Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR), is an independent, American-based, Quaker not-for-profit organization that IQFA has supported for many years.

RSWR gives grants to groups of marginalized women in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and India to fund individual micro-enterprise projects.

New Baraka Self Help Group is located in a poor, rural area of Siaya County, Kenya, near Lake Victoria.  All of the 25 women in the group grew up in the local village and have lived their whole lives there.  They are all married or widowed with 5-9 children each.  They formed the group so that they could start a savings and loaning program to give loans to each other to help their small businesses. The businesses include small retail shops selling everything from fish to secondhand shoes.  Some of the women run hair salons and others raise poultry. Some have small eateries where they sell cooked food.  NBSHG received their RSWR funds at the end of June 2023, after receiving two training sessions from the RSWR Kenya Team.  One was a training in Group Dynamics which helped them understand how to best organize their group and handle interpersonal relationships.  They also learned how to manage a revolving loan fund.  The second training was a day-long training in running a small-scale business.  I have attached a picture of the women listening to Lotan Migaliza, the RSWR business trainer.

Right now, the women have organized their loaning program and all of the women have received their first loans of Ksh.10,000 (€64).  These small “tester” loans are usually paid back in six months. Once those loans are paid back, the women can take larger loans of Ks.20,000 (€128)

You can find out more about Right Sharing of World Resources HERE