Social Performance in Action: Lending to the power of motherhood

May 11, 2012

By: Steven Buller

Many of our borrowers work multiple jobs. They spend their days sewing clothes, planting crops, weaving baskets, selling food. And, after that, they go home to their other (often more difficult) job: being a parent.

This second job falls primarily on the shoulders of women. As they continue to redefine their roles outside the home and contribute more and more directly to local economies, it's a shame that so many have zero or limited access to the financial services they need. More often than not, this prevents or restricts their ability to provide their children with sufficient food and a formal education.

Khuya and her mother, courtesy of CEP.

As Mother’s Day approaches (this Sunday!), we'd like to highlight a partner working to end financial exclusion and provide female clients with the resources they need to support their children and give them a better future.

Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor (CEP) operates in Viet Nam and targets the country's most economically disadvantaged women, including urban migrant workers and single mothers.

Their work is best told by the story of one of their clients, Khuya, who is pictured above.

Khuya’s grandmother was a broom maker, as was her mother, and when Khuya was old enough, her mother taught her how to make brooms as well. Khuya’s father died when she was young, so this was the family’s only source of income. When her mother became too old to work and her family fell on hard times, Khuya turned to CEP to get a loan in order to continue and grow her business.

Khuya is now able to provide for her children and employ workers in the community. Her full story is told on CEP’s website. Without a chance to expand her business, she would not have been able to afford to send her kids to school.

There are thousands of women just like Khuya that work with CEP and Kiva's other Field Partners. To learn more about microfinance and poverty in Viet Nam check out the recent Passport Series on the Kiva Blog.

Photo of borrower, Ngoc, from Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.

This Mother’s Day, make a loan that helps mothers around the world! Or give the important people in your life a Kiva Card so that they support mothers worldwide too.

The Social Performance in Action series is designed to share stories from the field that demonstrate the amazing work our partners are doing to meet a range of client needs.