The Power of Micro-Finance - Alice's Story

Helping individuals from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to set up their own businesses is at the heart of Five Talent’s ethos. The Worthy Cause has been helping rural East African communities and entrepreneurs by providing the necessary tools of running a business, including literacy and numeracy training, business training and an introduction to saving schemes.

Last year, the organization supported over 113,500 members of their program.

One of the members was Alice, a mother of seven often struggling to make ends meet. To have a glimpse into the Worthy Cause’s operations, Five Talents shared Alice’s story on how she improved her family's livelihood and supported the education of her children.

Alice faces many challenges, both at home and with her business. She lives in Uganda’s Karamoja region where the climate is harsh and unpredictable. She is the mother of seven children - her youngest has a mental disability. Paying school fees is an incredible challenge for Alice.

Alice wanted to provide more for her family. After joining our Savings Group, she used her savings and planted an orchard. Alice proudly showed us trees growing mango, guava and even avocados. Her dedication to making a success of her business was clear.

Alice took the fruit to sell in the market for a profit - she was able to start paying her children’s school fees with ease, but she wanted to provide even more. Alice decided to start growing a few vegetables to supplement her profits. Soon she hopes the income she has generated will enable her to buy more land to cultivate more produce, and allow her to take a larger loan so she can build a fence to keep animals away from the crops.

Micro-finance makes running the orchard easier for Alice, and the literacy and business training inspires and supports her as she continues to grow her business and provide for her family.

We believe that by opening up opportunities, we can help people like Alice to gain financial independence and uplift their families. We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of the donors and the tireless work of our Worthy Causes who, together, bring wonderful changes all across the world.