Microloan Program

Loans assist men, women, women’s clubs, farmers’ groups, and nearly every adult in the chiefdom to set up or improve small businesses and thereby increase their incomes so they can feed their families and send their children to school. In the microloan project, the community contribution is that anyone receiving a microloan has a designated day between each loan cycle to bring us water for our home use (for washing dishes, bathing, cooking, drinking, laundering) as well to water our garden.

income generating activities

bee-keeping

beginning a shop

sewing

produce gardening

Zambia’s Microloan Program utilizes the honesty and motivation of the rural people of Simwatachela. If the recipient repays the loan, they will be considered for additional loans of increasing amounts.

Failure to pay the loans back on time results in a weekly penalty fee of 10% of the loan amount, every week the loan is not paid back on time, paid to SSAAP for future loans and to add to our loan pool. This has been the law with SSAAP Microloans since the origin of our Microloan Program in 2015, and has worked well ever since; we have never changed our policy on this, as it provides incentive for Loanees to return their loans on time. 

Lista Chakombelezya

Lista is SSAAP’s microloan poster woman: losing both her parents within 6 months of each other to AIDS at the age of 12. Then her uncle hung himself and her auntie died. Lista was separated from her siblings as they were dispersed through the village. Lista completed grade 4, but was sold into marriage at the age of 16 to a polygamist with 2 wives and 7 children. At age 21, Lista now has a 5 year old son, and an 18 month old son, yet applied for a loan to begin a small business.