Final Report/Synopsis of Research Results: Through desk research and field surveys conducted in the areas of Traditional Authority or Chief Chikowi in Zomba District and Chief Chowe in Mangochi District, this study has investigated how Care International Malawi (CIM) is promoting village savings and loan associations (VS & LAs) to serve the needs of the poor, how it has devised the VS & LA model as an adaptation of the accumulating savings and credit association (ASCA) model, whether poor people appreciate VS & LAs, and it has ascertained successes and possible setbacks of VS & LAs in Malawi.