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Now Steven can afford to feed his children every day
Life in Tanzania is very hard if you are disabled. But one of
People for People’s member charities, Leonard Cheshire,
is helping people like Steven lift themselves out of poverty.
Thousands of disabled people in the developing world have abilities
they are never able to use, simply because they cannot get training,
advice or the loans they need to build a business. But in Tanzania,
that’s starting to change, thanks to the Dodoma Microfinance
Project which is run in partnership with a local college.
Steven Athanasio, a married man with three children, is one
of the people who is benefiting. He had polio as a child which
left him disabled, and he didn’t get the chance to go to
school. Later he studied tailoring for a year, but his lack of
business skills meant he struggled to earn a living.
Through the Dodoma Project, Steven learned management and marketing
skills and also received a loan of 50,000 Tanzanian shillings
(about £21) to invest in his business. The idea behind
the scheme is that disabled entrepreneurs will repay the first
loan out of their increased earnings, and then take out further
loans as needed. Steven has already paid off two loans and is
now asking for a third to expand his business.
Steven’s new skills, and the money he has invested in
a new sewing machine and materials, have transformed his fortunes.
Before, he used to wait for customers to come to him. Now he
makes clothes in varied styles and sizes and his wife sells them
door to door.
Steven’s story shows how People for People is helping
give disabled people in the developing world the chance to
lead a life of dignity and independence. “We are assured
of an income, and we can give our children three square meals
a day,’ he says.
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