Page 38 - IB March 2021

SPBD SPBD SPBD SPBD

come in our kalavata and spend the evening celebrating our Fiji, Vodafone Fiji Pte Limited, Westpac Banking Corpora-
SPBD members’ achievements! tion – Fiji, Vinod Patel & Company Ltd, R.C. Manubhai & Co.
Pte Ltd and Financial Management Counsellors Association of
What do you most enjoy about your involvement with Fiji. We also acknowledge the generous contribution by our
SPBD? contractors and suppliers. This partnership is a testament
that microfinance is a key enabler for economic activity and
Lorraine Seeto: I enjoy seeing the enhancements that we must aid where we can in the management of resources to
our SPBD members do to better the quality of life of their our SPBD members.
families, village and communities. Some of these examples Mindsets are changing as women are the financiers in the
include extensions within their homes, selling more variety family and contribute the bulk of the income at home. We
of goods at the canteen, making mats and curtains for the have seen that husbands have been part of their wives’ jour-
community hall, operating the village kindergarten, educating ney especially during interviews and at the awards. Men have
their children, enlarging their vegetable or yaqona farms and also played an important role from the very start by assisting
using SPBD facilities and partnerships to be more efficient and with the preparation of meals (particularly during our visits!)
effective. and this transformation binds the family closer.
For some centres who are finalists every year, it is very
rewarding to see the positive difference that SPBD made in Your most memorable SPBD experience so far?
improving the quality of life of its members with the wider
community reach. There has been ripple effect in member- Lorraine Seeto: Travelling to places that I would not go in
ship where we have seen daughters who are now SPBD mem- the normal course of work like to Namosi and Rabi has been a
bers have joined this connection because their mothers have first-hand experience as to how SPBD has assisted its mem-
encouraged them to join. bers over the years. The drive to Namosi was challenging but
It is an excellent opportunity to see development of the fulfilling and I ended having fried eel delicacy for lunch! The
micro-enterprise ecosystem in Fiji through the lens of SPBD. solar panels was a pleasing sight and is a testimony of our
progress as a nation towards Sustainable Development Goal
What has surprised you? on Clean Energy. To go to Rabi, we had to endure a long ride
from Savusavu and just at the side of the sea, there was a
Lorraine Seeto: The resilience of the women who bounce fibre glass boat waiting for us. The short boat ride was an
forward after each natural disaster, whether it is a cyclone, experience in itself. In Rabi, the SPBD members comprised
flood or COVID-19. Our SPBD members have proven in going of two very happy and merry groups who loved to sing and
above and beyond to improve the quality of life for their dance. Barter is a common way to trade in Rabi and the
families. During the recent Tropical Cyclone Yasa, our SPBD food was very nutritious and fresh - fish, of course with rice.
members were very focussed on rehabilitation of their homes SPBD branched out to Rabi only recently and it was through a
while continuing to earn income for their livelihoods. Those business partnership between the husband and wife that was
who were affected by the downturn in tourism have resorted memorable to witness.
in changing their line of business to continue with their
income stream. Interestingly, we noted that several mem- What impact have you seen COVID-19 and now TC Yasa/
bers continued their loan repayment as scheduled and also Ana have on SPBD members and how is SPBD responding?
managed savings at the same time. This attests to the level
of resilience, determination and perseverance of our SPBD Lorraine Seeto: There has been a huge impact on the liveli-
members. hoods of our SPBD members. For some, their homes have
I was also surprised that one of the Centres in Waikete - been partially or totally destroyed or their income generating
that won Centre of the year in 2019, had organised their own activity, like the chicken sheds were blown away during the
mini awards in 2018 and invited all the centres around the cyclone.
area. They used the similar format as the main SPBD awards Hence, the SPBD’s Tropical Yasa Response Strategy was
night and it was a sounding success. Just shows the innova- launched. The first strategic response was that all moder-
tion and initiative of the SPBD values! ately impacted members may receive a grace period on the
principal and interest repayment on their existing loans. The
What would you like to see change and develop further? standard grace period is from 4 January 2021 to 13 February
2021 - a total of six weeks. All loans that are given a grace
Lorraine Seeto: The partnerships that SPBD has forged can period will resume their normal payment schedules effec-
only go from strength to strength despite the trying times. tive Monday, 15 February 2021. This means that the loan
Our relationship with Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty maturity date will be extended by six weeks from the original
Alleviation, Reserve Bank of Fiji, Fiji Development Bank, Bank maturity date. A SPBD member agreeing to this arrangement
of South Pacific – Fiji, Vision Investments Limited t/a Courts will be charged a token service fee of 2.5 percent to cover

38 Islands Business, March 2021