Helping women build a future in Myanmar/Burma
Goal: $40,000
The well established Mothers’ Union of the Anglican Province of Myanmar, under Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo, has run a small-scale, highly successful savings and loan program for impoverished Mothers’ Union members and others in the Diocese of Yangon for several years. Now, with ARDFC’s support and the expertise of Five Talents, they will be able to expand the program, offering women in poverty in four additional dioceses – including those devastated by the 2008 typhoon – the opportunity to achieve economic independence and stability.
While Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country, the Anglican Mothers’ Union is active and flourishing with 8500 members. The Mothers Union offers a variety of church-based social programs in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma and is a developing country in South-East Asia with an average annual per capita income of $220.
Savings and loan associations offer education, business and skills training, income-generating activities, savings initiatives and ongoing support.
Commenting on his research into the Mothers’ Unions’ micro-lending program while visiting Myanmar in 2011, Canon Daryl Fenton of the ACNA noted that the program has had “good success” and was all undertaken by local leadership. He said, “Throughout, they maintained high ethical standards… It was transformative to the lives of the families of the women in the village who were able to establish small businesses.”