PAGES in Tanzania

The cause:

Girls' Rights and Poverty

The facts:

• 34% of Tanzanians live below the poverty line.
• An average person in Tanzania earns US$390 per year.
• 60% of women in Tanzania live in absolute poverty and lack the necessary food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their families.
• In Tanzania, only about 6 percent of the population has access to the banking or financial sector, which restricts poor people, especially women to get involved in meaningful economic activities and save up to fight against economic vulnerability and risks.

The project:

Without education, girls and boys in Tanzania are sentenced to poverty. But when Plan provides specific training in a job or trade, combined with support to start a small business, this life sentence is transformed into a meaningful career.

The details:

Helping households get out of poverty is an absolute priority for those living on the margins of survival. Youth without a secondary school education lack the financial skills and services they need to succeed in the job market and often join the ranks of the unemployed. So continues the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

Catherine had been tying, dyeing and making batik fabrics for years. She knew all the methods, the best types of inks and dyes, the best materials and the most popular patterns. She had the will and the skill. However, Catherine only earned enough to feed her children one meal a day. No matter how hard she worked, she could not save or borrow enough to expand her business. This was three years ago.

Today, Catherine has increased her weekly revenue 10 times and she can now afford to feed her family at least two meals a day. She has also been able to repair her house, take better care of her aging parents and start a new business selling secondhand clothing.

What made the difference? Catherine joined a savings and loan program supported by Plan in Tanzania. She received business training and took out a loan to grow her business.

For anyone with a dream of starting a business, large or small, there are always banks involved. But for many poor people, banking services aren