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Mozambique - Credit with HIV/AIDS Education in Zambezia Province
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What is the need?
Zambezia is one of the poorest provinces of Mozambique, which is one of the eight poorest countries in the world according to the U.N. human development index. Annual per capita income is $80. Zambezia's 3.6 million people are highly affected by HIV/AIDS. In 2002, 12.5 percent of people between ages 15 and 49 were HIV-positive, and that percentage has since increased. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is having a major impact on poor households, driving them further into poverty.
In 2004, life expectancy at birth in Zambezia province was only 38.1 years, and 65 percent of the population did not have access to formal health services. Likewise, a study conducted by World Vision in 2001 showed that virtually none of Zambezia’s approximately 640,000 rural and 90,000 urban families had access to any financial services, including credit for small businesses.
What is the solution?
Credit enables people to take responsibility for their own lives and restores their dignity. It can help families increase their income and build up economic reserves that will enable them to withstand economic shocks, including those caused by HIV/AIDS. In May 2001, World Vision established Karela Microfinance to provide loans to economically active poor who wish to start or expand businesses but lack physical collateral.
Households with access to microfinance tend to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes than comparable households without access to credit. But credit alone is not enough to combat the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. The poor also need educational services that raise awareness, offer knowledge and provide a framework for solutions to cope with this disease.
Project Objectives
The overall goal of Karela’s Credit with Education program is to provide permanent access to high quality financial and educational services that will allow the people of Zambezia to increase their income and income sources, reduce their vulnerability, improve their quality of life, and fulfill their aspirations of prosperity.
Karela expects to achieve the following results by September 2007:
- 8,200 credit clients, 80% rural, 70% women
- Growth and diversification of clients’ income and assets
- Increased capacity of clients to prevent and deal with HIV/AIDS
Along with microcredit, Karela will also offer clients a 12-session curriculum on HIVAIDS that will use adult learning principles such as dialogue education to:
- Clarify misunderstanding and remove the fear surrounding the disease
- Encourage behavior changes which prevent the spread of HIV
- Inform and educate the caregivers of people living with AIDS
- Encourage a positive and caring response to those living with HIV/AIDS
- Mobilize community action in the face of the pandemic
Program Duration
Six years
2005 Funding Need
$104,533*
*Can be funded partially or in full. |
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