Daw Win and her family were once in debt following three years of floods that destroyed farmland in the Thayet Cho Gon village of Myanmar. In 2007 Daw Win received a $200 loan from VisionFund and today she runs a successful grocery business. What’s more, Daw Win’s three boys can now follow in her footsteps of attending university.
Daw Win’s microfinance story is a little different. A university graduate, Daw Win once had a successful career in a fishery company. When Daw Win married, she went to live with her husband’s family in the delta and helped on their 30-acre rice paddy. After a series of devastating floods, Daw Win returned to the fish factory to pay off her family’s debt. She returned to the delta two years later but faced the same problems again.
When Daw Win and her family took out a small loan with VisionFund, they received home budgeting and saving guidance. They were also given agricultural training to help increase yield from their rice crops. Through the programme, Daw Win learned how to communicate with business partners and has since advocated for farmers from other villages.
Daw Win is passionate about spreading her success across her community. Through her grocery business and betel leaf garden, Daw Win has enough money to send her boys and two other children in the community to school. She teaches at the local high school and helps her neighbours with basic maths. But Dar Win’s legacy won’t stop there. ‘I am also dreaming of a hostel for children who live far away from high school.’
Our new three year strategy aims to positively impact the lives of 3.5 million children annually by 2015. Over 70% of our clients are female. Research has found that women are more likely to invest income back into the family, with education and well-being of children being a top priority.