Nontje - Clay Brick Manufacturer

Mrs Nontje Pontoh and Mr Hais Abuna, are married and have two sons, Hendra (16) and Jerri (9). Hendra has been ill for the last two years with a lung disease. He used to help out with the family business and go to school, but is currently unable to do either.

The family run a brick making business. They started the business a few years ago with a loan from a loan shark and leased the land on which they built their business. However the landlord requires 10% of their output as payment for the rent. Since starting the business the loan interest payments and rent agreement have entrapped them in a cycle of poverty, unable to break free from their situation.

The clay to make the bricks is dug by hand from the hillside behind the works. The clay is mixed with water, made more malleable by a man with his feet and then formed into bricks using a two brick mould. These fresh bricks are stored to dry in piles, then when they have dried sufficiently to be moved they are stacked in lines to allow further drying. The final stage is for them to be kilned, where some 5,000 bricks are stacked in a square and a fire is built inside to bake the bricks.

In dry weather Nontje, her family and contracted work force can produce 25,000 bricks in this way every three months. As a form of repayment to the loan shark their contract binds them to sell their bricks at a drastically reduced rate to the landlord, instead of to the market. This means they have to sell a large percentage of their bricks for Rph 150 or 2c, instead of Rph 250 or 3.5c! Out of this gross income Nontje pays Rph 60/brick to a labourer and it costs Rph 50/brick for materials and wood to fire the kiln.

In the past Nontje also borrowed money from the loan shark to pay wages because she had no cash flow! The families financial position was very precarious and really were being held captive in poverty by the loan shark generating an income of $50/month!

In January when we first visited Nontje, she had just joined a local loan group in her community of Paal IV run by Bridge of Hope. At the time we met her she was obviously depressed and seemed completely trapped by her circumstances. Nontje and her family used their first loan to improve their cash flow, pay wages and buy firewood, without having to borrow further from the loan shark. In the second loan cycle they have been able to start paying off the loan from the loan shark and reduce the interest payments. This has allowed their income to increase to $80/month.

"I am now much happier than before because of the support of the Bridge of Hope program" said Nontje, smiling. She looks like a new woman compared with 6 months ago. "Although we still need to repair the roof of the works and finish paying off our loan shark, I am sure we can be free from this situation, assuming our health holds out."

In the future Nontje's family hope to buy their own land and build their own brick making works.

Pari - Vegetable Seller

Pari, his wife and three children are living in a small house in a rural community called Paal IV, on the outskirts of Manado.. They all sleep in one small bedroom, in fact his wife and children all sleep in the one bed.  The children are aged 13, 5 and 3 years old. Pari sleeps on the floor. Pari's previous home had roof problems and was too close to the river. Paris said of that time two years ago "yes, I have felt desperation, because I was not able to find a job and could not provide for my family". Pari eventually started working at a brick making works. He was only able to work on contract when needed and so the income was very irregular. Still he managed to find some land that he was lent to build on and in the last two years he has built a new house for his family.

But the brick making is very hard work and on average he makes about 300 bricks a day and is paid Rph50 per brick.  Yes that's only about A$2.10 per day. Pari had to take the oldest of his three children out of school because he could not afford all the associated transport costs.  "I felt very sad that I couldn't provide anything for my children" Pari said. At this time Pari heard of the Bridge of Hope foundation and its mirco lending program. He decided to join the 18-member loan group who meet once a week to share some of their business problems and to pray with and encourage one another.

As his family are new to the district the group has helped them to network into the community. Pari decided to start a new enterprise selling vegetables to the local community. With his first loan he started daily purchasing Rph 80,000 worth of vegetables, because that was all he could carry and distribute on his push bike. This yielded another Rph 10,000 (A$1.40) per day of regular income which started to help the family meet their costs of living. Pari starts his day at 3:00am when he goes to the markets to buy vegetables for resale to the local community.  He starts selling at about 6:00am and goes through to about 10:00am.

Pari's second loan of Rph 750,000 (A$ 105) coupled with some other savings enabled Pari to buy an old second hand  motor bike.  He now has the potential to carry and distribute Rph 200,000 worth of vegetables, which yields a daily profit of Rph 30,000 (A$4.30).  He also spends much less time in distribution although he now carries twice the previous payload. "Now I am very happy because I have enough income to provide for my family and I am now able to give my children some little things like sweets as a treat" Pari said of his new situation with a smile. Pari's daughter is now back at school but she is two years behind for her age and still in elementary school at age 13.

Pari  wants to build a bigger business using the motorcycle and stop the arduous brick making. He proposes to buy other products such as bread and sugar and re-sell them to the community during the afternoon. His next loan will provide him the capital he needs to enable him to purchase these additional items.

Dorkje - Shop Owner

At 48 y.o. Dorkje Pandelaki has three children, one married, one at college and another at school. Her husband Nico died 6 months ago. He was rushed to hospital after a severe stomach pain, where he died instantly.

Dorkje used to depend mostly on her husband for income. Nico was a journalist, but was only paid when he produced a story so it was a very irregular income. Dorkje used to add income to the household sometimes by selling Manadonese porridge and pickles to children that came to play sports on the pitch near her home. They lived on a very tight budget.

A few months before Nico died, Dorkje heard about the Bridge of Hope micro lending program and joined a local loan group in her community, Mantungas, a rural outer suburb of Manado.

 Since Nico died life has been very difficult for Dorkje. Almost immediately after his death the roof of their house blew off in a strong storm and she had to raise Rph 1.5m to pay for it to be fixed. She also had to pull her daughter out of college because she could not afford the fees.

She used to regularly become ill, but in the last 6 months has not fallen ill once. She thanks God for looking after her and giving her the opportunity to join the program. Amid her tears Dorjke says" I thank God that I belong to the group, they help me a lot".

With the first loan cycle Dorkje expanded her porridge and pickles selling to a kiosk business under her home. She has been able to increase her income from Rph 7,500/day (A$1.10) to Rph25,000/day (A$3.60) and has been able to send her daughter back to college.

With her second loan cycle Dorkje wishes to expand her business and open up a new kiosk across the road from where she lives.

"My future is tough, only God can enable me to go through all this."

Medan - Potential Partner

Medan is 32 years old, he lives in an Internally Displaced People's camp in Bitung, outside Manado . He has lived here for 3½ years, previously spending one year at another camp after fleeing Lata-Lata because of the Islamic jihad in 2001. He and his wife have three children, two at school aged 13 and 9, one at home, aged 8. They all live in a single bedroom abode as part of the camp.

The government of Sulawesi gave him some money with which to return home to Lata-Lata but for fear of his life he stayed and spent the money on a second hand motorbike. He has been using his bike for a local taxi service ever since and nets Rph 20,000 (A$2.85) per day for his efforts. He is an industrious young man looking for opportunity but has no capital with which to work with. He hopes that in the future he can provide a nice place to live for his family.