In an e-mail Jo Crocker received on 6 January 2012, Caroline Hart explained how the Make It Grow money will be used:

Thank you very much for the beautiful ‘Make it Grow’ pack you made and sent me a copy of.  It is lovely to see what you are doing, and all the thought and care that has gone into this. Any money raised from Make It Grow will go towards new microcredit schemes for women who have had no harvest this year.  It has been a really terrible drought year, and has only rained three times for many families, so crops have died.  The money raised from the microcredit activities will help the women to buy food for the family, so it will be really helpful in offsetting food crisis in 2012.  The next harvest won't be until Oct 2012.   We are also buying stocks of grain for the women to buy, as this is already three times the normal price due to shortage, and is likely to rise even more.

Thank you for all your wonderfully kind efforts on our behalf.

Very best wishes for 2012.

Caroline

How can we really stand in the shoes of these men and women in the Dogon region of Mali as they face parched land, dead crops, food crisis?  They are our neighbour today! Giving money to buy a meal is helpful but gone after the meal.

4 months in

ü  15 loans (amounting to about £90) taken out and repaid

ü  Over £500 sent to The Joliba Trust! 

'Good effort!' all children and young people at United.

And now it is the turn of the rest of us to have a go!  If you haven't already got one, please ask for a Make It Grow pack – it explains exactly how it all works!

The process of Make it Grow is based on the microcredit system which the Joliba Trust operates for rural people in Mali.

We have the Make It Grow Bank.  Church Meeting agreed to money being available for loans of around £10–20.  This amount is negotiable – come with your plan to persuade us of what you need!

So, think, have an idea of something you could make or do that others might pay for. You can do this on your own, or with a friend.  If you know you want to be involved but can't think of how, please talk to one of the World Action Group – we'll know what others are doing or have suggested, and we might be able to link you up with someone. 

v  Estimate how much it will cost you to buy resources for it that you haven't already got or can get hold of (e.g. re-using and recycling).

v  Plan who you can sell to and where.

v  Bring your plan to the bank to take out your loan. 

v  Make your idea grow by carrying out your plan.

v  Pay back your loan when you can. 

v  Keep making or doing and selling until you want to pay your profit to the bank who will send it to The Joliba Trust.

This is a different way of giving!

Our two years with the Joliba Trust has included a range of activities to raise awareness of, and money for, their work – including Come Dine with Us meals in a couple of weeks and the Pancake Bake in February!!  We really hope that Make it Grow is more than just a way to make money.