounts. Given the massive demand in the area and lack of supply (OIBM is literally the only bank serving people in Ndirande) it won't take them long to have a bustling banking hall.

Opposite the branch is the main market place, where you view business stalls as far as the eye can see. We met a few OIBM clients who were running various enterprises including beauty products, maize and steel. The loans provided by 'Banki Yangi' (which translated is "My Bank", the nickname clients have given OIBM) have obviously made a massive impact on their income and families.

By far the most innovative loan purpose we heard about isn't exactly table talk and we certainly did not think that we would ever know this much about the subject! We are referring to human waste. OIBM has formed a collaboration with a local water and sanitation NGO called Hygiene Village. Given that waste collection doesnt exist at all in Ndirande, OIBM is lending tiny amounts of money (£20) so that clients can purchase a pit latrine. Individuals can get one of two models: the VIP (Ventilated Improved Pit) version or the Skyloo. Our favourite is the Skyloo as it turns the waste into organic fertilizer which our clients can use on their fields or sell for extra income!

We ended the day be attending a large 'cluster' meeting with 7 of OIBM's Trust Group clients from the Limbe area. There were approximately 70 entrepreneurs in the session in total, 67 of which were women. They started the session by singing the OIBM slogan enthusiastically while holding hands and clapping. Loosely translated the slogan goes as follows:

Opportunity Bank

My Bank

Opportunity Bank

Power to those that are resourceful

Opportunity Bank

Unity that lasts a long time

Opportunity Bank

My Bank

Not exactly how we start our banking meetings back home!!

Sleeping Comfortably?

After a 20 hour journey from London to Blantyre, Malawi, we finally arrived at the OIBM offices exhausted and moaning about sleep deprivation. However, we were soon humbled as we heard the experiences of our future clients in Nsanje, deep in Southern Malawi. According to our colleagues, this region is home to one of the largest unbanked populations in the country. Of those who do save, 60% do so by keeping cash at home or in a secret hiding place - usually their pillow case! Suddenly, one uncomfortable night trying to sleep on an aeroplane (with free comfy socks even!) seems a luxury.

Nsanje has very high poverty levels and is continually threatened by the risks of flood and drought. The roads are often impassable. This year, they face extra challenges as the rainy season started 2 months late and is persisting today. As farming is the main source of income in the region, many families are extremely vulnerable at the moment. The maize crop, Malawi's food staple, has been heavily affected.

OIBM has conducted a feasibility study in the region and has determined the need for its services is great. The poor in Nsanje really need access to secure savings facilities in order to manage risks and build assets upon which they can draw during off seasons and poor harvests. Opportunity UK is currently seeking funding to enable OIBM to expand to Nsanje. We would certainly sleep more comfortably tonight if we could be sure that these individuals werent literally sleeping on their Kwacha.