Abstract: Submission #47

Abstract Financial empowerment of low-income populations has long been hailed as a strategy that could foster their long-term resilience. However, little is known about how which microfinance programs are associated with the resilience of low-income women in Botswana. Through the lens of the resilience theory, this phenomenological study explored resilience experiences of 19 low-income women enrolled in a microfinance program. Content analysis was adopted to develop themes around participants` strengths, talents, skills and personal traits they used to overcome adversity. The findings revealed that women`s strengths included being industrious, dexterous and caregivers, and talented in baking, sewing, crocheting and hairdressing. Religion and prayer were a source of hope during difficult times while their entrepreneurial skills were a means of survival. This study demonstrates that interdisciplinary collaborations between microfinance providers and human behavior practitioners could strengthen economic empowerment interventions to leverage on clients` positive attributes to respond to their non-financial needs.