Church promotes business people?!

A report by Andreas Zurbrügg, who works at SAM global and is responsible for the Sahel countries.

I was recently in Cameroon and visited Daniel and Deborah, among others:

Daniel is studying psychology and philosophy at the University of Maroua. To finance his studies, he runs a copy store in his spare time. Thanks to a minimal but modern IT infrastructure, he can capture texts and design documents for customers. While he is explaining the copy machine financed with the loan, a customer appears. In no time at all, his cell phone, which serves as a data storage device, is connected to the laptop by cable. Five minutes later, the young English teacher leaves with two stacks of perfectly printed English tests. Thanks to his reputation as a reputable dealer, Daniel can also sell the occasional laptop or printer. As the store is not always open, he has already lost customers. He won’t get rich from it, but he can make a living.

Deborah is also a student. She loves beautiful fabrics and is good at negotiating. She is particularly busy before the important Christian or Muslim holidays. Thanks to the loan, she can buy the fabrics en-gros in the city. She then goes from door to door and advertises her goods. The mostly female customers buy the fabric and then have their festive garments sewn by a seamstress in the neighborhood. Deborah divides her proceeds as recommended by the group of talented young people. 1/3 for the family, 1/3 for her own needs (studies) and 1/3 is saved. This should enable her to manage without a loan in the future and give someone else the chance to spice up their business.

A new group has already formed in the north of the city, and Luc is planning to implement the model in other cities as well. The supervised lending and the repayment of all the loans encourage me to continue supporting the church in expanding its economic activities.

This is possible thanks to Luc, who, together with the management of our partners in Cameroon, created the Department for Development at one of our strategy days. Luc H, has already initiated a number of things and is motivated, which in turn motivated us as SAM global to support the further expansion of income-generating activities with a fund. Members can now submit their project to the local committee and receive a loan, which is to be repaid within a jointly defined period. In the last two years, for example, a chicken farm has been set up, a sewing machine purchased, a motorcycle spare parts business established and investments made in a new welding station.

If you also want to get involved in development cooperation, or would like to visit such projects like me, as a specialist, as a supporter or as a coach, then get in touch! I would be delighted.

A story by Sam global