Page 3 - Microfinance Fund - Eric C. Douglass Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies

SuCCESS STORY
In the village of Moshi, Tanzania, Royal Roads University alumni have created three micro businesses now run by local entrepreneurs. One is an edible mushroom-growing business,
already supplementing ten local farmers’ incomes by approximately 25%. Another venture is a women’s hair salon and eye care centre, employing three villagers. e owner’s monthly income has increased by roughly 700% - as well as providing the crucial service of referring several dozen women with ocular health problems to the local eye hospital. In the third business, local HIV- positive women produce jewelry – made of magazines! e paper is torn into strips, rolled up and glued into paper beads. is brightly colored, inexpensive jewelry is very popular with tourists and locals alike. Early data shows that this business has improved its proprietors’ standard of living dramatically: household income has increased by a factor of 17. Even more heartening, we’ve recently received word that all of these local entrepreneurs are now able to send their children to secondary school, using their new income to pay tuition fees and purchase uniforms.
Now in year two of the Tanzania project, new Royal Roads Fellows are taking these micro businesses to the next level. ey will once again be working with local villagers to expand and grow these proven businesses to other communities. e legacy continues.
MOSHI, TANzANIA PHOTO: VANjA lAlIC