GUIDELINES FOR ORPHAN HOPE MICRO-BUSINESS LOANS

We are in process with setting up two banks for micro business loans - one in Nkomazi region of SA, and one near Maputo, Moz. If you are interested here are the details. These pictures are of Lenoria and the 21 orphans she cares for. We lived with her for one week and saw her devotion to them. If we can help her start a business she can support these kids much better.

Deuteronomy 15, 7-11 in the Bible.
"But if there are any poor people in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving to you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards them. Instead be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year of release is at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord , you will considered guilty of sin. Give freely without begrudging it, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do."

Orphan Hope is dedicated to helping raise orphans to the glory of God. Because poverty puts many orphans at risk of various dangers, and because business ownership can be a powerfully positive experience, OH is committed to making small loans to create micro-businesses to benefit orphans.
To start, a church or agency or coalition of concerned people must make application for a new project. We believe in partnership without control or ownership. After approval we equip our partner with start-up funds to form the “bank”, and he or his organization or church will also raise some local funds obviously on a very much lesser scale but we see their material contribution as very valuable and it is a clear sign of ownership, risk sharing and partnership.
The leader who is 'on-site' and now in close relationship with us announces the availability of micro-loans for orphan care. The people are informed that credit is available to lend in small amounts for the one purpose of creating genuine self-employment through micro-industries with the sole goal of making it possible to care for orphans, giving them an opportunity to succeed and learn business, and raise them to the glory of God. This will be incentive for more church people to be foster parents to orphans, thus raising the quality of care they receive.
The “bank” is governed by a local committee of, for example, church elders or care workers, including a primary contact person. They receive verbal applications from orphans or those caring for orphans. The committee or their representative trains the applicants to understand and handle their simple responsibilities.
Applicants for Micro-Business Loans may be:
· orphans
· caregivers who house orphans
· churches or agencies or a coalition of concerned individuals who will operate a business to directly benefit orphans.
The amount of the individual loans will usually be $5 - $50, but may be as much as $200. There will be no interest charged for these loans. The loan has to be repaid over 6, 12 or 24 months in weekly installments out of earnings beginning immediately.
We are glad to welcome men and women who cannot read or write and are only able to sign with an X or by the muddy imprint of their thumbs. We have no papers or contracts, we trust the poor. We do not ask for security. Of course the applicant, however poor, has be a person of known background and integrity as well as being a faithful member of a congregation, well known to his or her pastor, priest or other spiritual leader of high repute. The applications committee will make enquiries.
The following practice is essential, not to do this invites failure of the borrowers:
The applicant must be part of a small number of other applicants in a group for self-help, exchange of money-making ideas, encouragement and for the finding of ways out of difficulty or disaster that an individual might face in the future. The group as a whole must take responsibility for the loans of each individual, which means that if one member of the group fails, then the group takes collective responsibility to help that person recover, or ultimately they take responsibility for the re-payment of the failed individual’s loan.
The verbal application has to include the explanation of a simple business plan, enough to show that the project has been diligently considered and is expected to be feasible. The applicant must show that they have the skills to do the job.
There are 7 things that the applications committee will need to know:
a) WHAT is the proposal - exactly ?
b) WHY will this work? Is there a market for the product or service ?
c) WHO is to be involved - who are the customers, the workers, the supervisors, the advisors ?
d) WHERE - will the business be located - exactly ?
e) WHEN will the project start, and when will it be up and running ?
f) HOW MUCH will it cost to set up the business ?
g) HOW will it happen - first step, the second step and so on ?
If the application receives the favor of the committee then the applicant receives the money and begins to work on his her project under the regular weekly supervision and self-help meeting of the group and under the care of the member of the bank committee who calls to collect the repayments. He is perhaps a businessman or home group leader or elder from the church.
As soon as the installments begin to be paid or the loan is repaid in full, the incoming funds are immediately added to the general fund and go out again as soon as possible into the hands of the next approved applicant. The original beneficiary may apply for a further loan to develop their business.
The loans will generally be given to a group of 4-12 individuals in a church, with a recognized church leader as the primary applicant. This leader will be responsible for the payment on the loan and for instructing and holding accountable all other participants in the loans.