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Location: Brazil, Urban
Brazil : Given a sporting chance …
An ECLOF loan of just over US$28,000 has enabled a sports clothes manufacturer in Brazil to expand and provide significant additional work for local people.
Onda Sport is based in Barrio Uruguay , which is a poor area of the city of Salvador in the State of Bahia. In this region, a low-income family needs three salaries in order to meet their basic costs. Almost 55% out of a total population of 54,000 are in this position.
Until the 1940s, Barrio Uruguay and the surrounding area was the centre of Brazil's textile industry. Then, industry moved elsewhere and people had to find other ways of earning a living. More recently a number of businesses have returned to reintroduce the clothing industry to the Barrio Uruguay.
One of these Onda Sport. In 1991, Onda Sport began, with six people, using four sewing machines to make shirts, blouses and swimsuits. After a year, the company received a commercial bank loan to buy more sewing machines and increase its working capital. In 2000, the company moved to its current location, where many micro-enterprises connected to the clothing industry are located.
More than profit
The enterprise has an impressive approach to social responsibility. On one day each month, the clothes produced are donated to local children in need. Any fabric left over from making these garments is given to community groups to use for handicrafts and other small income-generating products. Onda Sport is well known for its high quality and well-designed products. Over the past 14 years, it has increased its workforce substantially. As a result of the ECLOF loan, Onda Sport was able to take on 20 new employees. The total workforce now stands at around 80, of which 92% are women many of whom are mothers providing the only source of income for their families. |
