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You're watching UNICEF television.

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Bang on the money.

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This is anything but a begging bowl.

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Pittance for a bank, but for these Togolese women,

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each tiny contribution to the cash flow helps.

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It's recorded for the group,

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and the money's kept under lock and key for when they need it most.

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Every cent in this microcredit scheme

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keeps the women's families on their feet

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and also shakes up this male-dominated rural society.

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Mainly, the scheme helps the women, like this widow,

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grow their small businesses without waiting to make a profit first.

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What's different now with the microcredit

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is that I can buy the raw products immediately,

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so I do more business quicker.

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Her daughter is back at school now.

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Thanks to the microcredit project,

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more and more of the poorest children are going to school

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since their mothers can now pay the school fees.

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The women have built a new mill with the profits from their businesses,

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and it's helped speed up the time they spend

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getting the finest grain out of the cassava,

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the staple diet of much of West Africa,

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and making sure there's a constant supply of cooked grain

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to sell and to nourish their families.

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Francoise's husband is sickly and not able to work.

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The rub-off effect of the project

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has meant the beginnings of real power for her and other women.

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Today, people who have economic power have the power,

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or now in the village, women have the power,

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and they have economic power.

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Francoise has even managed to send her son to university

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because of the project.

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That's made her proud.

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I'm really happy because it has given me the respect of the whole village.

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It's by no means perfect, but it has gone a long way

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to ease a heavy burden from these women

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and give them the chance to make choices in their lives.

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This is Sarah Crowe in Togo, reporting for UNICEF Television.

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Unite for Children.