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Lumana Fellows: Meet Xiaohan

Submitted by alexberg on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 9:23am
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Xiaohan Zhang sacrificed time, comfort, and resources to spend his summer volunteering with Lumana in rural Ghana. As a junior at the University of Washington in Seattle studying economics and international studies, Xiaohan found out about Lumana at a microfinance career fair earlier this year, applied for a fellowship, and has been involved ever since.

Microfinance is particularly interesting to him because of the benefits created for both the generous donations from philanthropists as well as the investment methods of private businesses. Bridging the gap between non-profit and for-profit has been part of the reason microfinance has been so effective in creating a sustainable method to reduce the disparity in income inequalities and decrease poverty in developing countries.

Xiaohan traveled to Ghana this summer to apply through his passion for economics and help grow Lumana’s microfinance operations. By collecting data and living with the locals, Xiaohan had an incredible experience that allowed him to participate in global development on the ground with those who are being affected the greatest.

“While I’ve blogged extensively about PPIs, job shadows, interviews, and all things Lumana over the past two months, the work that I’ve conducted only tells half the story of my experience in Ghana. The people and culture is something that I will never forget.”

To read more about Xiaohan’s experience working with Lumana in Ghana—check out his blog: http://xiaohanzhang.wordpress.com

Featured Client Stephen Adzika

Submitted by Chad Skeers on Wed, 12/23/2009 - 12:00am

Stephen is a master Kente weaver and one of the few Atorkor experts of the trade. He is part of the Good Future Cooperative together with 3 other borrowers, who at this time still work under Stephen’s supervision for quality control and guidance.

Kente is the art of intertwining colored cotton threads to create beautiful woven patterns. The trade has suffered greatly from cheap substitutes. Thousands of yards of printed Kente cloths are commercialized in Accra which cannibalizes the sales of original pieces. Real Kente cloth is still considered elegant, however, and is sought after as ceremonial attire.

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Our experience with Stephen made us realize the need for additional credit offerings. Capital needs change continually for Kente weavers. Since most work is done on contract, weavers have unpredictable revenue streams, which make it difficult to fit them on a regular 6-month loan cycle. Materials are bought in Accra and the lack of on-hand materials forces the weavers to absorb the cost of traveling to the city to buy them as needed, thus increasing costs without increasing revenues sometimes to break-even point. We believe this challenge will be overcome if we are able to offer our weavers a fixed amount line of credit.

Stephen has promised that he will do his best to train his 10-year old son, Godwin, to continue this beautiful work. He says, “I only make small money so I think he will be better off learning computer skills, but I will still try to train him”. We are grateful for the opportunity to help keep this craft alive.