A Meeting At Ilula

Today we drove down to Ilula – about an hour’s drive down the road towards Dar Es Salaam.  Ilula is located right next to the hospital complex.  The current pastor’s house was the original Ilula dispensary that gave birth to the hospital. 

When we first arrived we could not find anyone!  We thought they were expecting us.  Soon however the pastor emerged from his house to greet us.  Surprise (for us) the pastor is the one who baptized Itiweni!  Where can we go that she does not know anyone?

Pastor Aidan Muyenze invited us in to talk awhile before the meeting began.  He told us that his congregation has 6 preaching points and 1,000 adult members.  There are some businessmen in the congregation, but most are tomato farmers.  We asked what the average income of his parish was and he told us it ranged from about $1,000 to $7,000 a year.  The biggest difference he informed us was the amount of capital that his parishioners were able to get.  Those who could borrow some capital or who had enough to begin with had the highest incomes. 

Since we were in town I asked him about the existing SACCOS in Ilula.  He told me that the existing SACCOS had a lot of non Christian members.  When his congregation members had tried joining they found that the other members (mostly Muslims) got loans – but they did not.  In addition there was an ongoing problem with embezzlement.  Somehow he said the losses always seemed to be in the Christians accounts.  The other SACCOS in town are government owned.  These SACCOS tend to have a lot of bad loans so the members keep losing money.  He said his congregation believed that if they could get a SACCOS going in their parish they could control the way loans were given and make sure that only people who were trustworthy would get loans.  They also felt that they could make sure that they all got treated equally in getting loans.  He assured me that they would not exclude people outside of the church, but that they would be very careful whom they let in.

We went over to the meeting.  There were 13 women and 8 men there.  Tom gave his introduction followed by Sandy’s greeting and then Itiweni began.  She told them the basics of our constitution and what they can and cannot do.  She talked about the member’s rights and responsibilities.  Finally the questions started.  “Do we have to give loans for anything a member wants?”  (The government SACCOS require this)  “No – the loan committee can only approve things that will make money.”  “Is there any training available?”  “Yes – that is part of what we do.”  “Do we have to admit everyone?”  “No, the membership committee must admit only those who are trustworthy.” And so on.

After we were done the members held a meeting of their own.  We went over to the pastor’s house for a drink with him before we left.  “God bless you for coming.”  They all said.  “We have been hoping that someone would come and help us and now you are here!”

We drove back to Iringa to hold a meeting with Enock – time to work on goals and objectives, training plans, etc.  Then a quick dinner and off to do a radio show at radio Furaha – another late evening in Tanzania!

The church is right next to the Ilula Hospital complex.

The pastor came out to greet us.  His house was the original Ilula dispensary.

The view across the valley is lovely.

We had not seen donuts served since we got here!

The pastor sat and told us about his congregation and why they need a SACCOS.

When we started the meeting there were 13 mamas and 8 babas in attendance.

This man wanted to know if they had to give loans for anything the person wanted (this is a problem in the Government SACCOS).  The answer is "NO" - we only give loans for income projects.

This mama wanted to know if we had to let everyone join (this is a common problem since there are large numbers of people who do not pay their bills).  The answer is "NO" - only people who are trustworthy.

We left and went back to Tumaini to work for awhile.  Tonight is our program on radio Furaha - another late night in Tanzania!