Meet Rahel, 29, Volunteer Financial Accountant for a Women's Action Group

Rahel (left) with one of the Womens Action Group members

"I create awareness among women about microcredit, I train them about what it means and how they will benefit. The group organises for each member to give money and looks to NGO’s and the government for additional funds. The group decides at a general meeting which 8 or 9 members will borrow money this time. Once they start making a profit they start paying back the loan. For example, some members travel to buy maize, sugar or tea where it’s cheap, then sell it in a different area, or to hotels. No member has ever defaulted on her loan.

At the moment there are 371 women in our group from three communities. The challenge we have is that the number of members has increased but our capital is only 7 million shillings ($4,600) so we can only help a few women at a time."

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