  Average Annual Income per Person1: $300 (1% of USA) Wealth Distribution2:  Share of Income/Consumption of Poorest 10%: 2.3%Share of Income/Consumption of Richest 10%: 37.7%1 - Gross National Income, Atlas Method, World Bank 2006 2 - The 2008 World Factbook, CIA |
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 During a workshop with our Ugandan partner, Andrew Mahon and other PEER Servants volunteers conducted a "Microfinance 101" course put together by the United Nations. One of the 'gimme' questions was "is it safe to lend money to the poor?" The answer was quite obviously 'yes,' since the rest of the entire course was about lending to the materially poor. One very experienced Ugandan loan officer, Jimmy, immediately and knowingly declared that the answer was 'no,' it is not safe, since poor people don't pay back and have bad financial habits. After some back and forth, Andrew notes: "It became clear that our Ugandan microfinance partner's clients, who I saw as poor, were not poor at all in the loan officer's eyes. They were hard working, upright, energetic people intent on providing for themselves and their families. Jimmy allowed me to begin to see the clients as people of dignity and worth, as Christ sees them, and not just 'the poor.'" |
 Joshua Muki could be the poster child for transformation. Life dealt him some severe blows -- a physical disability affecting his mobility, the premature death of his father, and the absence of formal advanced education because of his need to support his family in his father's absence. But Joshua knew that with God's help, he could overcome. And he did. He started with a small business selling air time for mobile phones. An initial loan of less than $100 from CAFECC, PEER Servants's Ugandan partner, allowed him to double his daily profits. Good as that was, it was the business training CAFECC provided that enabled Joshua to dream and then make plans that made his dream a reality. He used the training to group his larger second loan with two of his brothers, and together they bought 80 chairs to enter the event planning business. Soon, Joshua had the corner on the Arua market for event planning -- weddings, government meetings, and even the local gathering for others with physical disabilities. Through yet another loan, he was able to expand to 200 chairs and hire one full-time and three part-time employees. Now he has his sights set on a tent. Because of his success, Joshua can afford to send his own children to get the education he never got. He is also generous to his church. And he loves to host the finest events in northern Uganda. |
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 Year Partnership Started: 2005 Number of Current Clients: 231 Average Initial Loan Size: $50 Average Overall Loan Size: $63 Loan Repayment Rate: 91% Outstanding Loan Portfolio: $12,265 % of Operating Expenses Covered by Program Revenue: 24% Note: All information is current as of December 2008. |
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 Team Uganda members are currently focused on working closely with the CAFECC staff and board to reach operational sustainability in Uganda so that CAFECC can consider expanding to southern Sudan. The CAFECC team is well-positioned to be able to expand to southern Sudan as approximately half of the CAFECC staff and board members are originally from Sudan, but have lived for most of their lives outside of the country, given Sudan's 20+ year civil war. You may email Andrew directly for any further infomation.  |
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