Some 550 million people in sub-Saharan Africa – more than the entire population of the United States, Canada and Mexico combined live on less than $2 a day. For them, each day is a struggle. They simply do not earn enough to meet their needs.

“What I have learned from my experience with VSLAs is that no effort is too small if you are determined. I encourage all men and women out there who have also faced challenging situations like war not sit back lamenting about life and reminiscing about the good old days. Instead, they should get up, pick up the pieces of their lives and do something to make their lives better. I have learnt that there is power in togetherness.”
– Angela Akong, CARE project participant in Uganda

Though the problem may be stated simply, the solution isn't a quick fix. In countries with little or no industry, private sector jobs are extraordinarily rare. Women have to create their own opportunities and, as we all know, it takes money to make money.

In 1991 in a village in southern Niger, CARE developed a way to harness an ancient African practice of group savings, in which community members pooled together their resources to create a kind of village bank.

Read stories about how CARE introduces people in Africa to savings and loans:

• Young mother's business means a better life for her family
  
• Her mother's hard work means she has hope for the future
  
• Widow fulfills her dream of education for her children
  
• Goretti Nyabenda, a former CARE VSLA participant featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine