Partnership Overview

Bukavu is a city of around 1 million people in the East of the DR Congo. It is a centre around which there is a great deal of rebel activity. Many women are left as widows and they struggle to make ends meet and care for their children. ACLUP (Association Chretienne pour la Lutte Contre la Pauvrete - Christian Organization for the Fight Against Poverty) seeks to identify the poorest Christian women and assist them to establish and operate small businesses so they can become financially independent. 

ACLUP was created from the vision of some members of the chaplaincy church at the Marine Military Base of Bukavu. They were concerned with how to address the poverty which was observed among the Christian community. The leaders of the chaplaincy church observed a large number of military and police wives and widows who were very poor and this became a burden for them. As a result, the pastor considered this an emergency and invited these people to meet. The first meeting was in mid-June 2015 and ACLUP was formed in January 2016 after consulting all the members who had shown a desire to be part of it. It was felt the church needed to be a place where people are assisted both spiritually and physically and so a way was formed to bring a sustainable solution to the poverty observed among the members. 

45% of the children of urban members currently do not have access to education and 70% in the rural areas. This partnership will indirectly assist by reducing the rate of illiteracy in the families of the members. 

Before ACLUP distributes loans to the members they are trained in regard to how to manage a loan and how to manage their business and repayments.  

History of Partnership

BHW's New Partnership Facilitator (NPF) has known Paulin since 2014 when he first visited Burundi and Paulin was working with our partner there, HAWODI (BUR01). He attended some of Paulin's training sessions and visited a number of projects with him. Since that time he has kept in touch with him. In 2015 Paulin shifted from Burundi back to the DR Congo because of his family and for work with a university. 

Paulin has continued to communicate with BHW's NPF and has kept him up-to-date with developments with ACLUP. It took another 4 years before BHW's NPF was able to visit in 2019 when he spent time with Paulin and the team understanding how the program was set up and how it operated. Following that visit, and subsequent ongoing communication, in June 2020 BHW's Executive approved commencing a partnership with ACLUP.  

Beneficiaries

Initially the beneficiaries were only those from military backgrounds with many of the women being widows of military personnel. However, it has spread wider than this now with a number of groups involved. 

Urban Women: Currently there are 240 women in this group and they are selected from the different areas where ACLUP operate. Primarily they are widows and those from the very poorest families, the majority being members of Christian churches. They must be experienced in running a business for over 3 years and deposit a weekly contribution to the loan program. This type of beneficiary is able to have different markets in which they can run their business easily. 

Rural Women: These beneficiaries are those in areas some distance from a town and represent the largest number of members, currently there are 400 members in this group. They are poorer and find it more difficult to repay their loans as their markets are smaller and they are more exposed. The majority of these women are from poor families, widows and disabled. 

Small Business Men: 110 men operate in urban centres and 50 men in rural areas.  

What We Like About The Partnership

There is a good team in place. They are well organised and already functioning well.
They are ministering to many people that are our focus, the poorest of the poor.
They operate in an area we are very interested in. The DR Congo is an important country for BHW to be well represented in.
They have good communication skills in English.

Key People

Leadership Profile
Paulin Murhimanya Bashombana was born 1978 in the city of Bukavu. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration, and a Bachelor's degree in Administrative and Economic Sciences. He is a lecturer at different universities in Burundi and DR Congo and a founding member of the ACLUP. Paulin is married with five children, two daughters and three boys. 

Paulin has a good knowledge of the problems of the population of the Great Lakes (Burundi, Rwanda and DR Congo) and has conducted several trainings for vulnerable women in regard to loan programs in various organizations in Burundi and South Kivu. In particular, he was employed by HAWODI in Burundi as a part-time financial director from 2011 up to 2015. 

As a member of ACLUP he is in charge of Administration and Finances (full time). 

Other People Involved

All the staff are volunteers and are involved in a full-time capacity. 

Matena Bongomba, Jean Paul:  Jean Paul is the President of the Board and coordinates all the activities of the organization. He is driven by a big heart to help Christians get out of poverty. He is one of the founding members who had the vision of helping others by creating the Christian Association in the Fight Against Poverty. 

Ntabola Babwine, Patrick: Patrick is involved as the Projects Director. Together with Jean Paul they identify needs and guide the projects for the good of the beneficiaries. He is in charge of setting up new projects when required. Patrick is a journalist by profession and obtained his Bachelor's degree in Organization's Communication.    

Ciza Rusaki, Audrey: Audrey is in charge of Training, Follow up and Evaluation. He visits the activities of the members in the entire province wherever they are. Audrey has graduated university with a Bachelor in Agronomic Sciences.  

Asifiwe Walamire, Esperance: Esperance is the Treasurer of ACLUP. Every week when members are contributing she is there to collect the money paid, and does transactions by distributing loans to those in need under the supervision of Paulin. 

Vision And Annual Strategy

Vision 

The vision of ACLUP is to reduce the poverty of its members by lending money for the establishment and growth of small scale enterprises, particularly supporting vulnerable women and orphans.

Strategy

ACLUP runs a loan program named Tuungane Project which has 800 members. Each member contributes a minimum of US$1 per week and the amount collected is distributed to other members who run small businesses. The maximum amount allowed for a loan is US$100 per person which means approximately 8 persons per week are able to receive loans. However, ACLUP receives at least 60 requests for loans per week which means many cannot be assisted.  

Raising the amount of capital in this loan project will enable them to assist more people, have a greater impact and facilitate economic autonomy to more people in need. Increased capital will also make it possible for them to reduce the rate of interest the members are required to pay.

They expect that many of the families will be able to become self-sustaining. 

Annual Budget

The annual budget here is US$4,840 and these funds will be used to boost the capital in the loan program to enable more people to obtain loans. This is for an initial period of three years.