Microcredit

Micro-Lending Circles, Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

WEIF’s "Peer Lending Circles", in partnership with Women’s Association for Advancement (WAFA) continued to be one of our most successful programs in 2010— accredited to the dedication and hard-work of WAFA staff and our entrepreneurial women. With funding from Alberta’s Community Initiatives Program (CIP), WAFA set up an additional 27 circles in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, extending their services to 104 additional women. In 2009, the project began with only 4 peer-lending circles. Presently, there are 60 circles in operation, with 252 women using their talents to generate income and create better lives for themselves and their families. Since the Project commenced in 2009, the women in our circles have demonstrated 100% loan repayment.

Since January 2010, with support from WEIF, WAFA has disbursed loans to 268 entrepreneurial women in 64 circles. In 2011, demonstrating the effectiveness of the program, 16 of these women “graduated” from WAFA’s microcredit loans and obtained macro-level loans from commercial banks to continue expanding their businesses. WAFA has big plans to expand in 2011: setting up an administration office, hiring more field-service officers, and expanding their services to the Hunza and Ghizer districts of Pakistan. Presently, the Project is sustainable, but requires additional support to accommodate the growth of WAFA and their clientele.

WEIF is extremely proud of the achievements of both WAFA and the entrepreneurial women, and attributes the program’s success to the diligent hard work of all parties involved. The inspirational stories of Fida Bibi and Farida, two successful entrepreneurial women who thrived in the micro-lending circles, are emblems of the project’s success and are a source of inspiration to WEIF and WAFA to continue making permanent, positive changes in the lives of women in the poorest districts of Pakistan.

Fida Bibi runs a very prosperous garden to supplement her family's income. Fida's husband has been a supportive figure in her business venture, transporting the garden’s products to the market to be sold and ensuring the family receives the highest profit for the produce.

Fida's income, generated from the venture she set up with WAFA's support, has helped her sustain herself and her family, and have enabled her to invest in the expansion of her husband’s grocery shop and the building of a new home.

Fida Bibi and her husband are expanding the top level of their home and renting out the bottom floor to generate additional income.

Farida is the president of a cooperative store called "9 Stars", where nine entrepreneurial women sell their goods and collectively share the profits. Farida's husband has left a low-paying job and joined her in her bee-keeping business.

The venture is extremely prosperous, and Farida and her husband recently built a new home. Farida is a part-time field supervisor for WAFA. Next year we are offering her a full-time position as she has become an emblem of the program’s success— winning an award from a microfinance institution this past year.

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