Credit programmes relate commonly to income generation activities, but the DW Vietnam experience shows that strengthening the house is considered just as important an investment. Families have both been ready to borrow to recude the risk of looses and thus be able to channel their scant savings to income genration, not repairs and reconstruction.
In Vietnam between 2001-03 DW tested the potential of making special sources of credit available to families in order for them to strengthen their home agants the risk of typhoon damage.
Helping women potters in West Africa save 90% energy and make a better living
Nearly every small dusty village in northern Burkina Faso is home to one or more small groups of female potters. These hard working women produce the ceramic water jars, the pots to store food and other objects, and the traditional tubular gutters used on flat mud roofed houses. Selling their surplus is a vital complementary source of income, bringing in much needed cash in the harsh dry season and helping stave off starvation for the family.
