Local faith based organisation helps improve financial inclusion in PNG’s Jiwaka province

Success Stories September 27, 2023

Before 2016, Lien Mura was a teacher, happily married with four children and had a supportive husband who worked as a business manager for PNG Power, but despite having a good life, Lien was not satisfied.

“I had everything, but I was not satisfied. The community that I grew up in, was living in poverty while I was enjoying a better life. Doing something for my community has been my long-term personal goal,” said Lien.

After seven years of teaching, Lien decided to resign as a primary school teacher to help her community. She started a faith-based organization called El-Bethel Prayer Network to help bring youths together. Most youths are unemployed with few opportunities for formal income. According to the National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea, youth unemployment is problem in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

“The youths needed a sense of direction, and they need someone to show them the way.” said Lien.

However, after setting up the organisation she found it challenging to meet their daily needs.

“The greatest challenge for me was the lack of financial support. Visiting people with different needs in communities remained a challenge for me. I was unable to meet all their needs at once,” she said.

But this changed when Lien’s organization was identified as a potential USAID-LGP partner to help roll out financial literacy training across the program’s geographical sites. With support from USAID LGP, Lien completed financial literacy training and became a certified trainer recognized by PNG’s Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion. Since December 2022, she has been working hard to deliver financial literacy training across her community and assisting people, who would otherwise find it difficult, to benefit from financial services like opening a bank account and accessing credit.

To date, Lien has trained a total of 114 people in financial literacy, including 65 women (74 per cent). At least 82 people have also opened bank accounts with MiBank, a nationwide micro bank, with 66 per cent of them women. The participants in the financial literacy training now have a better understanding of the basics of saving and budgeting, which are the foundational skills for creating new enterprises and increasing household and personal financial security.

“I have plans to take financial literacy training forward at a bigger level to all communities in the province,” she said.

Her efforts soon caught the attention of MiBank, who asked Lien if El-Bethel Prayer Network can act as a banking agent for them and service her local community in Jiwaka province. Now, over 200 customers have opened bank accounts with the new MiBank agent – El-Bethel Prayer Network.

“Normal banking transactions are taking place, withdrawal and deposits are progressing well and I’m in the process of encouraging more people to come forward to open bank accounts,” she said.

MiBank Assistant Branch Operations Manager, Fiona Wani said their collaboration has resulted in an increase in the number of people coming forward to open bank accounts.

“It’s all about helping the communities to open bank accounts so they can take advantage of the loan facilities we provide and venture into business activities. I’m grateful for the partnership we have with USAID LGP and El-Bethel.” she said.