Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

MLF started lending money in Malawi in 2001. Since then they have made more than 10,000 loans - achieving a repayment rate of no less than 97 per cent.

The great thing about microfinance is that it provides someone with an opportunity, not a handout, because all they need is the opportunity to set up a business and look after themselves.

MLF lends only to women - who are organised into groups, bearing collective responsibility for repayment. While each member runs her own project, they all benefit from the support and commercial experience of the group.

The charity provides basic business and book-keeping training to all clients and each business, however remote, receives a fortnightly visit from a local "loan officer".

This combination of training, monitoring and self-help allows MLF to achieve its excellent repayment rate, and very importantly, as loans are paid back, the capital is recycled to others with business ideas - creating a virtuous circle.

MLF typically lends to groups of 16 women. Thus £400 provides sufficient capital to finance such a group - and as each member has an average of five dependents can improve the lives of almost 100 people.

I would like with your help to raise £1000 by Christmas 2007 to help 250 people in Malawi by early in the New Year, not forgetting that as those loans are repaid they are loaned out again helping thousands more, so your single donation potentially helps thousands in perpetuity - what other donation can you think of that has the same benefits?

 
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support me: The Microloan Foundation will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please support MLF now and help me make a difference to thousands of the poorest people in Malawi, a former British colony which is the ninth poorest country in the world and where the average lifespan is a mere 36 years.
 
Thanks for your support.