Credit
Although
commune representatives were originally sceptical that people would contribute
to and participate in the strengthening of their homes, the project has proved
that people very ready to participate in the process of strengthening through
labour and cash inputs.
As well, families have also wanted to borrow money in order to cover their contribution in the short term. Household surveys have also shown that because no formal credit facility existed to pay for strengthening the home, families have had to go to informal moneylenders, who charge high repayment rates. DW concluded that this caused hardship and that the project needed to demonstrate that a dedicated affordable source of credit for house strengthening could work successfully: the result is that it does.
Credit programmes relate more commonly to income generation activities, but the indications are that strengthening the house is considered just as important an investment, and families have both been ready to borrow sums in the order of 100 US$ and make regular repayments at 0,3% monthly interest.
The credit system is managed by the Commune Damage Prevention Committee in collaboration with the participation of the Women’s and/or Farmers’ Union. The target is to reduce the level of subsidy, but as yet in the communes it is generally considered that until the poorer and most vulnerable families have been helped, a subsidy is needed to enable these families to strengthen their homes.
A longer term goal for DW is to see other organisations take note that people
do repay loans for house strengthening and that they will in turn provide
similar credit opportunities.
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