“Enabling the enterprising poor to set up small businesses by providing business training alongside savings and microloan facilities.”
This is the mission statement of London-based charity Five Talents, and on Monday 12th March we were privileged to hear from their Programme Manager, Rachel Lindley, as part of this years Women of Influence series.
Rachel role takes her regularly out to East Africa where she supports Five Talents partners as they implement savings, credit and training programmes in excluded communities. However, Rachel did not share with her anything of her own story, but instead chose to share with us the stories of those women who she has met women who by setting up their own small business have become Women of Influence in their community.
Women such as Monica, who used her first loan to buy a barrel of petrol and now owns a petrol pump; Rael, who having set up a tailoring business saw an opportunity to expand by selling shoes and kitchen utensils to waiting customers; and Olive, who built her and her daughters a toilet with the profits from her business. It was truly inspiring, and Rachel finished by encouraging us to consider what we could achieve given how many opportunities we have.
Thank you Rachel for visiting us at FHS!
