Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 1: Danaya

Here is a summary of The Road's first social project:

A micro-financing loan to the Danaya women in Mali.

Danaya is a group of seven women of the Hamdallaye district in the city of Koutiala in Mali. They know each other through the making of the local "pâte" (typically a cooked mash of grain, seeds, or nuts, formed into a ball and eaten with the fingers) called "soumbala". They average 38 years of age. They are married and the mothers of at least four children.

Working for three years with Soro Yiriwaso - a local partner from Kiva- the loans have gone from 50,000 francs CFA (US$110) for the first loan to 150,000 francs (US$330) for the fifth loan. The group members all do the same work: making and selling soumbala. In addition, they have other work, such as knitting.

The current loan will enable them to buy the néré nuts, the base product for their soumbala, in larger quantities and at wholesale rather than retail prices. This will generate more profit. Their goal is to raise a profit of 125,000 francs CFA (US$280) for the duration of the loan. A large portion of the profits will serve to cover the school fees of the children and to cope with the typical family expenses.

In the future, the members will get their supplies from other places in Mali, especially from Gao and Kidal, which will lower the base price once more.

The women of Danaya have a 100% credit repayment history. (See their profile on Kiva)

The current loan request: US$2,050
Raised so far: US$925.00 US$2,050 (Nov 3rd 2008)
still needed: US$1,125.00 (Nov 3rd 2008)
They will repay the loan by May 16th 2009.


More on The Road's social project "Change Starts Here".
You can keep track of our project via our score card.