The Benefactors The climb was was a fantastic challenge, but the most popular aspect of the trip was getting to know the women whose lives have been transformed, such as: Agnes Agnes, used her loan to buy chickens, which she rears and sells fried in the village. She now also rears goats and pigs, and is doing a roaring trade. She plans to build a house for her family and can now afford the fees to send her six children to school; Daphine Daphine and her friends undertook a course in bee- keeping, and used their loan to buy beehives. The men assist with some of the manual work, leaving the women to tend their 50 hives; Alena Market traders rely heavily on their bikes and need them to work properly to get their wares to market. With her loan, Alena opened a bicycle repair shop which helps to keep these traders in business and her family fed. Keeping health-care providers’ bikes running is a special source of pride to her, as she is playing a small role in saving lives. One of the UK’s leading energy suppliers, and one of the Top 30 largest companies in the UK, approached us about a Charity Challenge for their staff. The company wanted an activity that would offer a physical challenge to participants, but also enabled them to spend time and get to know the recipients of their fund-raising. A perfect fit for the energy company was with one of our community partners, the Micro-Loan Foundation. This charity provides small loans to women entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses in Malawi. An essential element of the challenge was to enable the participants to interact with these women, hear their stories, and witness how they are providing for their families in sustainable ways, thanks to the loans they have received. Initially the group was limited to 20 people. However, promotion of the Challenge proved so successful that we were asked to run another trip. This second challenge was also opened to the public. Having identified a great partner organization, we developed a variety of trip options, from which the company chose an 8 day itinerary, which consisted of: An introduction to Lilongwe A four-day challenge trek up Mt Mulanje Relaxation on Lake Malawi Time spent interacting with the loan recipients Mt Mulanje, is the highest mountain in Malawi. It rises sharply from the surrounding plains of Chiradzulu, and the tea-growing Mulanje district, with a maximum elevation of 3,002m. Our local guides safely led the group through the steep terrain to the top on the 3rd day of the hike – a fantastic achievement for all the participants. The Outcome Over £50,000 ($85,000) was raised for the Micro-Loan Foundation. All the participants returned home encouraged and inspired to continue fund-raising and be long-term advocates for the Micro-Loan Foundation, especially once the blisters healed! Energy giant staff get energized to help female entrepreneurs in Malawi Travel with a transforming touch [email protected]

Charity challenge to benefit women entrepreneurs

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Take a look at how some energetic employees of an energy company managed to raise more than $85’000 for a micro-loan organization that supports the endeavors of entrepreneurs.

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Page 1: Charity challenge to benefit women entrepreneurs

The BenefactorsThe climb was was a fantastic challenge, but the most popular aspect of the trip was getting to know the women whose lives have been transformed, such as:

AgnesAgnes, used her loan to buy chickens, which she rears and sells fried in the village. She now also rears goats and pigs, and is doing a roaring trade. She plans to build a house for her family and can now afford the fees to send her six children to school;

DaphineDaphine and her friends undertook a course in bee- keeping, and used their loan to buy beehives. The men assist with some of the manual work, leaving the women to tend their 50 hives;

AlenaMarket traders rely heavily on their bikes and need them to work properly to get their wares to market. With her loan, Alena opened a bicycle repair shop which helps to keep these traders in business and her family fed. Keeping health-care providers’ bikes running is a special source of pride to her, as she is playing a small role in saving lives.

One of the UK’s leading energy suppliers, and one of the Top 30 largest companies in the UK, approached us about a Charity Challenge for their staff. The company wanted an activity that would offer a physical challenge to participants, but also enabled them to spend time and get to know the recipients of their fund-raising.

A perfect fit for the energy company was with one of our community partners, the Micro-Loan Foundation. This charity provides small loans to women entrepreneurs to start or expand businesses in Malawi.

An essential element of the challenge was to enable the participants to interact with these women, hear their stories, and witness how they are providing for their families in sustainable ways, thanks to the loans they have received.

Initially the group was limited to 20 people. However, promotion of the Challenge proved so successful that we were asked to run another trip.

This second challenge was also opened to the public.

Having identified a great partner organization, we developed a variety of trip options, from which the company chose an 8 day itinerary, which consisted of:

An introduction to Lilongwe A four-day challenge trek up Mt Mulanje Relaxation on Lake Malawi Time spent interacting with the loan recipients

Mt Mulanje, is the highest mountain in Malawi. It rises sharply from the surrounding plains of Chiradzulu, and the tea-growing Mulanje district, with a maximum elevation of 3,002m. Our local guides safely led the group through the steep terrain to the top on the 3rd day of the hike – a fantastic achievement for all the participants.

The OutcomeOver £50,000 ($85,000) was raised for the Micro-Loan Foundation. All the participants returned home encouraged and inspired to continue fund-raising and be long-term advocates for the Micro-Loan Foundation, especially once the blisters healed!

Energy giant staff get energized to help female entrepreneurs in Malawi

Travel with a transforming [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]