At their yearly action audits, members of Invisible Children’s Village Savings and Loan Associations reflect on the challenges they faced during the savings cycle, discuss best practices for managing their money and consider what they learned along the way. One of the major takeaways often centers around empowerment.
All of the participants of our VSLA groups were affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in one way or another. Because their lives were disrupted by war, many have limited experience with traditional education, only basic knowledge on how to run a successful business and have spent much of their lives feeling powerless to change their situation.
Now, released from the grips of terror that Joseph Kony’s rebel army had placed on their communities, the group members are able to think critically about their personal needs, rather than simply living in survival mode.
This Photo Friday, we are looking at the members of a VSLA group who, after also completing their Functional Adult Literacy course, felt better equipped to equalize the gender balance in northern Uganda’s historically patriarchal society. Rather than just talking about changing societal norms, this group decided to take their message public, by performing a skit where woman tell their husbands that money can be better spent on items like school fees and investing in their businesses than on sports betting and alcohol.
By playing an active role in making money and saving and investing this income, our VSLA members, especially the women, are increasingly empowered to transform their society and themselves for the better.
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