On to Ukegwa

After we left Ipalamwa we drove another 30 minutes on the mountain roads to Ukegwa.  Ukegwa is a fairly new village.  It has about 2,000 people so it is about the normal size for villages here (they vary from about 1,500 to 3,500).  Driving down the road towards the village we can see that the forest is burning on the other side of the mountain.  We weren't worried about the fire, because it is far off in the distance, but we are always conscious of the clouds in the sky.  If it starts raining a return trip could be hazardous. 

When we reached Ukegwa we saw a large group of people standing in a field.  This was our SACCOS group, and this was where our meeting would be held.  The pastor here has been working to establish a community development center.  He has just gotten an agreement that he can use this field for that purpose.  Currently the SACCOS is using part of a rental building.  Like most of our SACCOS, their office is too small and cramped to serve the membership.  Hopefully their plans for the new SACCOS building will come to fruition so they will have the space they need.

Until recently Ukwega was a preaching point of Ipalamwa.  We met the new pastor last year when we came to work on organizing this SACCOS.  He is very tall; unusually tall for a Hehe.  He credits his height to the fact that his father owned cows so he ate a lot of protein as he was growing up.  This is his first parish and it seems to be thriving under his leadership.

Last year there were about 40 people gathered at our organizational meeting.  The Kilolo District co-op officer was there with us and he and Peter gave classes on what a SACCOS could do for them, how the Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS is structured and how to organize their own SACCOS.  Since that first meeting they have formed their SACCOS, recruited 75 members, and collected over 8,000,000 TZS (about $4,500).  We gave them another 3,200,000 to get started.  Late last year they made 62 loans to their members.  They had 100% on time repayment.  Right now they have 8 people waiting to join.  This year they hope to give over 70 loans.  The pastor explained that they have decided to give everyone who is qualified a small loan for now.  They think that this is fairer than giving larger loans to fewer members.  They are hopeful that Iringa Hope will lend them another 20,000,000 TZS (we have only 6-8,000,000 TZS for them), but they will be grateful for whatever we can loan to them.

We talked with the SACCOS officers about their need for a place to buy seed and fertilizer.  Right now they have to go to Iringa to buy these (the same situation as at Ipalamwa).  It takes a farmer a week to go back and forth on the bus carrying his supplies.  They also pay a high price since they are buying one or two bags at a time.  Tom suggested that they form a buying club in their SACCOS.  The idea is that they would all pool their orders, buy a larger quantity in town, and hire a truck to bring it to them.  Doing this they will most likely get a better price and save time and effort.  They liked this idea very much.  Before they had a SACCOS they had no way to organize this sort of cooperative approach to purchasing farm inputs. 

The general SACCOS meeting was held outdoors, across the road from the field where their new building will be built.  The chairman brought out two chairs for us; everyone else sat on the grass.  Sixty two of the seventy two members were there to meet with us. 

Tom gave some opening remarks, followed by a class presentation by Peter.  When he concluded his presentation by inviting questions there was a lot of group participation. The members here are clearly happy to have Iringa Hope come to their village. 

Before we left Sandy interviewed Josef Mohadisa.  Josef is 65, married and has 7 children.  He supports himself, his wife, and 5 of his grandchildren.  He borrowed 130,000 (about $90) to use on his coffee farm.  He used his loan to buy the herbicide he needed and the labor to help him in his field.  He told us he earned about 255,000 TZS ($170) from his beans this year.  His second loan was for 300,000 TZS (about $200).  He invested this money in his fish farm.  There are many fish farms in the area.  He was one of the first residents to try fish farming when it was introduced back in the 1990s, now he has become a supplier of minnows to the other fish farms in the area. 

The second person interviewed was Anyes Ngusi, age 45, married and the mother of six.  She and her husband are supporting 4 children and grandchildren here and one child in college.  At the moment they are sending 2 children to primary school, 2 children to secondary school, and 1 child is attending teachers’ college in Dodoma.  Anyes first loan was for 120,000 TZS (about $80) to raise animals.  Shortly after she got her loan she got sick so her husband took over for her.  He bought pigs, goats and chickens to butcher and sold the meat, making a profit of 600,000 TZS (about $400). Much of the profits went towards her hospital costs and her medication, the rest went toward school fees.  Anyes health has improved and she has taken out another loan to plant three acres of maize and to go into the bread-making business.  She has already earned enough from her bread business to pay back the interest on her loan, which won’t come due until after the maize has been harvested.

Meetings and interviews over, we had a brief lunch with the pastor before heading home.  Ukwega is a 2½ hr. drive from Iringa, so it was a long day.  It was a rewarding day, however, because both at Ipalamwa and Ukwega we met such enthusiastic groups that are managing their SACCOS very well. 

There was a large forest fire burning across the valley.

At Ukegwa we was a large group of people milling around in a field.  It was our members looking at where they might build a community center.

Peter went over and had a look around too.

The new pastor here is very impressive.  He is also 6'3' or 6"4" and towers over all of his members!

The meeting was held in the shade of the trees.  We were the only ones with chairs (look closely behind Tom).  They all insisted we sit there - and we were very glad to do so.

Sandy is always a hit with her message in Swahili.  Everyone smiles and hoots for her.

Before we left Sandy interviewed Josef Mohadisa.  Josef is 65, married and has 7 children.  He supports himself, his wife, and 5 of his grandchildren. 

The second person interviewed was Anyes Ngusi, age 45, married and the mother of six.  She and her husband are supporting 4 children and grandchildren here and one child in college.

When we left the fire was still burning and it was getting cloudy.  Luckily it held off until we got back to Iringa.