New hope for HIV families

Families who have lost their main breadwinner through HIV/AIDS are being offered a lifeline thanks to a pioneering scheme launched by UK-based volunteer organisation, MondoChallenge, which provides business grants and dedicated training services for families in Tanzania devastated by HIV.

The program is a joint venture between MondoChallenge and the Arusha-based Tanzania Capital Boosting Association (TCBA), with whom MondoChallenge and its volunteers operate a consulting practice and 'Micro-Credit Program' for local entrepreneurs. Funds for the micro-credit programme have come from UK benefactors who share MondoChallenge's vision of the effectiveness of small-scale finance linked to hands-on training. The business expertise is provided by MondoChallenge volunteers, most of whom are business professionals in the UK or USA who take extended sabbaticals to work at the TCBA and on MondoChallenge's various projects throughout the developing world.

The HIV/AIDS Family Business Grant Program has been developed by MondoChallenge and the TCBA in association with the Global Alliance for Africa (GAA) and is the very first of its kind in Tanzania to provide business capital to AIDS-affected families.

The primary objective of the FBGP project is to facilitate sustainable income-generating activities within families who have lost breadwinners to AIDS, thereby fostering a spirit of self-reliance and independence. By focusing on the growth of existing family businesses through the provision of vital capital at this crucial and difficult time, the FBGP is helping sustainable development within Tanzania, a country which presently has over two million sufferers of HIV/AIDS. Despite their personal loss, local families are able to continue to build their businesses in the wake of their breadwinner's death, thereby reaping lasting benefits. Increased profits from these enterprises subsequently enable families to pay for necessities which would otherwise have been beyond their financial reach. This, in turn, gives them the confidence and ability to expand their businesses into larger concerns, securing a sustainable source of income for their whole family's future.

Initial distribution of the funds for the pilot project was made to eleven Tanzanian families whose grants were funded by the GAA. In the next phase of the program, (scheduled this month) the FBGP will provide funds to another 30 families who have lost their primary breadwinner to AIDS.

Potential beneficiaries of the HIV/AIDS Family Business Grant Program are identified and assisted in co-operation with local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) such as Women In Action, who specialise in the provision of care to HIV/AIDS patients and their families at a grass-roots level.

In order to be considered eligible for financial aid from this micro-credit program applicants must fulfil the essential application criteria which include: the proven loss of their major breadwinner to AIDS within the past two years; a verifiable use of funds within an existing business and support from one of approximately six TCBA-approved local NGOs/CBOs.

Representatives of these local organisations meet with families whom they believe meet the requisite criteria in order to assess their prospects for viable, sustainable income-generation and potential beneficiaries undergo a comprehensive application process. Upon successful review and acceptance into the program, families who receive grants are required to attend three training seminars conducted by MondoChallenge/TCBA to hone their business acumen and streamline their business' efficiency, including the 'Principles of Marketing', bookkeeping skills and standard accounting practices.

The MondoChallenge alliance aims to expand its capacity for support of HIV/AIDS families by forging a larger collaborative network with local organisations within Tanzania and by implementing the FBGP on a broader scale throughout the country, giving hope and assistance to even more families.

"This programme is of great importance," says Anthony Lunch, founder and director of MondoChallenge. "It shows that small budgets can provide worthwhile results and make a measurable difference to people who really need assistance. The secret is in the management of the money: linking the aid to volunteers on the ground makes a huge difference and is the way MondoChallenge works."

Last modified: November 06, 2003.
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