A Stop At Kidabaga

Today we went back down the hill and out the road south to Kilolo.  After driving for about 45 minutes we took a turn off to the west.  Thirty minutes later we arrived at Kidabaga.  Kidabaga has a new pastor, Pastor John Mwlafi, he has only been here since September.  His congregation has about 1,200 adult members at two preaching points. 

We sat down with Pastor Mwlafi and talked a bit about why his congregation wants to have a SACCOS.  First he explained there are a lot of very poor people in his congregation.  Basically there are 2 groups of members – the poor who are largely farmers and kiosk owners and the middle income who own bigger businesses and large (15+ acres) farms.  The first group lives on $50-300/year.  The second group has incomes of $400-900/year.  It is the first group that he is most concerned about.

He explained that at Kitabaga there was a “self-help” group of 12 members that made loans.  Someone from the US (he did not know who) had given this group $700 in 2009.  Since then they have been making loans among themselves of $70-100.  They now had $1,100 (the increase is all due to interest income and fees– they charge 2%/month) which they used.  The group had grown to 32 members with a large group on a waiting list (they did not want to admit anymore since they did not have enough capital for loans).

He went on to explain that this group did not know how to grow their capital and were anxious for help in learning how to run their finances.  They were hoping to incorporate as a SACCOS – but they just did not know how to go about this.

After chai we went to meet the members.  There were 30 members at the meeting.  We introduced ourselves and then Itiweni took over.  She told them the basic steps to forming a SACCOS.  She then went on to describe what was in a constitution and what they would need to do.  Finally she told them about the need to start savings as well as looking for loans.  Once again there were lots of questions.  Many of them were the ones we have heard before!  Can you help us get a constitution?  Can we come to your training sessions?  How does savings help get loans?  How many people does it take to form a SACCOS? 

The pastor thanked us for coming.  As I get up to leave a line of women formed to thank us and tell us “God bless you for coming.” 

As we were getting ready to go for lunch two members came over to tell us how much their lending group had improved their lives.  Abel Mbombwe, 55, told us that his loan had helped with school fees for his children and with living expenses  He had taken out a loan for $70.  Putting this together with $30 he had saved he planted ¼ acre of tomatoes and ¼ acre of Irish potatoes.  After harvesting these and repaying his loan he had made a $200 profit!  (His normal income from his farm is about $100/year  He has taken out the same amount for a loan every year since and insisted that it was “a must” for his family.

Seba Mahenge, 52, had taken out a loan for $70 in 2010.  She had used this together with some of her savings to plant peas.  She had given a tithe first and then used the rest of her profits to improve her home.  She is now on a waiting list for a second loan!

After lunch we stopped in to see the Kilolo cooperative officer.  We are going to go with him to Nyanzwa tomorrow.  We discussed what we were going to do there to fix the SACCOS problems.  After our meeting we went down to the District Executive’s Office.  At this meeting we emphasized how important it was that we get the government’s full cooperation for our SACCOS.  He was very interested in our work and seemed well informed about our efforts.  We had a good meeting with him – we all believe that he will be well disposed to assist us.

We finally got back about 4:30 – a short day!  I’m afraid however that it has to be short since tomorrow we need to leave about 7 for Nyanzwa! 

We arrive at Kidabaga.

First we have chai with the pastor.

Pastor Mwlafi explains that a large number of members of his congregation have incomes less than $300/year.  These are the members he is most concerned about.

Can you help us get a constitution?  Can we come to your training sessions?  How does savings help get loans?  How many people does it take to form a SACCOS?  

Itiweni spent 2 1/2 hours explaining the basics.

As I got up to leave a line of women formed to thank us and tell us “God bless you for coming.” 

Abel Mbombwe told us that a micro loan was "a must" for his family.

Seba Mahenge tithed first then improved her home.

We met with Bosco Ndunguru, the district executive officer, to review our meeting objectives at Nyanzwa.