A Visit To The University And A Few Thoughts

Today we went over to the University for the 7:30 church service.  We haven’t attended church there before because we normally go out to one of the villages on Sunday.  Attendance was light since the university is on break, but there was an all-male choir that performed which sounded pretty fine.

After this we went to have a bite of breakfast at Hasty-Tasty Too.  Hasty-Tasty Too is supposed to open at 9 – so when we got there at 9:40 we thought we were safe – TIA.  They were not open.  The shopkeeper next door said he would call them to see when they opened.  They said “3 minutes” so, 35 minutes later they opened. 

Around 2 PM we went to pick up Alec Mhanga and his family.  When we got there he was waiting with his two oldest girls – but where was mama?  It turned out Lucy had gone to a meeting at another pastor’s house.  The pastor’s nephew had just died and they were gathering to prepare for the funeral.  We took Alec and his girls out to lunch and caught up with what they were doing, then drove Alec over to the house where Lucy was. 

When we got there we met Pastor Mongolesa.  We know him from when he was the District Pastor for Ihemi.  We spent a lot of time with him then and have kept in touch since.  It was his nephew who had died from brain cancer at age 30.  We went in to greet him.  His wife has been sick so when she came in we hardly recognized her.  When Lucy, Alec’s wife, came in we were soon visiting and laughing with them all like old times.  Even here in Africa people our age seem to spend time discussing health issues, getting older and the pleasures of being grandparents.  We cut our visit short since this was a time or mourning for the family.

On the way home we dropped off Alec’s children then headed down the hill from his house.  All of the sudden Tom discovered he had no brakes!!!  We jerked and coasted into town and looked under the hood.  There was no brake fluid in the car.  TIA strikes again.  (Or could it have something to do with the condition of the vehicle we’re driving?)

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Last night Tom took the time to collect and analyze the data that we have collected so far on the SACCOS.  We have visited 7 locations (not including Cathedral).  These have ranged from the newly starting (Nduli) to the fully operating (Ihemi and Tunagmalinga).  Collecting all of our data from this we found:

Average number of members per location:  67

Average number of loans given by each location last year:  41

Repayment rate:  100%

Average capital at each location:  $9,825

Estimated total members profit at each location:  $17,700

In addition, we have been able to get a full member survey from our SACCOS at Ihemi.  We had asked them to examine their records and survey their members for some more data.  Here is what they found:

Number of members:  110

Number of family members supported by the SACCOS member:  541 adults; 357 children or 898 people

Number of children whose tuition is paid from SACCOS profits:  182

Total estimated 2012 profit from all SACCOS loans to members:  61,590,000 Tsc or $38,500

Total congregational giving prior to SACCOS:  9,023,545 Tsc (2008)

Total congregation giving post SACCOS:  18,769,165 Tsc (2012)

If these averages were to remain true for our SACCOS as a whole we would project:

Total membership:  (# SACCOS)*(Average # of members) = 23 * 67 = 1,541 members in 2013

Total of all family members affected by loans:  (Average # of members in family) * (# of families) = 1,541*8.16 = 12,580 people helped!

Total number of children sent to school by SACCOS profits = (average # per member) * (number of members) = 1.65 * 1541 = 2,550 children sent to school!

We of course do not know if our averages will hold true.  There are, in fact, 30 locations now in various stages of formation for SACCOS.  There are 23 locations that have gotten the basic training and are either registered or have begun the process.  The remaining 7 locations are just now gathering information and starting to hold meetings.

We have to admit that numbers as large as those given here seem hard for us to believe.  Still, there is no denying the information that we have gotten so far, and there is doubt that Iringa Hope is making a bigger and bigger impact on people’s lives here.  Still, it is very humbling to think that this enterprise could have made such an impact so quickly!

We took our friend Prof Rev Alec Mhanga and his two girls out to lunch.

When we stopped to drop Alec off we saw Rev Mongolesa.  Mongolesa had been the District Pastor at Ihemi.  We know him very well.

Rev. Mongolesa's wife has been very sick.  We hardly recognized her.

Lucy (Alec's wife) came in and visited with us.

Before long we were all talking and laughing.

So far we have only visited 7 of our locations.  Still, the progress that we see happening is amazing.

Iringa Hope is making a difference in so many lives over here. It is truly humbling to think that this enterprise could have made such an impact so quickly!