You're invited to our Garden Party - Sunday, July 7 at 2-5 PM. There will be a Tanzanian church service by the lake at 2-3 followed by tea and mandazis, live music, beer and wine, and ice cream. Take a look at the poster for more information! The address for the day is 18641 Knollwood Circle, Lakeville, MN.
Iringa Hope visits 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The SACCOS Training Session Concludes
Today is Saturday.
That means that our training program is now over for this spring. In all we counted 75 participants in the
program. There were many compliments to
the teaching staff. The sessions covered
a large amount of information and included group exercises, presentations, and
review sessions. The main topics were:
Developing
and using your constitution
Bookkeeping
Audits
Preparing and
evaluating financial proposals
Managing a
SACCOS office
Planning
Legal aspects
of a SACCOS
Tom gave a
talk about what our goals were for the coming year, things to work on and watch
out for, suggestions for making your SACCOS work better, and how we are doing. Sandy gave a greeting and told several
sayings that relate to SACCOS in Swahili – Sandy got more applause.
As a last
item Malila had the leaders make a schedule with him to come to their villages
to work on their registrations. Malila,
you may recall, is the Kilolo District Co-op Officer, soon to be promoted. He has been especially helpful. One of our big problems in registering has
been the co-op officers who seem to not be aware of the legal
requirements! They often want our SACCOS
to comply with laws that are way out of date and have been repealed. Malila has promised that he will hold a
general meeting of all the co-op officers in the Iringa Region and make sure they
are all up to date. He will also make
them all aware of the Iringa Hope network and will try to get us an expedited
registration system. By the end of the
year we expect to be over half of all of the registered SACCOS in this region.
Overall we
had 26 villages represented at our meeting.
The people came from as far away as Kivalamo (a full day’s trip walking
and taking the bus) and Ipolamwa (almost a full day) and as close as Mkimbizi
(a short bus trip). They traded ideas,
held discussion groups into the night, and generally seemed to enjoy the time
they spent.
It has been
exciting for us to watch the new SACCOS take their first steps, and we feel
pride for those established SACCOS who are growing and prospering. We wish them
success as they continue their work to improve the lives of the people in their
communities.
Our Last Day At Kihesa.
Even Itiweni took notes today.
We handed out more paperwork.
Sandy got a lot of applause.
Our Leaders.
Our Leaders.
Our Leaders.
Our Leaders.
Our Leaders.
Our Leaders.
The Wasa Leaders.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Kihesa Training Day Two
This morning we went over to the Kihesa training session. The classes started 8:00, but we arrived at
10:00 in order to greet people over chai.
We met a number who we hadn't seen yesterday. Today there were over 70 people in the
classes. Attendance is always higher on
day two so Itiweni schedules things accordingly.
Peter and Margaret had been there bright and early to help
organize the sessions for the day. Today
the group was split into two parts – those who have been to training before and
those who are new this year. The new
section was the largest with about 50 or so attendees. The other section had about 25 or so. Overall a great turn out.
The returning session had given our instructor a list of
questions they wanted answered. It was a
long list with lots of good questions.
When we arrived at the class there was a discussion going between the
chairman of Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS, the Ilulu Coop officer, and an Ihemi
officer. We didn't understand the
discussion, but it was good to see how involved everyone was in the class.
The group upstairs was also busy working. They were getting the basics of the
organization and record keeping. Here
too, there were many questions and lots of discussion.
After chai Tom went to “say a few words to the groups.” Sandy thought that these turned into “many,
many, many words.” Well, maybe so. This was our chance to make sure that
everyone was “on the same page” for the year.
Tom covered some things that we had seen done that were not right. He congratulated them on their excellent work
the prior year and highlighted the Nyanzwa officers for collecting 80% of the
money owed. Then he told them a few
things to work on (”You need to grow your membership.” “We need to service loans below 800,000 Tsh
($500) first so we can help the most members.”
“You need to encourage your members to save by making it easy to do.” and
so on.) Finally he told them a few of
the results from our visits and invited them to come to the MFI office to see
the entire report and our budget for this year.
Following this we went out to wait for lunch and see if
there was anything we needed to do. It
was an overcast day so as we sat we started to doze off. Tom was the first to fall asleep and Sandy
soon followed. As it approached two o’clock
it started to rain. Soon it was really
pouring. Lunch was served and everyone
mingled. Some of the people came over
and told us how much they enjoyed coming here and how much they were learning. We were very happy to hear this.
After lunch we took off to do a few errands and get ready
for our radio show. Tonight is the last
of our broadcasts for this year and we have been told by many people they will
be listening. Tom hopes to spend the
night talking about the Iringa Hope organization and what we found during our
visits.
Our SACCOS team has enjoyed watching our attempts to learn
Kiswahili. They are especially amused by
Tom's efforts. Today he confused one of
the classes by greeting them with a hearty "kwa heri", (Kiswahili for
"good-bye"). He had intended
to use the traditional Hehe greeting "kamwene". When this was sorted out the class had a good
laugh.
We greeted people during chai.
There were two sessions this morning. The session for new leaders had about 50 members.
The session for returning leaders had about 25 members. When we got there the Iringa Hope chairman, the Ilulu Coop Officer, and an Ihemi officer were talking.
It was overcast and we dozed off. Tom fell asleep first, but he also woke up first!
At lunch time everyone mingled.
We had a good lunch.
Many members stopped by to say how much they enjoyed the sessions.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Training Begins At Kihesa
Today we started our training session at Kihesa. We hold these sessions twice a year for the
leadership of the SACCOS. The sessions
last four days with the first and last day being somewhat shorter than the
middle two. This year we are expecting
up to 95 people at our March session.
The day starts with chai followed by opening statements and
greetings. There were about 50 at this
opening.
Tom gave a greeting followed by
Sandy and Itiweni. Itiweni then spent
some time explaining to everyone the relationship between Iringa Hope Joint
SACCOS and their SACCOS (The Joint SACCOS is like a central bank while their
SACCOS is a local branch bank.), the role of the Micro Finance Institute (It is
where they go for help, advice, and training.), and the Co-op Office (It is the
government agency where they have to register and submit their finances.). She made sure everyone is aware of how to get
help, how to schedule training and village seminars, and how to report problems
before they become big.
The main session today is being given by Malila – the Kilolo
District Co-op officer who will soon be promoted to regional officer, and a
representative from the Iringa District Cooperative Office. They talk about the basic laws governing co-ops,
what the officers' responsibilities are, etc.
Soon everyone is taking notes and asking questions. “Can two SACCOS have the same name?” (No.)
“How long are loans?” (That is up
to your constitution and your members – up to a year for us.) “What is kiingilio? (A nonrefundable entrance fee to cover
paperwork, etc.) “What are hisa?”
(Shares in the SACCOS – everyone must own at least one, no one can own
more than a few percent.), and so on.
Soon the children were wandering around and getting
restless. Sandy took some over to the
Kihesa library for story time. One
little girl helped her little brother who was afraid of us wazungus. Tom tried to say “hi” – but he cried every
time he looked at him.
Back in the lecture room there were mamas feeding their
children, some were nursing, and others had children that seemed to be content
to just look around a bit. It is good to
see so many women leaders (We tell everyone that each SACCOS must have at least
one woman holding an office– and we have never had a problem with this.) It is also good to see so many children here
– especially when everyone seems to include them in our meetings.
We found time to visit with some of the leaders. We met all of them earlier this year during
our village visits. Even those who know very little English find a way to
visit. Itiweni wound up spending much of
the day on the phone. There are some
leaders stuck with their buses broken down.
There have been some deaths among leader’s families. Some people wound up at the University
instead of at Kihesa. In the end Itiweni
got it all sorted out.
The leaders from one village came with a problem. They have been getting their SACCOS started
since we visited them earlier this month.
They hoped to arrive early in order to talk with Itiweni, but they went
to the University by mistake so they actually arrived just as the meeting was
starting. What was concerning them was
the 5,000,000 Tsh they had collected to start their SACCOS (very impressive). They
were afraid to leave this large a sum in their village (It is about
$3,200.) and were wondering what they
could do? (You may recall that most
rural farmers are unable to open bank accounts.)
We can’t open a bank account for them yet because
we need a registration number to do so. We
decided that we would put their cash into our account and give them a receipt
for it. They were so relieved. They have been very nervous carrying this
much cash.
Because we lack Kiswahili skills, we decided that we didn't
need to stick around after lunch, so we went back to our apartment, but the
training session continued with classes by the co-op officers until about 5 in
the evening. When classes were over Itiweni assigned rooms to everyone (we feed
and house everyone for the four days they are here). In the evening there are opportunities for
them to attend group discussions where the new SACCOS leaders can learn from
those SACCOS leaders who are familiar with the way a SACCOS works. Tomorrow the session starts at 8:00.
We greeted the SACCOS leaders as they arrived.
Isn't it funny how the African mama (on the right) wants to dress in American attire and the American mama (on the left) wants to dress as an African!
The leaders arrived carrying their luggage. They will be here 4 days.
It was good to see all of the mamas and their children.
Sandy gave a greeting to all.
Itiweni explained the relationship between Iringa Hope, USA; the University and the Diocese, the SACCOS, and our central bank, Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS.
Malila gave the class.
Sandy, Peter, and Margaret gave out notepads and pens during the class. There were about 50 or so present this first day.
Itiweni spent much of the day on the phone fixing problems.
This little girl didn't want Tom to get too close.
This girl helped take care of a little boy. He was afraid of Tom and cried if Tom looked at him. (Sandy took them to the library and read a story.)
Sandy and Itiweni conferred on some problems.
We found time to visit with all of the SACCOS leaders.
The leaders of this new SACCOS had come early to see Itiweni, but they went to the University by mistake.
We had a good lunch.
Since we lack Kiswahili skills, we decided that we didn't need to stick around after lunch.
What We Have Found
Yesterday we gave a summary of what we have found as we
visited the SACCOS. We held it in a
large classroom at the University. There
were about 40 people in the audience including local co-op officials,
representatives from the financial community, SACCOS leaders, and
representatives of the university and the diocese.
Tom reviewed the program, where we are at
currently, and where we hope to go. Even
though we had visited all of the villages and met with the leaders and members,
it was still hard to believe the results we found.
A little over a month ago Tom made some
estimates. He based these on the first
half dozen or so visits we had made. Now
we have completed all of our visits and can see how good our estimates
were. Here are the numbers:
Total Membership: Estimated
– 1,541
Actual
– 1,766
Total number of family members benefiting from loans: Estimate – 12,580
Actual
– 10,243
Total number of children sent to school from loan profits: Estimate – 2,550
Actual
– 2,296
At the time Tom made these estimates we found it hard to
believe that this project could be affecting so many people –so it was easy to shrug
at the numbers. Now that we have been
around the villages and seen the people it is truly hard to imagine – even
after seeing them all!
If you would like to read the summary that we shared with
the group you can find it at:
It was a beautiful day at the University.
First everyone had chai.
Then Tom gave an update on what we had found in our visits.
Bishop Mdegala gave his thoughts.
Provost Dr. Bangu gave a brief talk.
Don Fultz from Bega Kwa Bega gave a brief message.
It is hard to believe all of the people that Iringa Hope is helping.
Asante Sana Everyone! (Thank You)
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Today At Cathedral
Today we were to Cathedral to talk with their SACCOS members. Cathedral is right downtown Iringa. The SACCOS here was started by a local
businessman. It ran for awhile and then
was suspended when there was a series of problems with the leadership and their
borrowers stopped paying. Last year we
visited them and they asked if we might help.
Enoch has been working to get an audit done for them by the government (the
first step) and today we were supposed to hear the results.
When we went to start our car it didn’t start. It isn’t
a long walk so we used this “opportunity” to get some exercise. We arrived at Cathedral promptly at 10, but
we didn’t find many SACCOS members waiting for the meeting to start. Soon Enoch arrived, followed by our
interns. We found 4 members of the
SACCOS also looking for the meeting – but there are 163 registered members in
this SACCOS.
The Iringa Municipal Coop officer arrived and Enoch talked
with him for awhile. We had thought we
were going to meet in the church, but it was double booked today. We were a small group so we met in the loft of the church. There were only 7 members of the SACCOS
present so we wondered if we could have a meeting with so few. The Co-op officer told us that he could authorize
a “special conditions” meeting – but it didn’t really matter because the lady
who prepared the report was in the hospital and the report would not be available
today. (This was the third delay)
Itiweni and a few other SACCOS members arrived around 10:45 and
the meeting began. Since there was no
auditor’s report the main discussion was about how to proceed. First they talked about why there were so few
who came. Our opinion is that since this
SACCOS has not done anything since 2009 people have just given up – but who
knows. The Co-op officer said that he
would authorize a general meeting and consider whoever showed up a legal quorum
– but we had to make an announcement and wait a week. We agreed to come back next Saturday, after
the conclusion of our training meetings, for another meeting. Then the Coop officer suggested that we wait
for a final audit reading, etc. Itiweni
got up and scolded the officer and the members for delaying and delaying. She cited some of the provisions of the law and
told them it was time to just get on with it.
This seemed to get the meeting moving toward a close with the Co-op
officer agreeing that next time they could dismiss the board and appoint a 5
person committee to do collections. The
meeting broke up with the understanding that we would be back again next week
for another round. Stay tuned!
Our car would not start - so we walked over.
Cathedral is right downtown.
Enock went over and talked to the municipal Coop officer.
Only 12 of the 163 SACCOS members came to the meeting. We thought that maybe after being dormant since 2009 the members had just given up. We will see who shows up next week.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Magubike – Our Last Out Of Town Visit
We started our journey by driving over to the Mkimbizi bus
stop to pick up Peter, Margaret, and Pastor Ambrose Mwakikoti from
Mkimbize. Itiweni is not going with us
today since she has to get ready for our training class next week.
To get to Magubike
you go out of Iringa on the Ruaha road.
It is about a 45 minute drive down this road to the turn off. Once you take the turn it is straight ahead
for most of the rest of the way.
When we arrived in Magubike we were greeted by a group of
members singing and dancing. Pastor
Nyadwike was there to greet us, smiling and clearly very happy. Tom spied some “corn children” running in and
out of the corn field so he went over to give them some candy. There was a sign here from the Agricultural
Institute at the university– it was the first we had seen – very good
guys! The sign gives the type of seed,
when it was planted, etc. It was looking
good.
Before chai with the pastor we sat down together to learn a
little about the congregation and the community. This
congregation has 400 members – 250 adults and 150 children. The cash crops here are maize, sunflowers,
and tobacco. Most of the farmers in the
congregation farm 2 to 3 acres. A few
farm up to 10 acres. Most of them are
getting 4 bags an acre for an income of about $250-300. Like so many others they would like to follow
the CVP plot approach they have learned, but capital is short.
Tom asks some questions about capital. It turns out that there are some micro
lenders here in town. The problem for
these farmers however is that the micro loans are being fed through the larger
tobacco farmers in the area. These
farmers then “bind’ the smaller farmers to them so that they wind up raising
crops for them. When the crops are sold
these farmers pay off the loans which include their tractors and other
equipment which the small farmers do not use, then divide up the rest. The result is that the small farmers either cannot
get any capital or they effectively get a very low price for their crops.
There is also a SACCOS in town. In fact, the chairman of that SACCOS joined us
at the pastor’s house for chai. He is
very interested in joining an Iringa Hope SACCOS. We questioned why they wanted to start
another SACCOS and learned that there are many problems with the existing one. First, you can take a loan for anything you
want – so much of the money is tied up in homes and motorcycles. And you must be married to belong to the
SACCOS. Since many of the women are widowed or their husbands
are gone they cannot get a loan. You
also must be over 30 and under 60 – so many of the farmers are not eligible for
this reason either. Furthermore, one
must be a village resident – which means that most of this parish cannot join
anyway (our SACCOS will include a large area including the town). Finally, the loans are usually at 4-5% per
month with monthly payments required – not very helpful for a farmer who plants
and then waits 4 months for his income to ripen. The pastor told us that there are 150-200
people who want to join a new SACCOS.
When we got to the church for the meeting there were 49
people waiting for us. We introduced
ourselves and gave a few remarks, then turned the meeting over to Peter who
conducted a class on SACCOS. Many questions
and remarks followed. “Is it true that
we, and not the church, will own this SACCOS?”
(Yes) “Can anyone join?” (Yes, as long as they are trustworthy) “Is it true that we can wait to pay until we
sell our crops?” (The terms are up to
the members so you can decide this.) “How
can we join this SACCOS?” (Peter told
them they had to form one first – he then told them how to do this.) The chairman of the village SACCOS then stood
up and said he wanted to join an Iringa Hope SACCOS. There were a number of other people who
joined him in this.
When we made our closing remarks Sandy referred to two
previous speakers from the audience who had said this would be such a gift –
first because the interest rate was only 2% a month, and second because it
would allow young and single people to join.
She reminded everyone that their SACCOS is a “gift that keeps on giving.”
When we were finished the pastor asked us to wait for awhile
because they had something to say. (Someone had gone to fetch gifts for us). No one was saying anything and the church
seemed strangely quiet. Sandy asked the
pastor if this was the point where everyone breaks into song and with a cue
from the pastor, everyone did. Soon there was a group dancing in the front of
the church. When the gifts arrived the
singing and dancing ceased, the gifts were presented and we said our good-byes.
Before we left Tom met with the “machine committee” for
awhile. He explained a business plan to
everyone. There is a committee that
wanted to borrow money to buy a machine to make sunflower oil. Their idea is to
make the oil locally and then sell it.
They think that by shipping the oil instead of the seed they will make
more money. The idea seems to have
merit, but it does not seem like they have considered all of the issues.
The group had a lot of questions; first, about how to plan a
business and make it pay. The questions are
good and show that they are ready to think about it some more. Then they started asking if maybe they can
just borrow the money to buy a machine. Tom
told them that they have to think of it as starting a business, not buying a
machine. They need to think of what building
they would put it in, how much it would cost to hook it up, etc. There was some discussion of whether or not
the church could buy one – but they could not answer the question of who would
then run it and sell the oil, hire some workers, etc. Finally everyone agreed that if they wanted a
business that would help the community and make money they needed to have the SACCOS
own and run it.
As we left they were discussing how to develop some of the
details they will need for a business plan.
Tom promised that if they wanted help someone from the university would
help them. They are hoping to have a
plan done and ready to look at in August or September.
As we left it started to rain. We hadn't driven very far before we encountered
our first traffic jam of the day – goats!
There was a large herd of goats coming down the road in the rain driven
by two small boys. About half way back to
Iringa we came across our second traffic jam of the day – kids! School was out and there were hundreds of
kids walking down the road. Despite the
traffic jams we still were home before 4:00 – good thing because we have a radio show tonight - our last trip out of town in “the
beast.”
We think it was over heating on
the way home, but none of the gauges work, so we were only guessing,
judging from the smell coming from under
the hood.
It was a nice drive with only a slight amount of traffic.
As we approached the village the vista opened up.
The church has a very lovely location.
The pastor was very happy to see us.
Tom spied some "corn children" running into and out of the rows.
This group seemed very well informed.
This little girl was so shy she would hide whenever Tom took a picture.
Sandy made a few closing remarks about the "gift that keeps on giving." Somehow the pastor managed to talk three times as long as she did!
Sandy was just being silly when she asked the pastor if this was the time when everyone broke out singing and dancing.
The pastor asked us to wait a few minutes - they had a "few sentences" they wanted to say to us. It turned out they wanted to give us some gifts.
Tom went to talk to the machine committee" for a few minutes. 90 minutes later they were still talking.
On the way home there were 2 little boys herding goats down the road.
We got into two traffic jams on the way back. First came the goats and then came the kids. We had a good laugh and enjoyed being there.
As we drove back the sun came out.
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