The mountains at Mwatasi

This morning we drove to Mwatasi; a beautiful drive well beyond Pomerini in the mountains of the Kilolo district.  While the drive to Ipalamwa and Ukegwa was up on the ridges affording grand views, the way to Mwatasi is through woods and dales and affords views of many small villages.  This morning the road was dry and the sky was clear. 

When we reached Mwatasi the pastor and the SACCOS officers were waiting for us.  The pastor at Mwatasi was an evangelist at Ihemi, our partner parish, up until recently, so we have known him for many years.  When we were starting our first SACCOS he went with us to Nyanzwa to learn about how SACCOS work.  Having seen the things that the Ihemi SACCOS has achieved, he appreciates the value of having a working SACCOS in a community.

The group here has been slow to start.  The main problem is a familiar one; there was a government SACCOS here at one time.  The government hired a manager from another village and moved him here.  He recruited members who saved their money so that they could get a loan (you need to save 1/3 of the money you intend to borrow).  When the time came to give loans the manager gave a few big loans to his friends.  His friends did not pay back their loans and he did not collect from them, so the SACCOS went broke and the members all lost their savings.  Consequently, the people in this community are hesitant to become involved in another SACCOS.

The Mwatasi SACCOS now has 30 members. They registered as a group so they could get a bank account and start giving out loans.  Next week we will have the Kilolo Co-op officer out to work on changing their registration to a SACCOS.  Registering as a group allows them to make a few small loans, but they need to change to a SACCOS so they are allowed to make more loans for larger amounts.

When asked how they get the fertilizer they need they told us that when they need fertilizer, seed, or spray they all go individually into Iringa and buy a bag at a time, then bring it back on the bus – a full day’s journey for one bag.  We suggested that they may want to think about having their SACCOS form a “buying group.”  Since our SACCOS are not allowed to sell fertilizer we have come up with a temporary “fix” for our members to use while we work on starting AMCOS (Farmer’s Coops – our long term solution.).  The basic idea is that the SACCOS organize a group that agrees to buy their fertilizer together.  The SACCOS then gives them each loans which they combine and take to town.  Once they have bought a larger quantity (getting a better price) they then hire a truck to bring it to Mwatasi.  We estimate that they should be able to buy 120-150 bags at once and get a 10-15% price break.  Everyone liked the idea and wanted to know more about how to proceed. 

We also discovered that the people here have a real market problem.  Being so far away from town they often find themselves with no place to sell their crops.  The SACCOS chair told us that many members still have over half of their crop and cannot find any buyers.  Tom suggested they consider forming a “seller’s club”.  Everyone wonders how this might work.  For this, their SACCOS would organize a group that would pool their crops, hire a truck, and take their crop into Iringa where there is a market.  Once again everyone liked the idea.  We will suggest to Itiweni that she plan a session at the officer training next month to talk about how to do this.

We realize that to many people these ideas seem so obvious that you might wonder why they have not done this already.  The thing to remember is that in most villages there is no history of working together as a cooperative unit, and there is no organizing force other than the church.  With our approach to SACCOS we are now developing a group of trained leaders and a group of people who are trusting of each other and willing to work together. 

At the general meeting, once again the topic was about how Iringa Hope works, how they can borrow money, how to work as a group, how to create a plan and how to work efficiently to reach a goal.  Tom gave them an Iringa Hope calendar.  One of the people at the meeting is featured on the calendar as “Miss May”.  Everyone laughs as she smiles shyly and is obviously pleased.  At the end of our meeting the group broke into song and dance.  The pastor says that this is truly a major change here in Mwatasi.  He expects to see this SACCOS grow large in the coming years.

When we were finished with our presentations, the general session continued and we went to the pastor’s house.  Sandy interviewed Katherine Uhagili, 30 years old, married, and with one small child.  Katherine was one of the first members here and has been enthusiastic from the start.  She told us that she took out a loan for 150,000 TZS (about $100).  She used her loan to buy 50 three week old chicks, to expand her chicken business.   She expects to get 30 eggs per day from them when they start laying.  After deducting her costs and paying back her loan she estimates she will earn over 700,000 TZS profit (about $465).  She is hoping to use her profits to start work on a house, as she is currently renting her home.  She would also like to expand her egg business.

Next Sandy talked to Henrik Kagine, 55 and married with 4 children.  Henrik has been saving to develop a tree farm.  He was having trouble getting the capital together when Iringa Hope started working here.  He has now borrowed 150,000 TZS (about $100) and has finished planting his trees.  He has developed a 1 acre farm with over 600 trees on it.  It will take several years before his trees mature.  In the meantime he is farming a few acres and doing day labor.  He tells us that he will pay off his loan from his day labor and would like to take another loan out for his farm so that he can afford fertilizer.  The trees will mature in about seven years.  He estimates that he will be able to sell them for 6-7,000,000 TZS (about $4,000).  Henrik’s profits will pay for a new home and school fees.

Before we left the pastor called in all of the officers and the ladies who were working in the kitchen and they started to sing “How Great Thou Art” (in Kiswahili, of course).  This was a song the pastor had sung with us in 2008, the year we visited the first SACCOS.  It was amazing to think about how far we have come in the seven intervening years.  From nothing to an organization like Iringa Hope; thanks in large part to our generous donors in the United States (and Norway!), the diligent staff in the Micro Finance office, and the strong community leaders throughout the Iringa Diocese.

The trip into the mountains today takes us through trees and forests as well as over the hills.

There are lots of trucks on this road.  They never move over.  They just assume you will somehow move over for them.

It was clouding over and starting to rain when we got there.

The pastor here was an evangelist at Ihemi when we started our first SACCOS there.  He went with us as we visited various locations to learn more.

Over half of the membership was here.  Our members always seem to turn out for our visits.

Towards the end of the meeting the members broke out singing and dancing.  They were very happy to see their SACCOS working.

Sandy interviewed Katherine Uhagili, 30 years old, married, and with one small child.

Next Sandy talked to Henrik Kagine, 55 and married with 4 children.  Henrik has been saving to develop a tree farm.

It was raining as we left.  We did not want to be stuck in the hills for the night.