“Ket Itic” – put it to work

As you travel outside the center of Gulu, you quickly notice the change in your surroundings.  Businesses are replaced with small trading centers and the bustle of everyday life quickly fades into fields ripe with crops like maize and cassava.  Along the road, you will see small communities of people who live together, work together, and support one another.

Last week, we made our way to one of these communities, located in Bobi, about 40 kilometers outside of Gulu town.  While there, we visited a group participating in Invisible Children’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) program.  The group, Ket Itic, was in its 35th week of saving and loaning together.  At the meeting we attended, they managed to save 105,000 shillings (about $42), adding it to the 3,218,000 shillings (about $1,287) they had saved together since the start of the 35 weeks.  Once the group is finished saving and everyone has repaid their loans, the members will be able to continue and grow their own small business initiatives. (more…)

Seeding income generating activities

As a part of the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) program, Invisible Children is empowering communities in northern Uganda to start sustainable businesses.  Last week, our VSLA staff provided start-up capital to 15 VSLA groups in Bobi (Gulu) and 15 groups in Atanga (Pader) that will allow them to start their own businesses.  These businesses will help group members meet basic needs, like paying the education of their children, maintaining good health, and buying food.

Earlier, members of these VSLA groups drafted viable business proposals that they presented to Invisible Children.  Our VSLA team evaluated the proposals and advised the different groups on managing each business. (more…)

Saving to give her kids a good life

Jennifer is a wife and a mother of two children.  Carlos is her youngest child – 2 ½ years old.  Sitting across from the two of them it was clear – Jennifer is a strong woman, and every day, Carlos relies on that strength.

After she was married, Jennifer moved from her hometown, Gulu, to Atanga, and has been working hard to find ways to support her family.

Before relocating, Jennifer heard about Invisible Children’s Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) program – community groups where members save and loan money together.  “I wanted to learn how to save my money,” she said. “I heard about VSLA in Gulu and wanted to join a group.  I needed to find a way to support my family and give them a good life.”

Jennifer joined her VSLA group, Wot ki niyee, “have faith in your walking,” in January of 2011.   Since that time, she has worked to save over 42,000 Ugandan shillings (about 20 USD).

Now that Jennifer has been given the skills to manage her finances, she’s better prepared to plan ahead and save her money.  “I can now buy food and pay medical bills,” she explained. “And I’ve been able to help a friend by loaning them a small amount of money.  Being in a group has really helped all of us because we can assist each other.”

Planning to open her own clothing store in the future, Jennifer is looking forward to the possibilities and opportunities that await!

-Malorie

On the Ground: VSLA Group Profile

Members of Oberabic’s VSLA group wait for their weekly meeting to start

The village, Oberabic, meaning Five Mosquitos in Luo, is not unlike the hundreds of other small villages carpeting the countryside of northern Ugandan.  Subsistence farmers separated from one another by vast swaths of farmland are its residents.  Its roads are mottled paths tunneled by head high grasses.  Its nights—electricity and light bulb-free—are cloaked in deep, penetrating shadows when clouds float thick.  There’s no bustling town center.  No large restaurants or modern internet cafes.  Because they pull their livelihoods from the earth beneath their feet, season by season, many people in Oberabic exist on the fringes of a money-based economy, relying on bartering and infrequent money-based purchases to survive.  Which is why, on this day, the meeting taking place is more remarkable:  farmers who have never done so before are pooling their cash, balancing financial ledgers, and taking loans.

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On the Ground: From Bracelets to Savings Groups

Betty, 55, sits in front of the hut she paid for with money earned as an IC bracelet maker in Awer IDP Camp

Invisible Children’s Bracelet Campaign used to employ people living in IDP camps in northern Uganda to make bracelets.  When the Bracelet Campaign ended in May, IC dovetailed the program’s phase out with the start of a new microfinance program called the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA).  Because bracelet makers were trained in saving techniques, it seemed only logical to use them as anchors for savings groups in northern Uganda under VSLA.

Ex-bracelet makers are presently helping their fellow villagers save money in 20 different savings groups.  With 20 people in each group, VSLA is a powerful program affecting 400 Ugandan households, enabling group members to take loans from communal group savings funds that they themselves generate.  I recently sat down to speak with Betty, an ex-bracelet maker and current leader of one VSLA group in Awer, Uganda.   Below is a transcript of part of our interview.

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