Sophia Akello proudly announced that the money she saved this year will help her put her children through school. She is a shop owner, a mother of nine children and treasurer of her Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) in Gulu District.
Sophia and the 29 other members of her savings group recently came together for the “action audit,” also called a group share out, at the end of their first savings cycle.
Savings cycles typically last 8-10 months at a time. During the audit, the money counters removed all of the savings from the lockbox and counted it in front of the members, the group’s community-based facilitator and the ICU Livelihoods team. It was then distributed among the members.
The share-out provides an opportunity for members to celebrate their successes, pay back outstanding loans, and receive validation that their savings cycle has been profitable. The group saved 4.2 million shillings, or $1,680, during this savings cycle. This includes initial investment money from Invisible Children, savings from group members and interest gathered when members paid off their loans.
While enormous progress has been made in reducing poverty in Uganda, poverty remains deeply rooted in rural areas, especially in northern Uganda. As 37.7 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, savings groups remain an important mechanism for empowering and lifting community members out of poverty.
Sophia is the treasurer of her VSLA group. She is using her savings to help pay school fees for her children.
“Before I was part of the group, I was only running a shop in the trading center,” Sophia said. “I could only rely on that small business to pay the school fees, but now that I am a member of this savings group, I can come and borrow the money, pay school fees, work on the side and repay the loans.”
She received 263,250 shillings, or approximately $105, during the action audit.
Moses (center, in stripes) leads his fellow members of his VSLA group in a song before beginning their action audit.
Moses, another group member, added that Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) training is having a positive impact for group members.
“Most members are looking at FAL as an opportunity to learn to read and write. They are taking it as an opportunity to write down their names and have a signature, which will help with their businesses,” he said.
He also explained that the group previously worked on farming together, but becoming an official VSLA group has been very beneficial. When the group started, they received 400,000 Ugandan shillings from Invisible Children as startup funding, much of which they invested into farming, their group income generating activity.
“We have strengthened our relationship a lot as a group. Before, we did not have solidarity together within the community,” Moses, who plans to use his savings to buy a bull that can help with farming, said.
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