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Our Lives with Lapo
LAPO Is A Blessing To Women
Lucky OghuvweLucky Simeon is already planning to build her own house. Going by the poor circumstance of her life, this is probably what she would never have contemplated but for the entrance of LAPO into her life. She is presently doing so well in her foodstuffs and provisions business that she is quite certain this project can be actualized.
In view of her poor parental background, complicated by her enormous financial responsibilities, being her husband's second wife, nobody ever thought that she would someday be able to build financial capacity to cope with the rising needs of her family of four, not to talk of building a house. Through the commitment and support of LAPO, a poverty-focused development organization. She has been able to record meaningful progress in this regard.
Over the years, the organization has offered her soft loans for the steady development of her business. It is from the profit being made from this business that she is now able to support her husband in meeting the budget of the family especially in the areas of food, shelter, education and health.
It is relevant to recall that Simeon and her children were living in terrible economic condition before she became a member of LAPO way back in 1999.
Her problems were twofold. She lacked formal education, which made it impossible for her to secure a good job. Secondly, she was denied access to any development skill, which would have had the capacity to make her economically self-reliant in future. She gave an insight in a tone full of emotion: ?I come from a very poor home. My father, Mr. Samson Oghuvwu, is a junior staff with the Delta State University, Asaba, while my late mother was a petty trader. It was a large family with so many children.?
Besides the above, Simeon stated that her father did not prioritize girl-child education, which he considered a waste of resources. ?He wanted all his earnings to go into the training and skill development of his male children. This was why I had to drop out of school in 1978. Our primitive culture which then did not encourage female education also actually contributed to my lack of education.?
In spite of the above, Simeon was determined to make it in life. She hated a situation where a woman is entirely dependent on her husband for every trifling need of hers. She knew from experience that economic dependence of a wife on her husband especially in the African context means slavery. She was therefore keen on developing her own business enterprise that will make her economically self-reliant in future. Little wonder therefore that she was already managing a little business even before she got married in 1984.
Although her marital union with Mr. Simeon brought some economic relief to her, she was not fulfilled. She yearned for some economic independence and thus started to think about how to expand her grocery business. From experience, she knew too well that once children start coming into the family, financial demands would definitely increase. To check this, more investment was needed to generate good profit. She says ?I did not want any of my children to experience the agony and privations that I suffered in my youth.? It was during this search for funds that a friend told her about a microfinance NGO called Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO). ?At first I was hesitant,? she says, ?I thought it was all a fluke.? She said she later changed her mind after carrying out an independent enquiry to ascertain the true nature and genuineness of the organization.
Mrs. Lucky Simeon later joined other new entrants in a series of pre-loan trainings for six weeks, which qualified her for her first stage loan of N10, 000 under Progress Union in Abraka, Delta State. Armed with this money, she relocated her business from the house to Abraka market proper, where she is presently trading. She was also able to increase her stock, adding others that she was not presently selling. She also started bulk buying to increase her market share and profit margin.
The prompt repayment of the first loan earned her business another loan of N12, 000 and yet another of N20, 000. She has taken so many loans in LAPO including Xmas Business Loan to build her market capacity. She has included household utensils such as coolers, plates, basins and stoves to her regular foodstuff and provisions business. She is now able to buy fresh tomatoes in bulk at Warri market and travels to Onitsha to re-stock in the case of kitchen utensils.
As a mark of progress in her trade, Mrs. Simeon has joined several local savings unions where she saves her excess profits. She saves N1, 000 every market day in one, contributes N1, 500 twice in a month in another savings scheme, pays N5, 000 monthly into another account and also maintains a daily contribution of N100 in another. ?This is what I collect? she says, ?to effect the repayment of LAPO loans when they are due and to do my business.?
What does she have to say about her experience with LAPO? ?Wonderful! LAPO has come to the rescue of women. If you are a LAPO woman, the sky is your limit. I am now self-fulfilled. I have almost every basic thing that I need and without LAPO, this would have been impossible.?
Mrs. Simeon advises other women to follow her example and to think of how they can contribute to the upbringing of their children instead of abandoning everything to their husbands. She said, at times, she comes to the aid of her husband when in need: ?we use to support and help each other. If his money is not enough for any project, I add to it: He too supports me. I am almost exclusively responsible for the family's daily feeding since we are not living together under the same roof. He is living with his first wife elsewhere but pays me frequent visits.?
Mrs. Simeon has vowed to train all her children to the university level if God permits. Recently, she suffered a huge setback. Some thieves broke into her shop and made away with a cash of N105, 850 with which she wanted to go to Onitsha market the following day to re-stock. She said although the thieves were caught, she has not been able to recover all the money stolen. She said the case is still in the police station.
This young but diligent woman says she has learnt several lessons from training programmes organized by LAPO Development Centre, LADEC. She has learnt, for example, that it is primitive to discriminate between the male and the female child. She has also learnt the importance of participating at elections.
Gender, Environment and Leadership Trainings (GELT) held regularly by LAPO Development Centre, LADEC, has particularly exposed her to leadership skills stating: ?although uneducated, I have developed some leadership qualities that can enable me run family and business affairs.?
She does not intend to leave LAPO in the near future stating, ?It is a blessing to women.?
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