wfn.org | Church banks on initiative

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

July 11, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

July 11, 2001

Church banks on initiative in waterfront communities

JESUKO, Benin (MBM)  In this watery village near a city of 1
million people, Moise Ahlonsou knows that an investment as small
as $20 (U.S.) can transform people forever.

Sitting in his two-room shack perched on stilts above Benins
largest lagoon, 31-year-old Ahlonsou (whose name is translated
Moses) is working with MBM to release the shackles of economic
dependency faced by families in this fishing village of 900
people.

Working with Steve Wiebe-Johnson, MBM West Africa coordinator,
Ahlonsou created six community banks, including one here begun in
1995.  Each bank makes available loans of $20 to $100 to support
small fishing and commercial enterprises by residents.

If you want to start something, you have to start it small,
said Ahlonsou, a member of an African-initiated congregation and
student at the MBM-founded Benin Bible Institute.  Our goal,
first of all, is to reach the people who are the most poor.  They
want to change the condition of their lives themselves.

His neighbor, Theresa Aulessi, with a loan of about $20, bought
ingredients to prepare a cassava-and-sauce dish for sale in a
nearby market.  The profit enabled her to establish an ongoing
source of income to feed her family.  But thats not all.

Through contact with people of the community bank, she had the
gospel shared with her and became a Christian, Wiebe-Johnson
said.  The fact that the community bank was open to her whether
she was a church member or not made her open to the gospel.

Although named to honor Jesus, Jesuko (Jesus village) provides
little economic hope for those who live above Lake Nokoue near
Cotonou, the nations largest city.  In a country where annual
per-capita income is about $400 (U.S.), there is little promise
of a bright future.
When not on fishing boats, Jesukos children play barefoot in the
waste-infested shallow water along the lakes shoreline.  Only 10
kilometers (6.2 miles) from Ganvie, a world-famous waterfront
community of 30,000 known as the African Venice, Jesuko seems a
world apart from many of the 42 villages along Lake Nokoue.

Ahlonsou has proven that these banks are a good investment.  MBM
provides up to $500 per bank.  With several hundred loans, the
banks have a 95-percent repayment rate.  Many loan recipients are
committed Christians whose offerings support the church in their
home communities.  Others, like Aulessi, have become Christians
as they have experienced a church that cares about their physical
needs as well as their spiritual concerns.

These loans completely change peoples outlooks on their lives,
Wiebe-Johnson said.  A small loan fills them with hope and
optimism about the future.  A small amount transforms whole
situations.  ... It is incredible to me to think that a loan
smaller than $20 can change a persons life that much.

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Tom Price        PHOTO AVAILABLE