Youth Credit Supports Youth Business

: A young person who runs a small business

: A friend of Geraldo

: A young woman who started a credit collective in her village

: Finding jobs and earning income can be difficult for young people today. This is especially true in rural areas. Many young people leave their villages to look for jobs in the bigger cities. When this happens, villages lose energy and ideas. Here’s a story about young people who found a way to earn a living in their community.

MUSICAL BREAK.

: Hello! Is anyone home? Hey, Geraldo. Are you there? Hello!

: Hey, Miguel! It’s great to see you! What are you doing here?

: The school soccer team is playing our rivals. Do you want to go?

: Sounds great, but I can’t go right now. I have some work to do.

: Work work work! You are always doing work. Me, I can never find enough work to do. What are you doing now, Geraldo?

: I’m making money, that’s what I’m doing.

: Are you joking? There’s not money to make in this village.

: Sure there is. You just have to look for it.

: Let me tell you, Geraldo, I have looked for ways to make money in this village and I have found nothing. That’s why I’m moving to the city next month. I’m going to look for work there. A lot of our friends have already left.

: Our village is really losing something when all the young people leave. Honestly, I don’t think that life in the city is much better. You are far away from your family and your friends. You have to pay for rent and food, and many of the jobs don’t pay well.

: What am I supposed to do? My family depends on me to earn income; we rarely earn enough money from the rice we grow.

: There are other ways to earn money right here in the village. Why don’t you come with me and let me show you what I’m talking about.

: Okay, but it better be good. I’m missing a soccer game for this, Geraldo.

MUSICAL BREAK.

: Young people often have very creative ideas for earning income, but they lack the money to put their ideas into practice. Geraldo had a terrific idea for a small business. He thought he could keep some of his family’s rice harvest for processing into rice desserts that they could sell at the local market. The desserts would earn a higher price than selling the rice alone.

MUSICAL BREAK (Sounds of a village market).

: What are we doing here? I don’t need to buy anything at the market right now. I thought you were going to tell me about your money-making idea.

: I am. That is why we’ve come to the market. I want to explain my new business to you.

: Your what? Did you say business? What do you know about running a business? You have only just finished school.

: You don’t have to be old to do business, Miguel. In fact, I think young people make excellent business people because we are open to new ideas.

: You had better explain this to me because I find it difficult to believe that you are running a business.

: After I finished school, I couldn’t find work in the village. I helped my family with our rice crop, but I wanted to do something else. When I went to sell the rice at the market, I saw that rice desserts were selling very well.

: Hey, those are my favourites.

: Everyone likes them. If you spend time here at the market, like I do, you will notice that the rice desserts are always selling out. When I saw this I got the idea to save some of my family’s rice harvest to make desserts to sell in the village. I thought I could earn extra money for my family. But I had a problem …

: I know the problem, you don’t know how to cook!

: (laughing) Very funny, Miguel. No, that’s not it. The problem was that I needed to buy other food ingredients and packaging for my desserts. These things cost money. My parents could not afford to help me. So I went to the bank for a loan, but they wouldn’t give me one.

: Why not?

: Even for adults, it’s not easy to get bank loans, but it’s nearly impossible for young people. The bank told me I was too young and too inexperienced to get a loan. They did not trust that I could repay the money. That’s when I remembered about the Youth Credit Collective that my friend, Nadia, started in our village.

: (confused) Nadia? I think I know her. She started a credit…a credit… what? This is confusing.

: Don’t worry. Actually it’s easy to understand, but I think you should meet Nadia for yourself. She explains things much better than I can. Her house isn’t far, let’s go and talk to her.

MUSICAL BREAK.

: The Youth Credit Collective gives loans to young people to help them start small businesses. It is organized and run by other young people. The loans are called “credit.” Nadia and five friends started their credit collective by pooling a little of their money together every month. Eventually their fund grew large enough so that they could give out small loans. Everyone that receives a loan is charged a fee for borrowing the money. This fee is called “interest.” Charging interest helps the fund to grow bigger. This way the Youth Credit Collective can give loans to other young people in the community.

MUSICAL BREAK.

: Hi, Nadia! How are you?

: Great to see you, Geraldo. Who is this? Someone else with a business idea?

: This is Miguel. I was just explaining my rice dessert business to him and how the Youth Credit Collective helped me to get started. I thought he should meet you for himself. Miguel, this is Nadia.

: Nice to meet you, Nadia. I’m surprised to hear my friend Geraldo has turned into a businessman. It makes me think, if he can do it, maybe I can too. I want to know what this credit collective is all about.

: The goal of the Youth Credit Collective is to help young people in our village. Anyone is welcome. But you have to have a good plan for an income generating activity.

: Is that how Geraldo got involved?

: That’s right. Geraldo was one of the first people to approach us about getting a loan. We saw he was an energetic young man who had a good plan for a dessert business. But he needed money to get it started.

: I talked to the Youth Credit Collective about my idea of selling rice desserts. I told them how I was going to use the loan to buy the things I needed to start my business, such as food ingredients, cooking utensils and plastic bags for packaging. They agreed to give me a loan.

: We worked together to decide how and when Geraldo would pay back the loan and pay the interest.

: The Youth Credit Collective sounds like a good idea, but I can see there could be problems. What if someone cannot pay back their loan?

: This can happen. Sometimes people have problems they cannot control. For example, bad weather might destroy their crop, or a relative may become ill and they can no longer spend time on their business. Together we discuss the best way to repay the loan. Even if it’s just making small payments over a long time, it’s important to pay the money back so that other people can borrow money in the future.

: So tell me, Geraldo, is your dessert business really working?

: Yes it is, Miguel! (Laughing) Don’t be so surprised!

: Geraldo has learned new skills like accounting, food processing, decision-making, and selling. Now he helps other young people in the community start their business ideas. It is hard work, but it’s paying off.

: Hearing about your business, Geraldo, makes me think it is possible for us to stay in our villages and earn money … but we have to work together to do it. Thank you to both of you for the information. I think I had better get home — I have some business planning to do!

MUSICAL BREAK.

: You can find out about opportunities for borrowing money by joining a youth group in your area, and talking to your local government and other organizations about business ideas. Remember, young people have good ideas! And anything is possible with a little help.

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