It no longer surprises me when people I know and admire, send me emails about the fantastic charities they are supporting. Lisette van der Ham volunteers at Sypo, a Dutch NGO, which was started in 2003 to support entrepreneurial projects in the Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda.

Initially, Sypo worked with a Ugandan partner to give loans to women in Uganda. The non-paternalistic nature of their approach combined with their emphasis on efficiency meant that though the years the focus of the NGO shifted to microfinance; women choose what to do with their loans and repay with interest, instead of having to be thankful for Western-planned handouts.

The NGO now offers low-cost, accessible and transparent loans to rural Ugandan women, tailored to their needs. And, their ambition is to build a microfinance company with a portfolio of 3,000 loans by the end of 2015, whilst maintaining current repayments of over 99%.

Black, white, yellow, brown and all the colours in between; women around the world all have dreams and want similar things; to improve the lives of their families; get an education; enjoy life, often by starting or expanding a simple business.

You can help make a dream come true.

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Thanks for sharing Lisette!