Sarah is 44, a divorcee with 3 children. She also runs the busiest take-away restaurant in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe.
I never thought I would feel a connection with someone in Zimbabwe, but having built my own business from scratch I can empathise to some extent with Sarah. I was lucky enough to have the means to fund my own business, but that isn’t the situation with Sarah and countless others. Lend With Care appeals to me because they offer a communal loan solution to entrepreneurs in developing countries. With her loan from Lend With Care, Sarah is hoping to buy meat and wooden plates and to add diversity to her business by baking cakes.
It’s a simple enough concept, individuals lend £15 to a microfinance institution via Lend With Care, until the cost of individual loans is met through contributions from multiple people. As the loan is then paid back, so are you.]
The value of £15
£15 is such an insignificant amount to me, but the loan itself is so important for Sarah.
Of course, charitable giving can take place in other forms and a lot closer to home – giving time for local causes is also an option. After spending a few hours on a few Saturdays helping my Interior Designer friend Andrea with a refurb of a domestic violence refuge, I lost little more than a few hours but know that I’ve contributed someway into helping someone else along the line. The refurbishment is going to transform a beautiful but tired Victorian building into a welcoming sanctuary for those fleeing abuse.
Giving back
And that feeling doesn’t have to be limited to helping charities. There is always some way that you can be kinder every day – It can be replicated by just being a good friend, lending a hand to a neighbour or even being helpful to a complete stranger. No-one is out for a trophy here, but word has it that the more you give, the more you receive.
And that sounds like a win/win situation all round.
