It is with pride in the work we have done and with thanks for the generosity of our donors that we announce the dissolution of KWIHEED effective December 31, 2008.

For further information, please see our most recent newsletter.

*Kongadzem Women's Initiative for Health, Education and Economic Development

Kongadzem means "Love for Everyone" in the local village tongue.

KWIHEED is an organization dedicated to serving the needs of poor women in the northwest province of Cameroon, West Africa.

Recognizing that poverty is the major underlying problem in developing countries, a Mission Hospital Director and a short-term volunteer physician started a micro-finance (micro-credit) institution in April 1997, in Cameroon. Through this program, small loans (starting at $10 - $50) are offered to entrepreneurial poor women to raise their economic status.

That physician, Munro Proctor, reasoned, "I could take care of the medical problems of those who came to see me, but I was doing nothing for those in remote villages who stayed away because they were unable to pay the small "user fees" charged by the Mission Hospitals to assure their own survival." Lack of access to health care, education, immunization programs, proper nutrition, clean water, sanitation and even violence flow from poverty.

The close link between health and poverty has long been appreciated. Unhealthy people are not productive and remain poor. Poor people cannot afford to send their children to school or access the health care system. Thus they remain vulnerable to disease and poor nutrition, and are ill-prepared for productive work.