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A Community of Opportunities

Photo Credit: Kelley Lynch
Photo Credit: Kelley Lynch

You don’t break the cycle of poverty by giving people money. You break it by giving them power. This has been CARE’s mission from the start – to give people the ability to take control of their futures, and not let it be dictated by assistance.

Every success story reinforces this mission. That’s why we’re publishing a series of success stories from CARE Ethiopia’s GRAD Program (Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development), a microfinancing program funded by USAID wherein communities set up Village Economic and Social Associations for its members (VESAs).

VESAs give members of the community a chance to buy into a savings and loan program, from which they can pull small, targeted loans to start new businesses and enterprises. It has been a wild success. Members are trained in financial management, adaptation to climate change, promotes behavioral changes in husbands and men, nutritious meals for children and there is an almost 100% repayment rate. Most importantly, it shows women that when the power is in their hands, great things can happen, and entire communities can prosper.

The program shows that when you give someone not assistance, but opportunity, just how far they will run with it. 

A COMMUNITY OF OPPORTUNITIES

Over the last three years, Mola Hagos has used the lessons he learned through GRAD to build a better life for his family. Today he is using these same lessons to help the young people in his community find a brighter future at home. 

Migrating to look for work is one of the biggest problems young people in this area face. The Djibouti border is not far away. Many believe that economic opportunity lies in crossing that border and making their way to Saudi Arabia or Yemen to work. Most go illegally—both boys and girls—and this puts them in great danger. Many are held for ransom by trackers, and girls may be raped or live like prisoners in the houses where they work. A large number have returned injured, and some have even lost their lives.

They go because they don’t see any alternative. But through my example, I am showing them that there are economic opportunities to be found right here in our community.

I only attended school up to grade 10. Both of my parents were old, so they couldn’t earn enough to support the family. I was the oldest child, so everybody depended on me.

Three years ago I started participating in the GRAD project. The knowledge and skills I gained helped me to change our lives. I learned how to save and manage money, and I started taking loans. I used that money to buy, fatten, and sell sheep and eventually invested the profit in growing onions in our newly irrigated farmland. The first harvest brought in a net profit of 20,000 birr (US $903), and the second, 25,000 birr (USD $1,130). I used what I earned to buy two oxen, to build my family a nice, new home, and to keep my siblings in school.

Previously, young people felt that the doors were closed to us, that there were no opportunities to progress or improve our lives. But now, we see that change is possible. As a result of what I have done, the young people in my community elected me to lead the local Youth Association. I am keen to continue sharing with them what I got from the project—the knowledge, skills, and vision—so that they, too, can access the opportunities that are available right here in our own community.

Resources

Pennies to Power: VSLA Scaling Strategy

Read about CARE's scaling strategy to go from 7.6 million savings group members in 2019 to 50 million more by 2030.

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Unlocking Access, Unleashing Potential

Launched in 2018, the VSLA Scaling strategy is a bold initiative to scale CARE’s VSLAs to reach 50 Million women and girls by 2030.

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UptakePreneur

UptakePreneur: A Model for Uncovering & Accelerating Social Enterprises & Social Market Solutions in Fragile Settings

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A Community of Opportunities

You don’t break the cycle of poverty by giving people money. You break it by giving them power. This has been CARE’s mission from the start – to give people the ability to take control of their futures, and not let it be dictated by assistance.Every success story reinforces this mission. That’s why we’re publishing

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She Feeds the World

This 42-page document showcases She Feeds the World, CARE's strategic program framework for Food and Nutrition Security.

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Livelihoods for Resilience Activity Resilience Strategy

This 28-page report describes the Livelihoods for Resilience strategy for building resilience of its 97,900 targeted households.

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Socio Economic Empowerment in SDVC

4 page brief highlighting how market access interventions in Bangladesh change families' socio-economic status

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CARE Briefing Paper to the UN HLP Working Group

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Groups Change the World: How Collectives Empower Women

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CARE Int Tufaidike Wote Project Brief

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A Community of Opportunities

You don’t break the cycle of poverty by giving people money. You break it by giving them power. This has been CARE’s mission from the start – to give people the ability to take control of their futures, and not let it be dictated by assistance.Every success story reinforces this mission. That’s why we’re publishing

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GRAD Learning Brief: VESA

This 2 page brief highlights how CARE's GRAD program in Ethiopia is expanding on the concept of a traditional VSLA to improve impact.

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Adding Value to Value Chains

This 30 page report examines barriers to including the poorest people in value chains, and lays out recommendations for how NGOs,...

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April 2015 Project Portfolio

This 12 page summary provides selected highlights from some of CARE's ongoing food and nutrition security work.

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Guidance for GBV Monitoring and Mitigation in Non-GBV Sectoral Programming

This document aims to address the increasing demand for clear guidance on how to practically and ethically monitor and mitigate gender-based violence (GBV) within non-emergency, international development programming, in which GBV is not a specific programmatic component. Specifically, it draws on existing GBV-related guidance, as well as input from a group of experts, to provide recommendations for preventing and/or responding to unintentional risk, threat, or violence against individuals related to programmatic interventions. These recommendations describe ways to take stock of the programmatic environment with regard to GBV in general, as well as targeted suggestions on how to track GBV-related incidents and issues throughout the program cycle.

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Banking on Change: Breaking the Barriers to Financial Inclusion

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Mind the Gap

Exploring Gender Dynamics of CARE Rwanda’s Village Savings and Loan Programming

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Pathway to Empowerment: Overview

Our plan is called PATHWAY TO EMPOWERMENT because it’s a journey forward, together.

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Connecting the World’s Poorest People to the Global Economy

The importance of expanding access to financial services for the world’s poorest people is increasingly recognized.

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Market Engagement Capacity Strategy

Currently, CARE is implementing over 74 economic development programs in 66 countries.

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CARE’s Market Engagement Strategy

CARE’s Market Engagement Strategy will scale up our work in value chains with the goal of empowering 10 million women and girls

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Economic Development Overview

CARE’s programs in Economic Development work to improve the economic security and income opportunities of the poor.

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A Community of Opportunities

You don’t break the cycle of poverty by giving people money. You break it by giving them power. This has been CARE’s mission from the start – to give people the ability to take control of their futures, and not let it be dictated by assistance.Every success story reinforces this mission. That’s why we’re publishing

Read More

CARE Haiti: Shelter

The Neighborhoods Improvement Project works to build a base for reconstruction and recovery founded on social links and local capacity...

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CARE Haiti: Economic Development

Sustainable Economic Development programs are part of CARE Haiti's Relief to Reconstruction strategy.

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CARE Brasil’s Experience in Local Development

Since 2002, CARE Brasil has been contributing to processes of change in the Costa do Cacau (Cocoa Coast) region, Bahia’s south coast.

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