Ghana Week 4

This week, our work has definitely picked up. Since we finished our second-time loan classes in Wekpeti and Ekorso, we completed business plans for each of the eligible recipients for a second loan. After those were approved, we worked on writing up the loan agreements. On Wednesday, we were able to issue loans to all the pods in the two villages.

Our first loan class in Asamama is getting better and better. We’ve gone from 100 students down to about 60. In the beginning, it was difficult to get to know the students because of the large class size, but as the class shrinks, it’s becoming better. There are also fewer distractions, and the students who attend are genuinely interested in the material that we are teaching. They are also turning in better homework with each lesson. We are beginning to look into their businesses now to see which of the students would be best for loans.

Finally, on Thursday, we traveled to Asunafo to provide rebates to two pods who completed all of their payments early and in full. They are under the best loan collector we currently have, Benjamin. Next week, we are planning to go and talk with the past loan recipients of Asunafo to see if there is potential for a second-loan class there.

All is well in Abomosu, especially after we got the ledger and database all figured out and aligned. We had some confusion with the cashbook, but it was great to get it all worked out. It was neat for us interns to have the opportunity to look at the ledger and to problem solve for information that was imputed before we were here. There are no differences now!