From Small Ideas to Big Business
In Papua New Guinea, ADRA’s work is not a matter of handouts but hand-ups. Josephine Yos tells the story of one woman who’s glad she learned the difference.
Trose Mati heard about the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Small Enterprise Development (SED) Project and wanted to get involved. She thought that since ADRA is an established non-government organization it would have a lot of money to hand out to anyone who wanted to start a small informal business. But after she attended an information session about the project, what she heard changed her perceptions.
The speaker at the information session said, “In the past, we gave you fish so that you were able to eat. Today, we are here to teach you how to fish so when we are gone, you can fish for yourself and feed yourself and your family. By teaching you to become fishermen, you can help yourself rather than depending on others.” Trose realized he was speaking in metaphors and that ADRA’s real impact was in empowering people to help themselves by providing training and teaching skills instead of simply providing handouts. This message completely changed Trose’s perceptions of ADRA’s work, and she decided to become part of its SED Project.
Together with other women from her community, Trose formed an organization and named it the Eagles Group, which included a leader, secretary, and treasurer.
Through these types of groups ADRA provides training and education to community members on a range of issues, such as small business management, and literacy.
This education and training is the key to providing people with the skills they need to lift themselves and their families from poverty.
As part of Eagles Group membership, Trose and the other women each contributed money, which formed a pool from which individuals could take loans one at a time.
The loans are repaid with interest, which also goes back to the group and is used for future loans. With the training they received from ADRA, the women were equipped to establish business plans and manage loan repayments.
When Trose started with the ADRA SED Project, she earned an income selling sweet-potato dumplings at the market. She was earning a modest income and had hopes of diversifying and selling other products.
Trose borrowed $180 from her group to purchase other goods. From this, her sales increased, and she was able to buy an umbrella so she could continue selling even on hot or rainy days. Soon she was able to pay back the loan and continue to contribute to the group fund, to a total of $800.
Following this, a family friend decided to leave the area and put their store up for rent. Trose realized this was too good an opportunity to miss and borrowed $370 from the project. With this loan, she paid the rent and stocked the store.
Trose has seen great changes in her life since joining ADRA’s SED Project.
She is now making approximately $1000 a month. This type of income allows Trose to care for her family in ways she never could before.
Trose is so thankful she has come this far because of ADRA’s assistance, and she encourages other women to step outside the normal parameters of their lives and pursue their dreams.
ADRA’s SED
Operating since 2001, ADRA’s Small Enterprise Development (SED) project in Papua New Guinea assists individuals (mainly women) in the informal employment sector. In a SED project, women form small groups and together learn to save their money, both for personal savings and collectively for venture capital to provide small loans to each other. These loans are then paid back to the group with interest to be utilized for future loans. Through SED groups, ADRA also provides small business training; teaching basic organizational, bookkeeping and business skills. This project helps women save for family needs, such as health care and education, and also provides opportunity for some women to embark on small business initiatives that increase household income. As their income increases, these women are better able to provide for their families, and better able to break out of poverty.
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