{"id":800,"date":"2019-04-24T09:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T09:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cordaid.org\/en\/?p=800"},"modified":"2022-08-31T12:18:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T12:18:47","slug":"investing-in-the-future-of-myanmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/news\/investing-in-the-future-of-myanmar\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in the future of Myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Natural beauty and cultural treasures have been attracting visitors from all over the world to Myanmar in recent years. Yet a large number of people there still struggle with major challenges due to conflict, natural disasters and poverty. Cordaid supports microfinance institutions in Myanmar and helps thousands of underserved rural families survive and create a better future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Son Noing and his wife Aye Aye Thwin working on their rice field in the Irawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar. Cordaid Investments – March 2019. Photo: Mickael Franci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With a stern look in her eyes, Aye Aye Thwin urges her daughter to sit by her. It is hot and humid in the family\u2019s wooden hut, but mother and daughter still snuggle up when Aye Aye starts telling about that horrific day in May 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyclone Nargis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

They still remember it like it was yesterday. Just like everyone else in the Irawaddy Delta who survived the disaster. Cyclone Nargis destroyed nearly everything in its path, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Houses were swept away, land became unusable, infrastructure got destroyed and lives were ruined: Nargis had hit the farmers in southern Myanmar like nothing had ever before. Many of them still haven\u2019t fully recovered from this traumatic experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you survive a disaster of such magnitude, how do you pick up the pieces of your life again? Where do you even start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were desperate,\u201d says 45-year-old Aye Aye Thwin. She lives in the Irawaddy Delta, together with her husband Son Noing and their 14-year-old daughter. The family generates income by growing rice and selling food to the villagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Microloans
Aye Aye Thwin and her daughter. Many residents of Myanmar use the bark of the thanaka tree to care for and protect their facial skin. Photo: Mickael Franci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the cyclone, we wanted to reconstruct our business as quickly as possible. That\u2019s why we started borrowing money from a person who turned out to be a loan shark. The interest rates were so high that we had no money left to sustain ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proximity Finance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To break this cycle of poverty, aid organizations decided to step up. In 2004, Proximity Designs<\/a> was launched with a commitment to creating a social business for Myanmar\u2019s underserved rural families. After the destruction of Nargis, they established a new branch to provide microloans: Proximity Finance. Cordaid supports farmers in Myanmar through Proximity Finance and other microfinance institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith microloans, we help the poor and vulnerable population and by doing this, we help the country advance.\u201d<\/p>

Aye Pyae Sone Tun, Proximity Finance<\/small><\/p> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With loans of between US $ 200 and $ 600 per crop cycle, farmers can purchase important items such as seeds and equipment, as well as cover other costs such as medical bill or school supplies for the children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith microloans, we help the poor and vulnerable population and by doing this, we help the country advance,\u201d says Aye Pyae Sone Tun, assistant operational manager at Proximity Finance. \u201cThe loans have established a formal financial structure in the region. Previously there were major problems with the loan sharks. When people weren\u2019t able to pay the loans back with high interest rates, their farmland would be taken from them. This caused extreme poverty and many families became homeless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to much lower interest rates, Proximity Finance offers its clients extra support, like training courses to learn how to farm more efficiently. This helps the farmers to increase their harvests and increase their income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aye Pyae Sone Tun: \u201cThanks to the commitment of our local loan officers to the clients, the farmers can grow their businesses again. This helps the entire region to successfully progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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