Case study: Starting a business in Sierra Leone

"I’d like to expand my business so that I can educate my children and live a better life" Margaret, Sierra Leone

Margaret lives in Batiama, Sierra Leone, where May to September is known as the ‘hungry season’. While they wait for the harvest, families need money to pay for food and send their children to school. As a single parent, Margaret was finding it impossible to feed her three children and buy the books, pencils and uniforms they needed.

Margaret’s life was changed with a small loan. CAFOD loaned her the money to buy supplies from a nearby town and set up a shop in her home. We also gave her training on how to make her business a success.

Margaret now earns enough to support her children and hopes her daughter will go to university. Today, she leads the women’s group that manages the loans. Best of all, the money Margaret paid back will now be loaned to another woman in her community.

“I want to thank CAFOD for appreciating women – especially widowed women fending for themselves. This programme will help a lot of women here as it continues.”