Community led microlending
Microlending in Kenya, done right.
Zawadisha provides simple but life-changing household items like rainwater tanks, clean cook stoves, and solar lamps to women and their families, through a lending model rooted in local communities.
Helping women stand
on their own two feet
Why it matters
Light after dark, water at her door, a voice that’s heard
Zawadisha gives women in rural Kenya small loans for the things that change a household overnight: water tanks, solar lamps and clean cookstoves. We deliver them to her door, she pays the loan back over time, and the money is lent again to the next woman.
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School fees, not kerosene
Money is spent on school fees for children instead of on kerosene lamps.
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Six hours back in her day
Women can use the six hours they would have spent walking to a river for water, or into the forest for fuel wood, on income-generating activities.
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A stronger voice at home
Women's status in the home is elevated, as they are the ones responsible for the dramatic changes that benefit the entire family.
Before the loan
The Problem
Women, as the primary caregivers in the home, are the ones responsible for collecting water, finding fuel wood, cooking on dangerous rock stoves, and working by toxic kerosene and paraffin lamps.
Their lamps are dim and expensive, and they, along with the three rocks they use to cook on, create poor indoor air quality and cause fires.
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Hours Lost to Water
Up to 20 hours a week go to collecting water, two months of lost labor potential.
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Dangerous Rock Stoves
Cooking over three rocks fills the home with smoke and causes fires.
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Toxic, Costly Light
Kerosene and paraffin lamps are dim, expensive and pollute the air she breathes indoors.
The Solution
The loan isn't cash. It's the thing itself.
Each loan puts a simple, durable household good into a woman's home, along with training on how to generate income from it and get the most out of it.
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Tangi za maji
Rainwater tanks
- Replaces
- Long walks to the river, up to 20 hours of collecting water every week.
- Brings
- Water at home, and her time back for income-generating work.
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Jiko safi
Clean cook stoves
- Replaces
- Cooking over three rocks, with smoky indoor air, fire risk, and constant trips for fuel wood.
- Brings
- A safer kitchen, cleaner air, and fewer hours in the forest.
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Miale ya jua
Solar lamps
- Replaces
- Dim, expensive, and toxic kerosene and paraffin lamps.
- Brings
- Bright, clean light, and money for school fees instead of fuel.
How It Works
High-touch, local, and compassionate
Our approach meets the challenges and needs of rural Kenyan communities. By combining increased access to goods with trainings on how to maximize their use, these women are equipped with the tools they need to drastically improve their lives and the lives of their families.
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1
A gift funds the loan
Donations and 100% of our shop's profits pay for the tanks, stoves, and lamps.
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2
She gets the goods, plus training
Our team in Kenya delivers the item and shows her how to make the most of it.
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3
She repays the loan
The item is hers. The money she repays goes back into the program.
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4
We relend it
Repaid loans fund the next woman, so one gift keeps working again and again.
Neema Women Group · Mwacharo, Kenya
The women behind every loan
Change makers, every one of them. Each loan creates ripples of opportunity for their families and their community.
Our mission
To finance the livelihoods of rural Kenyan women.
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Our mission is to finance the livelihoods of rural Kenyan women.
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Sales from our shop benefit our microlending program in Kenya.
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Zawadisha is a registered 501(c)(3). Our EIN is 46-0583426.
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