March was a busy month for Bridge of Hope, Action Against Poverty's partner in Manado.

Out of 425 small family businesses we raised money for in our Manly community campaign last year, another 148 business owners joined the micro enterprise program, meaning that now 288 families are already benefiting from our partnership.

The other 137 business owners are now all in preliminary training sessions to join the program as well, which will be instrumental in helping to alleviate their family's poverty. Many hundreds more are also in the preliminary training or waiting to join.

Bridge of Hope's program is self-sustainable, but only at its current level of clients, which number 1,456 small family businesses, and the future clients currently in training. If they wish to increase their influence in the communities of Manado's poor beyond this, they will soon need more lending capital.

Two of the recent loan groups established, which have 18 family business owners in each, are called Kadoodan and Horas.

Mrs. Meyfa is a member of the Kadoodan group. She runs a small business selling home cooked food.  She says that the Bridge of Hope program offers her great relief from the burden of debt she had from a local loan shark.  She aims to increase and diversify the available food in her business, increasing her income to look after her family.

Mrs. Dortji Horopu is a member of the Horas group.  She is a 60-year-old great grandmother and a widow. She makes her living by selling vegetables and fruit at a nearby market, starting daily at 5.30 a.m.  earning a daily net income of IDR20,000.- (approx. A$3). Each afternoon she visits farmers or other nearby local markets to buy the produce to sell the following morning. Dortji says that she wants to use the very first loan that she receives from Bridge of Hope to buy more produce each day, thereby increasing her net income, so she can take better care of herself and her family.

Thank you for your partnership with the people of Manado.