From the Langa Langa Lagoon…

Hello everybody from the amazing Solomon Islands. The people here have strong traditions and culture. Today I would like to show you the people that live in the Langa Langa Lagoon. These people make traditional money from shells, and spend a great deal of time shaping the shells in order to make beautiful necklaces and bracelets, a hard, detailed artisan work.

Some of our customers take out a loan to market their shell jewelry around the markets in the country, as it is highly valued.
Other customers buy a sewing machine, raise pigs or chickens, sell fish & chips, bake cakes, and many other activities. The important thing though is that they work hard to raise their family, send their kids to school and create a life out of poverty.
There were doubts when we first entered the Solomon’s. People thought that our clients (women) could not or would not repay their loans. Up until now we have not seen that. We maintain a 100% repayment rate, because our customer want to work if given the opportunity. In the past seven months we have served over 1,200 customers. There is a very large unmet demand, and we are not able to create centers in all the places and villages that are requesting to work with us.
Next time I will write from the Western Province. Everybody tells me amazing things happen there, and hopefully I can bring part of it to you.
Ok, time to say good bye the Langa Langa way!