Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Dorothy Nthala

Dorothy is the wife of Village Headman Tchale. She is a very hardworking woman with ambition. Besides doing all of the chores that African women do on a daily basis (making three meals, fetching water, keeping the house and the yard tidy, and working in the fields) Dorothy has her sights set on running her own small business.

When a local micro-finance institution came to visit Tchale village Dorothy signed up, along with 13 other women, to get a small loan of $71 each (at 30% interest!). This loan allowed Dorothy and the other women to buy seed and fertilizer to plant more land. Unfortunately, the term of the loan was shorter than the maturing time for maize. So, Dorothy set about making the loan payments by baking a local bread (chikonda moyo) every morning and selling this bread in the village. She (and the rest of the group) succeeded in paying back the loan in full on time. Because of their success in repaying the loan the micro-loan foundation has granted them a second loan of $142 each (again at 30% interest).

This time Dorothy decided to invest her money in something different. During last year's growing season, in addition to working in the family's fields Dorothy planted a field all her own. She planted 1 acre with Malawi's main cash crop - tobacco. She has just harvested the tobacco and she is planning to send it to be sold on Lilongwe's tobacco auction floor soon. With the proceeds she wants to get into business. She is planning to buy and sell tobacco (there is money to be made if you can buy tobacco just after it is is harvested and wait to sell it at the end of tobacco trading season).

This captures some of Dorothy's drive and determination, but it doesn't capture her modest and joyful spirit. She's a truly wonderful woman.

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