In a recent interview ZCFS field co-ordinator Beaular Chipanga said, “When we first approached the women about a savings and loan project, 30 expressed interest. When it was learned that the loans would not come from ZCSFS, but rather from the savings generated by the women themselves, 22 women opted out, but the eight remaining women set an example for the rest of the community.”
Today the Mupudzi Women’s Savings Group has 40 members. “It did not take long for others to realise that membership of the group meant that they would have better lives. They would be able to buy fertiliser for their maize crop, new school uniforms for their children and if required, some additional livestock,” Chipanga said.
$3 a week
Susan Gwamure, the group chairperson, and one of the early participants in the scheme, explained that they were taught by ZCSFS officials how to set up the group, form a constitution and start saving. According to Gwamure the group itself determined the minimum weekly contribution of $3 from each member, as this was deemed to be a manageable amount.
With her first loan of $200, Gwamure started selling second-hand clothes at the flea market in Buwerimwe Business Centre. She repaid that loan six weeks later at an interest rate of 10 percent.
Since then, she has taken an additional loan and started buying firewood at wholesale prices to resell to vendors who sell on to customers grappling with electricity cuts. “As of now I am using the savings and loan on an ongoing basis, and it has had a significant impact on my family. There has been a great change for the better since I started with the group,” she said.
Naomi Saburi, a mother of four, said: “Initially, I had trouble in paying school fees for my two children in secondary school. I invested the money I borrowed in guinea-fowl and goats and now am able to pay school fees and buy the chairs and crockery we needed.” Additionally, Saburi used part of her loan to buy fertilizer, yielding a full granary of maize.
More members
Many group members echoed the conviction that the loan scheme has been a great success. These successes have prompted more women to seek membership in the savings and loan group.
Anna Mpala was eager to display the fruits of her labours – a new radio with a CD player, a memory stick, a television and a bicycle for her husband. “These are some of the things that I never thought I would be able to acquire. The loan scheme has changed my life,” she said.
Through the loan scheme, Exterior Takarinda has acquired a home bakery business. “I have bought a small oven and I am baking bread and buns for sale to locals and to shops in the business centre. My business has changed my life and that of my family,” said Takarinda. “This year I am looking to obtain another loan and add it to the profits I am making to enable me to expand my baking business,” she said.
Gender equality
There are less tangible changes that the women attribute to their involvement in the savings and loan group. Chairperson Gwamure explained that members also involve themselves in promoting gender equality, encouraging men and women to set aside culturally defined gender stereotyping, thus enabling men to do work traditionally undertaken by women and vice versa.
“Our husbands appreciate the issues we tackle here and are taking into our homes. The men now discuss these things in their groups and encourage the women in what we are doing,” she added.
On the topic of HIV/AIDS, Gwamure said: “We caution those women whose businesses involve travel, that immoral behaviour is very risky and issue warnings that AIDS is a dangerous disease for which there is no cure.”
Gwamure reiterated the benefits the scheme has had on the family life in general, adding, “We are justly proud of ourselves.”
Post published in: Gender Equality