November 2016

Minchinhampton-Nkokoto Link - Update November 2016

As you may know from last month's magazine, the new micro-finance scheme for villagers in Nkokoto is about to be launched. The village committee of Elders and the regional Co-operative Officer have drawn up agreements and have invited villagers, as individuals or as small co-operative groups, to submit their plans to receive loans in order to set up a small business or service, the income from which will improve their lives and support their families. Besides providing the start-up capital for the whole scheme of 6 million shillings (just over £2000), we will cover the costs of fifteen days' training for elders and villagers to be carried out by our main contact with the Link, Stima, who several readers will have met when he was in Minchinhampton earlier this year, and Mussa (the Co-operative Officer.)
The recent arrival of electricity in the village has certainly stimulated ideas. Villagers have to pay to have electricity connected from the main to their house - if near enough to be practical. One idea we are considering might be to introduce micro-financing grants to enable this if, for example, villagers have a good business plan. As always, the project will be entirely run by the village council and the Nkokoto residents.
So, we are looking forward with great interest to hear about the ideas, plans and dreams that our friends in Nokokoto are going to come up with, and we were very happy to learn that, quite coincidentally, our most recent committee meeting here in Minchinhampton was being held on the very same evening that the Nkokoto village council were receiving and discussing the loan applications and business plans from their villagers !
Our next fund-raising event is an illustrated talk by Fran Wilson-Copp on the History and Art of Christmas Cards. This will be at The Hub (plenty of parking!) at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 23rd November. Tickets are £8 which includes a glass of mulled wine or fruit juice and mince-pie. Hand-made cards will be on sale and tickets will be available from the Market Stores.
Finally, we shall again be decorating a tree for the Christmas Tree Festival in St Lawrence's Church, Stroud at the end of November/beginning December. If you haven't been to previous festivals, do come along and see the multitude of trees beautifully decorated by local charities and organisations.
It's open during the day time.
Rod Harris, Chairman. 872317 or 0777 565 2379 or rod.harris@fsmail.net