68 year old Esaku a resident of Katine Sub County realizes financial sustainability as a member of a Village Savings Association.
John is married with eight children. He is a resident of Amutur Village in Katine Sub County. Before joining Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), John was a peasant farmer; his family entirely depended on farming. He says there were times when his family ate only one meal a day. John alleges, he had only two pairs of shirts and trousers, his wife had only two Gomesis [cultural wear] that some time served as bed sheets.
John joined Ejok Edeke VSLA in May 2008 very well aware of the benefits of being in the association. He says he had attended some awareness raising meetings organized Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans (UWESO) Community Based Trainers (CBT) in the different parishes of Katine Sub County and its during these meetings that he learnt about the VSLA and its advantages.
The benefits
In his own words john explains. “Since joining, I have accessed loans eight times. The last loan I obtained was of 250,000 Ugandan shillings, which I used to buy 60 hens that I later sold in Arapai market and earned a profit of 90,000 Uganda shillings. I also trade in other goods like fish. I buy the goods from both the community and nearby markets and sell them to markets where the prices are higher like in Arapai market. With such earnings I expanded my business and my family’s wellbeing has greatly improved. These days I easily buy home supplies like salt, sugar, soap, and clothing.”
John mentioned that he has so far saved about 150,000 Ugandan shillings and share out is in July 2009. His dream is to buy a bicycle and expand his business.
The Challenge
Despite these benefits from VSLA, John says that the 10% interest charged on loans is high. It affects the profits he gets from the business. He says the one month payback period is too short especially for people who borrow money for businesses, as sometime one wouldn’t have sold off the stock in the period given to pay back the loan with its accrued interest.
He requested for additional training in areas that enhance their ability to conduct profit oriented businesses. He also requested UWESO, CARE International- Uganda, and Barclays Bank to connect them with banks to save their excess savings, which is not always borrowed off to members; they feel it is a security risk to the box keeper. They believe that with an account in the bank the group can access and establish group businesses and expand on their individual businesses.
John says he personally encourages community members to join VSLA because the benefits are high for instance social fund, which you can access any time for medical bills and other emergencies. He appreciated UWESO, Donors (BARCLAYS) for the programme they have brought within their community, and that they should continue supporting UWESO so that the programme covers the whole district.
Story By Johnbosco Owera- UWESO Project Officer Soroti
