Throughout the autumn and winter I had the chance to visit
several women’s groups in different parts of Uganda. I work with a ladies group
in Kikooba village since July and I was curious what are the motivations,
dynamics of other groups in the country. The ladies were everywhere welcoming and
were happy to show me their art. They did not mind to answer to my questions and
tell me about their life. I visited groups in Jinja, Kampala and Kabale. In the
recent months I made interviews with not less than 50 women. My main interest
was the reason why they start these groups and how they see their future.
Regarding the history of the groups I found two main
reasons. First is that these groups normally function as self-help financial
institutions. How it works is that a couple of friends decide to form a group with
a minimum monthly fee. They gather the money together and once a member needs a loan she approaches the group. Then they decide together
whether to provide the requested amount or not and define a favourable
interest rate. Sooner or later the group is growing; more members, more income,
more financial possibilities. Generally these groups have other role as well. I
met a group who offers free courses in tailoring, rabbit keeping, gardening and
piggery. Other groups engaged in crafts. When the member has an income from the
products she (sometimes he) can keep the earning and give a small portion to the
group. By these activities the fortune of the group grows. When I first heard
about these “mini banks” I did not understand why women are not
turning to real banks. Then I went to a bank myself in order to make a simple
currency change and I understood. After waiting hours and several attempts (there
was always some document missing), I gave up. In Uganda banking system in rural
areas is still in a developing status. Opening a bank account is not as simple
as we think, especially if the person is lacking of personal documents. Getting
loan is even harder. To overcome this issue women mobilise themselves. Due to
the financial services many people join these groups. And if they are there
anyway why not to learn some skills? I interviewed young members who told
me that traditional crafts are about to perish however by the help of elder members
of the financial groups they took liking for creating baskets, mats, jewels and
clothes.
During the interviews I asked the founders of the groups
was there any other motivation other than the financial service. The founders
of one of the groups in Kabale told me that they feel responsibility for the
society. They wished to help vulnerable people. Now there are people living
with disability, single mothers and orphans among their members. Through the skills
that they teach they provide an income generating activity for these people who
are at the periphery of Ugandan society.
The members were honest with me and told that the main
motivation is to find any activity to earn money. These women are normally the
ones who did not have chance to study and do not have jobs thus no regular
income. They told me about their struggle to support their families, to find
enough money to buy food or to pay the school fees of their children.
When I asked them what they do with their earning every
single woman put school fees for their children at the first place. Ugandan
people know the importance of education which is the only way to raise from poverty
in a sustainable way. By supporting these women’s groups I feel that we can
help them to make the next step for a better future.
No comments :
Post a Comment