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The passion for my work with First Step Initiative stems from my experience growing up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa. I grew up in a society where a baby boy was valued more than a girl; and where women were not given opportunities to be more than a traditional housewife. And yet, as a young girl I quickly realized that women in my community were the backbone of all our families and they literally kept the community going. Each day I saw the mothers go out to find food so that we, the children will be fed. I saw that women spent much of their time finding ways to generate income to support their entire families. I became aware of the fact that one woman’s success and/or “failure” affected seven to eight people in that household; because a typical Congolese family comprises of six to eight children. When I came to the United States I came with a passion to make a difference in the lives of people back home. I knew that I wanted to focus my efforts in empowering women. Therefore, as a graduate student, I searched for ways to realize my dream and I discovered that the best way for me to achieve this end is through microfinance. In order to test this idea, I decided to run a pilot project to see if the concept of microfinance would work in the DRC. I began sending money to the DRC whenever I could, about $50 at a time. With my mother’s help, a lending circle of 10 women was eventually formed, and as the women established their businesses, they moved out of the circle and were replaced by new women. The success of the pilot project exceeded my expectations. The results inspired me to capitalize on our success and expand our services to reach more women. In 2006 I decided to formalize the organization and became an nonprofit organization [a 501(c) 3 in the State of Minnesota].
My hope is to build a strong and resilient microfinance organization that empowers women and put them in the position to create their own destinies and achieve their full potential.