Dominikus Rahmat (center), Head of Microfinance OperationHelping others is not the way it used to be. Working in YCAB’s microfinance programme, my efforts are well appreciated and I get to help people.
I have been active as a microfinance coordinator since 2002, and am interested in doing something that can be of real benefit to others. We may think something is beneficial, when it actually is not. There are many obstacles in the process of providing loans to a client. We even encounter rejection at times. Loans are nothing new.
I became interested in joining YCAB because of Veronica’s innovation to integrate a microfinance programme with their existing Rumah Belajar (learning centre for dropouts) both serves as an answer to the sustainability of Rumah Belajar and at the same time, a means to recruit school dropouts at the bottom of the pyramid. This is a very unique and novel idea.
Microfinance acts as an entry point for delivering good news to the community, in the form of constructive value, useful information, and training.
In this programme, our mission is not only to deliver loans for business capital. We provide additional value as well by offering the opportunity of Rumah Belajar (our community learning centre) for out of school children, whose parents cannot afford to educate them, and for parents who seek vocational courses with affordable fees. My team and I feel a sense of self-satisfaction when we are able to be part of this process.
What is great about YCAB is the community learning centres. Other than microloans, we can immediately see and feel the benefits of helping a child go back to school. This is what keeps me motivated. The integration of microloans with education are complimentary and has a positive impact to the community. It gives me great joy to see the smile of a mother who has benefited from us being there for them.