Transforming Lives

TEAR Fund’s Microenterprise programme tackles one of the major challenges facing the world’s poor – access to working capital at fair rates. Few poor people have access to this finance to develop self-employment businesses.

Our programme is motivated by the compassion of Jesus for the poor. In the words of Isaiah 1:17: “To seek justice and encourage the oppressed”. While our field staff and partner organisations are Christian, borrowers are often not Christians.


Microenterprise has a major impact on women, who comprise 70 percent of the world’s poorest, and children. Small businesses created through microenterprise start a chain of improvement which includes better nutrition and health, and a greater capacity for work and learning. Better education and living standards empower the poor. The chain continues as loans are repaid and loaned again, creating a sustainable cycle of development.

There are many lives being transformed by TEAR Fund Microenterprise. Here are some stories.  


ROSAL’S STORY
IBU MONICA’S STORY
ADIELA’S STORY
IBU ERNWATI

ROSAL’S STORY

Rosal and her family lived in a dilapidated shack made of packing cases and corrugated iron. She walked the streets of Manila with a basket on her head, selling fruit and vegetables. This meagre income wasn’t enough to provide even life’s basic essentials, let alone an education for her children. Through our Microenterprise programme, Rosal received a loan of just $100. This provided enough for a food stand and a cooker. She now has a thriving business helping support her children through school and university.

Rosal's Story – the video

We have copies of Rosal’s story on video and DVD for churches, small groups or for personal use. Rosal's story is just one life where the power of a dream to bring dignity to Manila's poor has become a realit.y. The video is set in one of Manila's worst slums and shows the transformation of one life through microenterprise.

If you would like a copy simply:
• Call us on 0800 800 777 or
• Email: enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

IBU MONICA’S STORY

Ibu Monica bought partly manufactured lamp shades from Java, finished them and sold them to tourists from a small market stand in Bali, Indonesia. However, her business was devastated after the Bali bombings. Tourists were also driven away by the outbreaks of SARS and bird flu. She became desperate as rent, school fees and medicine for her daughter became unaffordable. Destitution was very quickly becoming a reality for her.

Ibu Monica’s story is not uncommon in Bali and other parts of the world. There are many more people just like her.
Determination, a warm personality, business acumen and desire to produce a quality product won the approval of foreign tourists who asked Ibu Monica about the possibility of exporting the lamp shades. However, credit was extremely difficult for Ibu Monica to get. The local loan shark would have charged her interest of 20 per cent a day. This is often the only choice for people like Ibu Monica. Loan sharks exploit the poor by extorting huge interest and fees, keeping them economically captive.  

Ibu Monica was able to get a fair credit loan from TEAR Fund and now produces 1000 lamp shades every month, employing five others in her community who desperately needed work.   

Ibu Monica is an inspiration to others.  Her daughter is thriving having received education and proper healthcare, and the family’s small home has been repaired.  Her business is now self-sustainable

This is what TEAR Fund Microenterprise is all about.


ADIELA’S STORY

“My children are my treasure, they are my greatest happiness, but I fear for them here in this place.  I am afraid that they might grow up to be drunks or drug addicts, or that they might be abducted.” 
Adiela is typical of the ultra-poor living in the barrios or slums on the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia. Her life, that of her husband Angelo and their children, is one of constant insecurity and a daily battle for survival. 

Every day, when household chores are finished, she and Angelo search for work. She washes and irons for neighbours, in some cases in exchange for food. A small and petite Indian woman, Adiela sometimes carries concrete pipes. Other times, she painstakingly paints the faces of dolls, which are sold in toyshops in the city.
“I live a life of shame.  I don’t like to be seen collecting water during the day because of the gossip of others, so I go out at night when it is dark. I am embarrassed at the store.  In front of the others, the owner ridicules me and won’t extend credit,” she says. 

“My house, I am proud of my house,” Adiela  says, speaking about the shanty made of plastic, corrugated iron and scrap timber. “It is the only house I have owned. But the dirt here, it’s different, it gets into everything and sticks. It doesn’t come out no matter how hard I try.”  

Understandably, Adiela not only suffers from under-nourishment, but also anaemia and a host of other poverty related illnesses.  A Christian, Adiela says, “Lord, you are the only one who knows.”

Asked what she wants, her answer is humbling. “I know that I am responsible for my future. I want to make myself a better person without depending on others.  I would like to earn a certificate in sewing and start to make clothes like school uniforms or children’s wear to sell them in the local market, so I can have a steady and reliable income.”

Adiela’s story is one with a positive ending. 

Adiela was introduced to a Microenterprise group, provided training in sewing, offered support and a small loan to start her own business.  Economic miracles don’t happen overnight, but gradually and determinedly Adiela is seeing her business grow, while her hope for her future enlarges. 
 

Adiela’s Story – the video

We have copies of Adiela’s story on video and DVD for churches, small groups or for personal use. It is one of the most powerful videos we have, and gives a very personal and intimate look at the life of Colombia’s poor.  It also provides a tremendous message of hope, found in Microenterprise and anchored in Christian compassion and justice.

If you would like a copy simply:
• Call us on 0800 800 777 or
• Email: enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

IBU ERNWATI

Ibu Ernwati, mother and  wife, is now the owner of a business that has lifted her family out of total poverty

Ibu Ernwati is a member of the Kemuning Group.  She is married with four children. She makes and sells traditional food from a shop rented from her Trust Bank group. Gado gado (vegetables in peanut sauce) is the signature dish. 

Ernwati used to walk the streets selling cookies and crackers. Now she can afford good healthcare for her children and has been able to save.

She is busy but always makes time for her family.  Before, when she had to walk the streets selling the food, there was never enough time. Her dream is to own her own building/tea kiosk. Her relationship with her husband has also improved.  “Before he would only help me if I was sick, but now he helps every day in the home. He volunteers with happiness.  Other women say: ‘Your husband is very good, we want a husband like that’.” 

Ibu Ernwati’s group is called Kemuning of Sesetan.  The group has been going three years and has 21 members.
They have formed a co-op that sells rice, rents out two business premises and gives business loans to their community.

They still receive mentoring from TEAR Fund’s partner WKP in Bali Indonesia, but are now financially independent.