The Intersection of Microfinance & Global Health
“What’s Spark got to do with it?”
By: Jessica Malloy and Edna Nandutu
“Spark deals with microfinance, right? What does that have to do with global health?” As Global Health Corps co-fellows placed at Spark Microgrants in Uganda, we have been asked this question in the past year more times than we can count. It’s a deceptively simple question that, when examined, creates space for an in-depth discussion on the complexity and multi-dimensionality of the rapidly growing field of global health.
Spark Microgrants was founded in 2010 to prove that Community Driven Development (CDD) can be done at scale. Since that time, Spark has partnered with over 175 communities in East Africa, guiding them through its three-year Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP), which not only provides grants, but also focuses on building social cohesion and civic engagement. CDD is at the core of Spark’s work because it allows us to make strides toward our vision of a world where everybody lives with dignity and determines their own positive future.
We have made it our mission to enable communities to design and launch their own social impact projects, and we do this by providing them with capacity building trainings and a small microgrant. The process equips them with the tools and skills to not only start, but also to sustain the social impact projects they as a community decide they need. Research shows that inadequate access to capital and credit is one of the main drivers of persistent poverty. By disbursing microgrants, Spark is helping populations who otherwise might not have had access to credit or capital to begin a new venture. Spark communities have successfully launched projects such as health clinics, roads, schools, and agriculture initiatives.
Although we do not implement interventions for diseases like HIV or tuberculosis, our work at Spark plays a critical role in alleviating risk factors for poor health outcomes:
Community Driven Development (CDD)
Through Spark’s CDD programs, we have consistently seen community members gain a sense of ownership and control over their own lives because the major decisions driving their projects are left in their hands. The process arguably boosts emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. The goals that CDD aims to achieve are the same goals that could form global health into its ideal shape: Imagine a world where people speak for themselves, determine what issues are most pressing in their own lives, and have access to a pathway for driving efficient, sustainable, long-term change on those issues. That is what global health needs.
Capacity Building
Spark uses the FCAP, which is a curriculum designed to take our partner communities through a three-year process with Planning, Implementation and Post Implementation phases. Through this process, communities build their capacity to take charge of their social impact projects now and into the future.
A good example of a subject area Spark facilitators teach is financial literacy. This is key to ensuring proper management of the microgrant, and supports the maintenance of independent savings groups that many of the communities launch. The financial literacy training includes sessions on savings management, record keeping, bank training, and developing and maintaining budgets for the communal projects. As a result of this knowledge, many community members have reported positive outcomes like the ability to pay for health insurance, medical treatment, food, and school fees from the savings groups.
“Savings is the most significant [change] because through it I am able to buy health insurance and other basic needs.” -Community Member in Gikingo, Rwanda
Additionally, some community members have demonstrated a forward-thinking mentality in regards to financial security. For example, when asked about how the Spark partnership has affected his family, Joseph, who hails from a community that implemented a dairy project in Uganda, said “When we get the cows, we shall get milk for sale and get money, and through savings at the end of the year, we shall get another cow.”
Not only are trainings like this vital for project success, they build the capacity of communities to advocate for themselves. It is no secret that being well-educated sets you up for a healthier life — providing life skills training to communities increases the possibility that they will be able to lead healthy lives.
Gender Equity
Spark emphasizes women’s participation in leadership and decision making for all communal projects. In the FCAP, gender empowerment training for the entire community is a key training session that our facilitators share with communities. All members are empowered to speak in front of the whole group, and a culture of affirming and appreciating individuals for sharing their ideas is fostered. Spark facilitators and data collectors also encourage and track female leadership (45% of elected leaders on the Spark committees are women), attendance, and meeting participation.
Connecting women with opportunities to save and provide for the families often has a positive ripple effect on health outcomes. In the hills of eastern Uganda, a community called Nkongola completed a primary school as their Spark project. On a field visit to that community, we interviewed a woman named Sauda who works at the new school. She commented on the positive effects that the Spark model has had in her life: “I live far [away], but I married into a family near [Nkongola]. I saw an advert and applied. I finished my education and work here now. I can buy food for my home which makes me feel happy since I no longer need to wait for my husband. My children eat two or three meals now per day, not just one. The community allowed me to join the savings group, which helps me. Spark is generous; I see it here and in other villages nearby.”
By empowering remote communities to take control of their lives, educating them on topics and skills necessary for a prosperous life, and working to shift gender norms, our work at Spark alleviates key health risk factors and positively impacts community members’ mental and social wellbeing. So, we think Spark’s got a lot to do with it.
Jessica Malloy and Edna Nandutu are 2017–2018 Global Health Corps fellows in Uganda.
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