Day 16

After Swahili this morning we picked up some samosas and rushed to Maisha Finance where we started our Investour! It was amazing. We had the opportunity to support one of two businesses, and at the end of the day it was our choice. The first entrepreneur that we met was a lady who sold charcoal. Interestingly enough, 97.5% of Tanzanians still use charcoal (for cooking). Although charcoal is pretty easy to come by for right now, it's obviously not a sustainable method, nor is it environmentally friendly, nor is it healthy. That was in the back of my mind throughout the entire meeting with her, even though I really wanted to help out her and her two children. She was also lacking drive, a vision, and a business plan.

The next entrepreneur we met was Tony, a woodcarver specializing in building tables. His artwork was absolutely beautiful, unique, and you could see his passion and excitement as he pulled out his work for us to see. He already had a loan, and paid it back very quickly. Tony's business was doing so well that he could not keep up, so he applied for a loan with a specific vision for the 300,000 /= (equivalent of $200 U.S.) that he asked for in order to buy materials to fill all his orders.

At the end of the day, we made a business-minded decision and chose to give Tony the zero interest loan. However, the charcoal seller was not left alone. Maisha Finance, the microfinance institution the actually initiates the loans, will meet with her and give her some of our feedback about how she can create a better approach for her business. If three groups tour her business and none of them choose to invest in her, she will automatically get the loan from Maisha Finance.

Microfinancing has such potential to be a source of aid for poverty-stricken entrepreneurs in terms of development and reversing the poverty cycle, but apparently it has been abused in many countries. Banks and microfinancing institutions, big and small, have taken advantage of the poor by enforcing a high-interest rate after the loan has been approved. I've never been very business-minded or math-oriented, but I think the idea of microfinancing is really fascinating. And the fact that the people at Investours have found a way to incorporate tourism, students, and social responsibility is so incredible! I'd love to start something like that in Ghana one day:)