Mary Tabukum

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Mary Tabukum by GHAPE in Cameroon. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 24 months, GHAPE will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Mary has made all of her payments on time and is very happy with the loan that she received from Kiva through the non profit organization Grounded and Holistic Approach to People's Empowerment. GHAPE applies an innovative and multifaceted approach to poverty alleviation in Cameroon.

Mary has invested in motor parts with her loan. She was recently the victim of a robbery which caused her to lose a great deal of her stock of motor parts. Due to this, she has been struggling somewhat with this loan to make her minimum payments and is unable to save more than the required savings. In her past loans she was paying much more than minimum payments and saving a great deal of her income.

She buys her motor parts from people in town and sometimes ventures to Douala for large purchases, about a 6 hour bus ride. She estimates that if she purchases 600,000 CFA (1,290 USD) of goods, she can sell them for 700,000 CFA ($1,500 USD). It usually takes her around three or four months to sell this much inventory.

Mary also works farming contracts to subsidize her income. She can make around 2,500 CFA ($5.35 USD) per day. Employers seek her out, as it is known that she is looking for contract work. These contracts often only arise during harvesting and planting times, so do not provide her with regular income to make her payments.

She has five children. She supports three of her children currently. One is currently in boarding school--quite expensive in Cameroon, one lives with her at home and one is jobless.

She smiles and says "Thank you Kiva for what you have done for me and enabling me to live my life well." "I can change my own life now, and work harder than before."

About GHAPE:

GHAPE clients are required to join groups of five for both support, as well as to cross guarantee one another's loans. Clients also undergo training throughout their time with GHAPE. The first training sessions occurs before a client is given his or her loan; the sessions focus on business management, finance skills, starting an income generating activity, basic health practices, gender mainstreaming, group dynamics and understanding GHAPE policies. The second session of training occurs after a client has successfully repaid their first loan. This session focuses on understanding different possibilities for income generating activities, marketing and management techniques, expansion and growth, profit and loss accounting, and gender issues. Ideas and experiences are exchanged between entrepreneurs, while GHAPE credit assistants offer suggestions and direct the sessions. The following phases of training focus on business and marketing techniques, project cycles, fundraising, financial markets and problems faced and potential solutions.

GHAPE also requires clients to make small payments towards their personal savings. The required minimum for savings is quite small; however, most clients choose to save much more than the minimum requirement. Clients then have access to this savings account in case of any sort emergency. Clients of GHAPE also have access to the revolving "Emergency Fund". Each center has access to 40,000 CFA for this fund; in case of emergency or for health reasons, a client can request a sum from this account. GHAPE allows the clients one month to pay it back with no interest. This fund has helped many clients pay hospital fees and pay school fees when they may not have the savings to do so.

GHAPE tries to instill a sense of community within its centers; upon entering a room, one must say "If we are together," to which all clients reply "We are one." If one of the clients passes away, it is mandatory for all clients in the deceased center to attend the funeral. GHAPE believes that ignorance is one of the key contributors to poverty and attempts to remove this ignorance from all of its clients. This is done through training sessions on business management, health, education, importance of family and gender empowerment, as well as through the bi monthly meetings where clients discuss health, business and family issues with one another. The clients of GHAPE are always very grateful for their loans; however it is the training sessions, center meetings, and group support that allows the clients to invest their loans profitably and improve their living standards.

Admittedly, Mary is a great person and member of GHAPE. She stands out in her center as an organizer. Her spare parts business is moving along and she speaks with us about its progress.

Ashley King-Bischof | KF7

GHAPE | Grounded and Holistic Approach for People's Empowerment