Connection Strengthens our Philippines Microfinance Programs

Aside from providing loans for Filipinos through our microfinance program in the Philippines, one of the things we aim to do is start fellowship groups so we can provide the microfinance beneficiaries the necessary moral and emotional support as they start their small businesses.

We are grateful for this community and how they have been faithful to their obligations and to our policies. This is now the 6th group we have opened in the area of Barangay Roosevelt in Metro Manila. We want to recognize areas that are performing well by prioritizing them in our journey to growth.

We are thankful for the dedication that our field partner, Honor 1000, has given to this initiative to promote values to scale the group's financial commitment but also their moral standing.

Our fellowship groups are avenues to strengthen the community and foster harmonious relationships with the mothers. We believe that mothers can be agents of change in their communities.

Empowering Moms through Microfinance Program

Through our Microfinance Program in the Philippines, we are able to empower more mothers by helping them start their small businesses that can support their families. Here are just some of the beaming faces of the proud Filipina moms and their amazing business endeavors:

This is Angelica, a proud mother of four and wife to a farmer. She partners with her husband in their business of selling both unpolished and polished rice. When it is not harvest season, they maximize the land that they plow by planting onions, garlic, and other vegetables that are in season. This is to ensure that they have income all year round. When it is harvest season for rice, she is able to sell 100-125 kilos of rice every week. She is grateful to our field partner in the Philippines' support through HONOR 1000 that they are able to have enough capital to reach this point in their business. Not only her business, but her accomplishment is in having all of her children finish their studies. Through their income, they were also able to extend their house to have a bigger kitchen space.

Kristine started her small convenience store renting a little space. During the height of the pandemic when the local government was still restricting movement, her community relied on her store to buy their necessities and even ready made food. Because of this, even as the restrictions lifted, the relationship built with her customers made them regulars to her store. Through her hard work, her own store space was also completed. Her new space is just beside her rented store so her regulars can still find her store. By minimizing her expense, Kristine is determined to consistently save as her youngest is yet to start school. Her two older children just started elementary level and senior high respectively.

Before her small sari-sari store, Melannie earned by reselling products and electronic load. Because her products were not necessities, she was hit hard by the pandemic and had to transition her business to something more stable. With her only child also entering Senior High soon, she knows that this transition is necessary. She focused more on having a sari sari store. Through our teams help, she was able to put more stocks in her store. She also sells snacks and drinks, and recently purchased a burger griller. We will continue serving and empowering mothers like Melannie as they make bold decisions to ensure their children's future.

Help More Filipinos Break Away from the Cycle of Poverty

With your support of AU$385/US$270, we will be able to provide a Filipino mom with a small business loan. Click on the links below to know more.

Our Partners

Microfinance Women and Staff Supporting Each Other

Because of the pandemic, most of the Philippines has been placed on lockdown since last year. This has challenged our program to adapt and comply with the health protocols that each municipality has set. We are grateful to have a dedicated team who diligently visits each area and client.

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Microfinance Group Unshaken by Quake

A few weeks ago, the Philippines was taken aback by a series of quakes that shook several provinces in the Central to Northern part of Luzon and some other provinces in Visayas, causing severe damage to properties and lives -But not this microfinance group in the rural parts of Bataan.

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Microfinance is keeping my kids in school

Mina was married at the age of 15. Now, at 32, her and her husband have a daughter and two sons. She was from a poor farming family. She tells us her story. “I started a ‘Chatpat’ (a quick sour, chilly snack) selling business with an investment of about Rs. 2,000 (US$17) as that’s all my family could afford. I was able to earn around Rs. 1,000 (US$8) daily and although this was not much, it boosted my confidence. That was 6 years ago. I wanted to grow my business but I wasn’t able to get a loan."

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PHILIPPINES - Honor 1000 - Microfinance

    Bringing hope to Filipino women through microfinance

Chickens for Renu - Microfinance taking shape in Nepal

Renu is 24 years of age and is unmarried. She lived an idle life and was found to be at high-risk of being trafficked. With the help and training from the My Business My Freedom program (a Captivating and 3AN joint project), Renu has now started a mini poultry business. She had no understanding about how to run a business or why it was important for her to be self-sufficient. The group Renu is part of has helped her with learning so much about the risks of human trafficking, how to manage a business, social issues and saving money to invest in her future. Now she has 20 chicken as her poultry farm.

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Captivating/ACDF Microfinance Program - Helping Grace and 100 other orphans stay with family and go to school

“My name is Grace Moraa. My parents died from AIDS and I'm now an orphan. But my life has many bright lights. I am twelve years old and in class seven at Suneka primary school. I now live with my aunty after the death of my only remaining parent; my mother. She passed on three years ago and since then I am living with my relatives. Every morning I have to do some household chores before running to school. I also help my Aunty Mokeira with fetching water daily as she leaves very early for the market and comes home late. My aunty got financial help from the Captivating/ACDF micro-loans program and was able to start a chicken rearing business this year. This helps in our upkeep. My aunty is very hardworking and she is planning to construct a bigger place for the chickens soon as the business continues to grow. My aunty gets three crates of eggs every week for sale and also sells some chickens for extra money. She bought me an extra pair of shoes and a uniform for school. She is also now able to buy hygiene products for me to use. Before, I would not attend school for a whole week every month fearing others will laugh at me! I am really grateful to Captivating because I live with hope. Because of you I have not been sent home for school fees arrears this year. We are closing school in a few days and I will help my aunty in the household chores as I am the oldest of all my cousins and sometimes I can go with her to the market as I wait for opening school next month. Thank you Captivating for your support. You are God send.”

Captivating is looking to extend this loan program in Kisii, Kenya.  We are looking for more financial partners to help us raise US$10k in additional loan capital.  If you can help, please email andrewc@captivating.org so we can assist 80 more families in this program.  

Laying the Groundwork

Last month, our co-founders Andrew and Julie Colquhoun went to Nepal to visit our current projects and partners in the region. They spent time with the girls that they have helped to get back to school through fifteen Captivating Village programs, and also checked the school where they will be attending. They also visited the rescued trafficking victims who are currently rehabilitating in our Women’s Safe Haven. Some of them are employed as monitoring officers at our border stations, while others are helped in starting their own small businesses through our My Business, My Freedom program. Despite the challenges of reaching the villages, with roads being rough and altitude high, they were able to connect with the women who have previously received assistance through our microfinance groups.

They also made an ocular visit to a potential village development project site at the base of the Himalayas, which will be focused on improving overall health, education, and sustainability for 150 struggling families in one of the poorest villages in the municipality.

We appreciate the opportunity to be involved with everyone in our projects, which is a significant source of hope and healing. The support of the local government, community educators, and field partners made the transformative programs undertaken by Captivating possible. Meeting all of them in person makes the work all the more important and continues to inspire us to do more!

Relocating for her Children

Jessica used to sell flavored drinks in a different town, but this meant being away from her three young kids. She then made the critical decision to transfer her small store so she could be with them. To do this, she needed additional capital, so she tried applying to our microfinance program. Because she is new in the community, not many neighbors can vouch for Jessica. Still, the loan officers saw her determination and decided to give Jessica her first loan.

Jessica eagerly looked for a good location and sold drinks near a night market. Now she is almost done paying up her loan, consistently increasing her savings, and planning on expanding her drinks business.

Captivating International, with our Philippine field partner Honor 1000, is happy to empower young moms like Jessica to provide for their families and take better care of their children.