Blog Action Day: Creating new economic opportunities in tsunami-affected communities of Aceh
Today is Blog Action Day.
The Red Cross’s mission touches the issue of poverty every day (after all, disasters are prone to leaving families with very little), but on this Blog Action Day we’re going to show you the impact of a little-discussed microfinance program the American Red Cross and Grameen Foundation have embarked upon by telling the stories of 2 women who have received the help.
Nasriah, the 50 year old mother of six on the left, is a tsunami affected sole income earner in her family. She lost her husband and two of her children to the tsunami. Since then, she walks to the nearest river, harvests, shucks, and takes oysters to market every day. She has no resources, no boat, and no help.
She recently received a small loan through this program to grow her business. Nasriah is buying a boat that will increase her oyster yield and cut down on harvesting time. Once her initial loan is repaid, she will be eligible for a larger loan to grow her business again.
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Mariani, the 27 year old mother of four on the right, recently received her third loan. She used the first one to support her small cake business and the second and third to expand into a small grocery shop.
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Action Items:
HELP international programs like this through the American Red Cross
HELP people in the US who have lost everything because of a disaster
Filed under: Development, Flickr, International
Thanks for writing about microfinance. To learn more about it visit grameenfoundation.org those who support organizations like the red cross, kiva and the GrameenFoundation can help more women like Nasriah and Mariani lift themselves out of poverty!
thanks for sharing those stories, and for reminding us that the aftermath of the tsunami continues.
for my part, i turn to sites like freerice (rice donation), kiva (microfinance), and goodsearch (donation per search), as ways to help alleviate poverty online. i also put up their banners on my blog.
saw this post via the front page of blog action day. it’s great that you’re participating.
Thank you Sarah and kouji haiku.
no problem. hope you’re having a good day.