Growing Through Self-Reliance
The beauty of Mata Masu Dubara is that it requires no external funds. All loans come from the women’s own savings and later their profits, making them totally self-sufficient. The success in Niger inspired CARE to launch similar projects in Ecuador, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and fourteen other countries.
During the first eight months of a program, an experienced “village agent” makes regular visits, teaching the women how to organize and manage their group and working closely with each woman. The village agent is critically important at the beginning because 90 percent of Niger’s rural women are illiterate; she helps the group create a record and an accounting system that they can manage on their own.
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