Microfinance at CORD

Steven, Troy, Bhairavi and I are working with CORD to discover ways to improve the Microfinance program currently in place at CORD. As it stands, self-help groups of approximately 10-15 women are formed and work together to save and lend money to one another. Savings can amount to as little as 20 rupees a month per individual (approximately $0.50 ) to a more standard average of 50 rupees a month (just over $1). Each self-help group decides how much money they went to save each month and every member of the group must present the agreed upon savings at their monthly meeting. At this monthly meeting it is also determined which women from the group will receive a loan from the savings that the women have just deposited. The women that take out loans are charged a monthly interest rate of 2% and ideally should start repayment on her loan the following month.

Every three months the self-help groups are evaluated by CORD on a variety of parameters from internal democracy to loan taking capacity and based on these parameters the group will receive a score out of 600 that is recorded on a grading sheet. On this grading sheet is a grade (A, B, C, D) based on how many points were earned out of 600.

Last week our team received grading sheets for 25 different self-help groups at CORD that Steven, Troy, Bhairavi and I will be working with when we travel to Sidhbari next month. These charts really gave our team a much better understanding of where our focus needs to be in trying to help these self-help groups grow and ultimately earn a higher grade. The areas that seem to need the most attention are borrowing money for income generation purposes as well as demand for training and the members’ participation at the training sessions. The training sessions are intended to teach women a skill that will help them use their loans for income generation, whether it is sewing clothes, painting a beautiful portrait or farming. This is our next big challenge, how to get the women motivated and excited to attend training sessions that will enhance their skill set as well as to earn a higher grade as a group and move from a “C “to a “B”, a “B” to an “A”, etc. This coming Monday we will be having a phone call where we hope to speak to 3 different group leaders that currently have an “A” grade. We hope to learn from them what it is that has made their group so successful and what motivates their members to score well.

I look forward to updating you on our phone call this coming week! And happy almost Valentine's Day :)