Micro-Credit: A Catalyst for Women's Empowerment in Cabinda

Because of the devaluation and inflation of the currency, many families in Angola have been going through difficult times. The price of products in the basic food basket has almost tripled in last then one year, while the income of most families has fallen. 

This is not the case for Juliana, a 54-year-old woman from Cabinda who, after benefiting from the credit component of the Cabinda Value Chain Development project, financed by the African Development Bank and implemented by World Vision Angola, has seen her family's income increase and her vision of development and the future broaden. 

At the age of seven, Juliana's parents emigrated to the neighbouring country, Democratic Republic of Congo, in search of better living conditions and sustainability. There, little Juliana grew up and studied until second grade. In early adulthood she met her husband and soon afterwards the couple decided to try their luck back in Angola, where they had their first child. 

"I was born in Cabinda in the village of Tchiswa. There were many difficulties during my childhood, and even after I had my husband, both he and I didn't work, we lived from informal jobs. I used to sell mangoes, water and bread, and I was in deep difficulties, but I always had a vision that life couldn't go on like this," recalls Juliana. 

In the course of her life battles, Juliana shows that she has always had an entrepreneurial streak, and among the many businesses she has had to do, such as selling slippers in the Massabi market, she felt that something still needed to be done in her life, and that taking action was more than necessary.

 In the search for solutions to support her family, Juliana says that she had been barred many times for not having completed fourth grade, which was considered a reference class, and with so many problems going on, Juliana still decided to go back to school. 

Along the way, there were some obstacles to continuing her studies, and despite the barriers she faced with transport to school, her desire to become an entrepreneur was one of the fuels that kept her from giving up on her dreams. With a pan, stove and charcoal, Juliana popped the corn into popcorn, which she used to sell and from which she earned the money to attend classes.

Juliana thought about giving up and just continuing with her son's education, but it was he who encouraged her to keep fighting and to achieve her goals. After some time, Juliana managed to get into the Imeca School in Cabassango, where she finally finished secondary school, a fact that spurred her on to the road to fulfillment. 

Juliana has faced great difficulties, from financial ones to problems in her relationship. A difficult episode in her life was when her husband left. She regrets it and points out that it was a very complicated time, as she had to manage all her emotions and still find ways to support herself and her son. 

"When I was in eighth grade, my husband left us, I even thought about going back to my family, but I didn't want to. Despite the difficulties, I never thought of abandoning my son or handing him over to other people to raise, and thank God I managed to raise him even with a lot of suffering. Today he's graduated, he's finished his degree at ISCED, and he's also working, he's a big man and well on his way," celebrated Juliana. 

The businesswoman says that her son has always been a great motivation in her life, and that he has always encouraged her to study and persist in her dreams. Juliana is a proud mum because of the positive results she can see from the education and example she has passed on to her son. 

Explicação Juliana "Hope for the Future" contributes to the education of more than 200 children in Cabinda 

Whilst still at secondary school, Juliana started working at School Teresa Nsimba. She describes that it all started when she was teaching in the community's schools. She thought she could use her knowledge to give explanations and earn extra income. After a while, one of her nieces died and it fell to her aunt to look after her four children, who couldn't read or write. Juliana began to use her skills and gave lessons to her great-nephews because, given their age, they were already slightly behind, a fact that changed because, in record time, they could read and write and were thus able to go to school.

The explanation, which was only for the four children at home, was now attended by other inhabitants of his neighbourhood, and as time went by, it began to attract the attention of his neighbours and people who were interested in his little school, because it gave a big boost to the little ones in his community. His fame spread with his good results and the explanation spread, today slowing down more than 200 children who benefit from classes in three shifts. 

"Everything I've achieved has been through a lot of suffering, it wasn't with my hands folded that I managed to get this explanation, because when you have faith and courage, when you're going through a difficulty God won't abandon you," says Juliana. 

With the arrival of the Cabinda Value Chain Development project, people were identified who potentially already had certain business initiatives and who were organised to receive credit in the form of financing.

 The Tunda Likanda (Building Families) group was selected and covered by the micro-credit in 2022. The teacher didn't think twice about it and decided to use the space in her backyard to build a tutoring school, a more solid and equipped structure for the pupils, with decent boards and desks. Before the loan, Juliana says she had to turn away many children because she couldn't afford to take them on.

Today "Explicação Juliana" has more than 200 children and the teacher is asking for support to continue with her project, because she plans to expand the space, as well as adding a literacy centre, due to the high number of adults in her community who can't even write their names. Juliana also wants to be part of the solution to the problem of illiteracy in Angola, which is why she always tries to contribute what she can.

The "Building Families" group is made up of 15 members and received Kz 3,300,000 from the credit component. The 15 women who make up the group split the money equally. Juliana's share was Kz 220,000, with which she invested in improving the infrastructure of the small school, building a small canteen where she sells some school materials and small meals for the students' breaks. 

In Angola, around 22 per cent of children are still outside the education system (UNICEF Angola, 2015), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) even points to a dropout rate of 39.2 per cent in primary school alone for various reasons, meaning that inequalities in access to education and the poor quality of teaching reduce children's opportunities for development and integration. Initiatives such as "Explicação Juliana" are an alternative for guaranteeing access to the right to education so that in the future they can also compete for development opportunities. 

Today, with two classrooms, she now employs five people in her small school, and through this noble work she is already able to support her family. Juliana says she hasn't stopped there, and in order to diversify her sources of income with the money she has received she has also managed to acquire a percentage of land which she has used to plant and grow various agricultural products. 

With the credit she has received as a result of the interventions of the Cabinda Value Chain Development project, Juliana is making a real difference in her community and training the children who come to her tutoring with excellence. Juliana is looking to the future with ambitious eyes, and aims to expand her tutoring centre into a leading school in Cabinda. 

"The motto Hope for the Future is here to say that Explicação Juliana opens the eyes of those who can't see, because we hope that those who pass through here have the hope to see and have a good future," Juliana said in a good tone. 

Our impact with the community box component 

The community cash component encourages beneficiaries to save minimum amounts, which are agreed between group members and generally range from Kz 500 to Kz 2,000, and are accumulated over a one-year cycle. At the end of this period, the amount collected according to the records of what each person has saved throughout the cycle is distributed, and the profits are shared among the most effective members. 

These community savings bank groups meet weekly or monthly to make their savings and exchange their investment and business experiences, where they also learn about new ways of saving and monitoring themselves as an organised group.   

 "Before we received the training I worked with a few children, and I didn't know how to save. In the training we learnt how to save. Before, everything I received I just knew I had to spend, but now I know that part of what I receive goes to the people who work with me and to household expenses, and the other part goes into savings," Juliana commented. 

The teacher describes that before the training her life was difficult, but that after gaining knowledge from the training she underwent, she never again lacked bread for the two nephews, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild who live in her house, and that she is now able to manage her assets while keeping her spending balanced with her real needs.

Juliana says that the knowledge she has gained from World Vision Angola's training has not only transformed her life, but that of many other women in her community who have also benefited from the project's actions.

Impact of the first phase opens up new opportunities for Tunda Likanda

Juliana's group has not yet finished paying off its credit, but it is already known as one of the most exemplary and punctual groups in terms of payments, and as a result of this commitment, the group was also one of the few selected to benefit from a means of transporting goods, three-wheeled motorbikes, known locally as "kupapatas or kaleluyas", which will make it easier for the group to transport its agricultural produce to the markets in its province.

"It's a blessing, and I smile for everyone to see how happy I am, we've received this motorbike, and it will help all the members of Tunda Likanda to transport our products to the markets to sell, which will also make it easier for us to finish paying off the credit," said Juliana. 

Today, Juliana feels like an empowered woman, because she doesn't depend on other people to be able to fulfil her dreams, and with everything she has already achieved, she continues to work and foresees more and more achievements for her life and for the future of her family. 

 "We want this project not to die, because like us there are still many women who need this encouragement to be able to develop their ideas and put their dreams into practice. And I only have words of thanks for the African Development Bank which is financing this project and also for World Vision Angola, because World Vision is a family that has welcomed us with both arms and so we have also been faithful with our commitments, and we will pay back the credit until the end," Juliana guaranteed.