Ipogoro – The Economics Are Compelling

Today we went to Ipogoro, a suburb of Iringa, so our drive was short.  The pastor at Ipogoro is Nixon Emwitwla, who speaks excellent English.  After chatting with him we took a brief look around the church compound before going in for chai.  “Compound” by the way is a bit of stretch – but not much!  Ipogoro has a nice church building next to a huge new church building that will seat 1,000 that is still under construction.  The pastor explained that the existing church will become an educational building.  Next to these buildings is a nursing/education/early child development building and the parsonage – quite a complex!  The landscaping is also very well done.  Overall this is a huge difference from yesterday’s visit!

When we sat down to chai, Pastor Nixon told us about his congregation and how generous Augustana Lutheran has been to them.  They have 12 evangelists, 3 assistant pastors, and 2000 members!   Their membership is growing so they are hoping to finish the new church in the next 2 years.

During our discussion of SACCOS Pastor Nixon told us that the members are concerned since they can not apply the methods the Ag. Institute is teaching them since they do not have enough capital.  He told us that they have decided that they really need a SACCOS in their parish.  He cites the need to reduce and prevent poverty and hunger among the congregation and help members send their children to school.  He tells us that Ipogoro has a very high number of widows and orphans and an equally high poverty rate.

The economics of having a SACCOS is clear and very compelling.  Without a SACCOS most members struggle to plant two acres with their traditional methods.  This yields them about $200/yr to support their families.  If they use the spacing and crop residue as they are being taught, they can raise this to about $300-400.  If they can get a loan for $200 they can plant one acre using the hybrid seed and fertilizer and the other 3 acres using the traditional seed.  This will yield them $600 profit from the one acre plus the $300-400 from the other 3 acres – for a total income of $900 – a threefold increase!

Pastor Nixon told us that they started organizing last March.  Since then they have raised 1,773,000 schillings (about $1200) through membership fees, shares, and savings – very good!  They currently have about 120 members.  They started work on a constitution but decided to wait until they could get one from us.  When Itiweni last visited them she gave them a seminar on the basics of a constitution.  As a result they have organized and elected officials, a board, and have appointed advisors.  They are hoping to start making loans later on this year – but they can’t open a bank account and register without more capital.

Following chai we went into the meeting.  Most of the officers were there along with a number of the members.  Enock presented a seminar covering the basics of the constitution and the rights of members.  Following this, Brown gave a description of some of the SACCOS we had visited.  He told them about the successes at Ihemi and Ugesa.  He told them about the other SACCOS starting up and their savings.  When he was done there were many questions.  Finally, after 30 minutes or so we had to bring the meeting to a close.

As we were closing, the chairman rose to give us a report on their work.  It was a very well prepared and thoughtful report – we all appreciated it.  In his report he stated that they needed 10,000,000 schillings more in capital (about $6,700).  This is the same number that the pastor had told us earlier.  Pastor Nixon told us that they hoped to make their first loans in time for the fall planting; this is possible but they will have to hurry.

As we were leaving they asked us if we thought that they could use the Parish bank account to hold their funds for now.  It is normally not a good idea to mix funds this way, but without a constitution and a start on registration they can’t open a bank account – so we said, “OK” with reservations.

Overall we felt that this group would succeed and do well – but we were concerned about whether or not they would get enough capital to be able to make this fall’s planting!

Back in Iringa we quickly changed clothes and went to a wedding.  It was the wedding of Obeid’s son.  Obeid is a music director from Tumaini who was Sandy’s office partner in 2005.  The pastor presiding at the wedding was one of Sandy’s students from that year.  It was a very interesting wedding – all 2 ½ hours of it!  There was lots of singing, some dancing, a 40 minute sermon followed by a 20 minute address from the bishop. 

We got home from this just in time to get ready for the reception.  This is supposed to start at 7:00 – but we suspect it will not get going until 8 or 8:30 – after all TIA (this is Africa).  (At the reception Obeid, the music director at Tumaini University and the father of the groom, told us that they desperately need brass instruments - anyone want to send to Tanzania?)

We went over to look at the new church that Ipogoro is building.

Ipogoro currently has 2,000 members.  The new church will hold 1,000 of them.

The existing church is part of their "compound.  It will be used for education.

Pastor Nixon talked to us about the need for a SACCOS in the parish.  It will triple the income of the members and relieve the poverty that exists here.

Their SACCOS started organizing last year.  They have selected leaders, board members, and advisers.

While most of the attendees took notes and asked questions this member had a hard time staying awake!

At the end of the meeting the chairman gave a very good report of their work so far.

When we got back to Iringa we went to a wedding at Cathedral.

It was 2 1/2 hours long with lots of dancing, a 40 minute sermon, and a 20 minute address by the bishop.

At the reception Obeid told us that they desperately need brass instruments at Tumaini - anyone want to send him one??