tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37748050767405350012024-02-07T22:12:12.921-08:00Iringa Hope visits 2015Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-1881787095392052952015-03-18T11:00:00.001-07:002015-03-18T11:00:51.348-07:00We are at Kihesa!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday we started our spring training session. What a lot of energy! Our training sessions have always gone well,
this is our 4<sup>th</sup> year of them, but for some reason everyone is really
pumped up this year. There are about 105
people in attendance here and we expect some more to show up. The rooms at Kihesa are getting too full and
we will have to move next year, maybe to the University, but it would have to
be at a slightly different time so classes were not in session. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The attendees were split up according to the office they
hold. There is a training session by the government auditor for the treasurer
and loan committee chairs on how to keep correct books and records. This group spread out and did practice
sessions. Each group had one of the
members of the Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS board coaching them. We made a run with Duma, the Iringa Hope
treasurer, to get more forms and paperwork for the group. There were lots of smiles as people got
things right and lots of coaching when they didn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS chairmen and secretaries went off to a different room
to talk about how to form an AMCOS. We
had been planning on forming 6 AMCOS this year but a grant from NAFAKA has
changed this. We now expect to form 20
or more this year. This session was
packed with people standing outside the room in the hallway to listen and take
notes. There was a lot of
excitement. If our AMCOS go as well as
the SACCOS there will be a huge surge in our member villages this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally there was a class on the constitution and the
various committees and groups that it requires.
This room was also packed. This
year we have a number of new SACCOS teams. There are two new teams from Njombe and a few
from the Kilolo and Iringa rural districts.
They were busy taking notes and listening intently.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many of these leaders have been coming to these training
sessions for several years now. They
have made friends with other leaders and are busy exchanging thoughts and
ideas. The new attendees seem to be
mixing in well and meeting some of their cohorts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom requested an opportunity to meet with the Iringa Hope
Joint SACCOS (IHJS) board. He wanted to
talk with them about the coming changes.
By the end of this year the IHJS will be funding all of the activities
here including the MFI employees and their work. The IHJS will be making all of the decisions
for the network including loan policies, interest rates, training requirements,
etc. This is a change for them, but one
which they have known is coming. We are
very comfortable having them do this and they are looking forward to it as
well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We always serve chai, lunch, and afternoon tea at these
meetings. It is a time for everyone to
visit, make calls, and talk over the sessions.
It is very satisfying to see how the leaders have grown together. The new leaders seem to be comfortable and
are making good connections. We are very
proud to be associated with this group of talented people!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandy greeted Malila. Malila is the Kilolo Coop Officer. We have known him for many years now. He has been promoted to a district wide job.</div>
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The Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS chairman, Absalem, opened the session. It is very impressive how he has taken charge since he was elected chairman.</div>
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When the meeting broke up into different sessions, the Treasurers and the chairs of the loan committees practiced filling out forms and booklets.</div>
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The session on how to start an AMCOS was absolutely full. People stood outside in the hallway to listen.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Finally there was a class on the constitution and the various committees and groups that it requires.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">This room was also packed.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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Lunch, chai, and tea were times to mix and talk about the lessons.</div>
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We took photos of all of the leaders from the SACCOS. Tom made faces to get them to smile. Most of then wound up laughing like this group.</div>
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Tom met with the IHJS board. A very dedicated, talented group.</div>
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At the end of the day everyone was discussing the lessons and comparing notes. We counted over 100 attendees today. There will be a few more tomorrow - so maybe we will have 120 or so altogether?</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-74807355396457247312015-03-16T10:02:00.000-07:002015-03-16T10:02:11.312-07:00An Iringa Hope Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This morning we were at the University to give a report on
what we have found during our village visits this year. Every year we go to as many village locations
as possible to check on what is happening at our SACCOS. In prior years we have been able to make it
to all of our locations. But this year marks
a turning point. We have worked in a
total of 42 villages, but we didn’t have time to visit all of them this time. There are 37 nearing the point where they
will be able to give loans, and 31 that should be registered soon . Three of our SACCOS are in the Southern
Diocese, which is in the Njombe region.
A visit to those three SACCOS would have required three days, which our
schedule didn’t allow. Our schedule
allowed us to visit 27 of the SACCOS, but we made it to 25, due to a last
minute conflict at Idete and Kidabaga.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our meeting was held at Blomquist Hall, where we started out
with chia so that we could “meet and greet” our guests. This year there were about 40 people in
attendance, including government officials, cooperative officers, NGOs, University
officials, representatives of BKB and DIRA, and future suppliers (in this case
for our new AMCOS). This meeting was a
good opportunity to let everyone know where we are at and where we are
going. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our Director, Dean Enoch Ugulumu, gave an opening statement
followed by Itiweni Luhwago, our senior coordinator, who introduced a number of
the people present. Then Tom stepped up
to give a status update. He covered a
little about the background of Iringa Hope, how the Micro Finance Institute
(MFI) came about, and what our status review was based on. This year we visited with over 1,200 members;
interviewed over 70 of our elected leaders, interviewed members, looked at loan
documents, etc. Our overall comments and
estimates are based on these visits and the data we gathered. You can see the entire presentation in PDF
form here <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Dk9faxJUomSEQ2NkR5SzBNNHc/view?usp=sharing">Status 2015</a></div>
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One thing that we announced at this meeting was that,
starting this year, all of the costs of the Iringa Hope network and all of the
management will be done by the members of the SACCOS. This means that the Iringa Hope network is
now 100% self-sustaining! This is the 5<sup>th</sup>
year of operation of the Iringa Hope sponsored MFI. Among our 5 year goals were starting 30
SACCOS; forming a network from them; and getting the network to be
self-sustaining, all of which have been reached.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following the presentation Prof. Ugumulu welcomed questions
from the audience. The first question, “What
is your biggest problem?” was easily answered.
Our biggest problem has always been, and continues to be, raising the
necessary capital needed by our SACCOS’s.
We have over 600 families qualified and waiting for a loan. That is 3,600 people who have made a good
plan, saved their 1/3 of the loan value, gotten 2 friends to cosign their
loans, and are waiting. The hardest
thing we have to do is tell these people that we will do the best we can and
they will have to wait. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A second question, “What is most rewarding?” was again easy
to answer. The most rewarding part of
what we do is visiting with our members and hearing their stories of changed
lives and improved living conditions. A more specific question dealt with the
occupations of the people who are getting loans. “Will you be expanding to support fishermen,
cattlemen and various other occupations?”
Our answer, “We go where there is
a group of people who can organize and are willing to do the work to form and
run a SACCOS. It just happens that most
of our members are farmers, but we have supported fish farmers, and lumbermen,
dairymen and egg producers, shop owners and bakers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The questions lasted almost an hour – it was great to have
so many interested people at this meeting.
Enock closed the meeting by inviting a few members of the audience to
give some brief statements. One man in
particular gave a very interesting statement.
He told us how proud he was that Iringa Hope was managed and supported
by its Tanzanian members. He thanked all
of us for realizing that this is the way things should be and for working to
make it happen. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting broke up we had the opportunity to talk some
more with the folks from USAID, Yara, and Syngenta. USAID is the funding source for our recent
grant. Its representatives were very
positive and wanted a copy of the presentation.
They told us to expect many more grants in the future if this one went
well. The Yara representative told Tom that
he would be pushing as much as he could to get us the support we have asked for
from Yara. He also asked for a copy of the
presentation so that he could send it to their headquarters in Dar Es Salaam. He asked if we could meet with Yara representatives
in Dar in two weeks, but unfortunately we will be gone by then. The Syngenta representative listed for us all
of the many things that they would like to do with us, such as giving courses,
sending out samples, doing demonstrations, etc.
He promised that they too would have a good package for us to look at. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is hard to know what might come of this meeting. We think it serves a very good purpose in
giving us an opportunity to let people know what we are doing and where we are
at. The questions were also very helpful
in identifying things we should be thinking about or things we may have
forgotten. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tomorrow our leader training sessions begin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We started off our meeting with chai - coffee, tea, mandazi, chapati, eggs, and samosas.</div>
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There were a little over 40 people attending the meeting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnVuWsrtbNZjV3UlXQfroXrLsMLe1rKFDoviq_2_3JtnxrQBfZi16KP1SkxTfFXRetxGMtMH7bI7WHZ1D90C3vUs4MwkyCyvbZwbVjQEs25tYIp-Oh_PLztbdAO9lc9IDgvm7e6GtR1pf/s1600/15-03-14-16+meet+mercy,+MFI+board,+IH+info+meeting+(40).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnVuWsrtbNZjV3UlXQfroXrLsMLe1rKFDoviq_2_3JtnxrQBfZi16KP1SkxTfFXRetxGMtMH7bI7WHZ1D90C3vUs4MwkyCyvbZwbVjQEs25tYIp-Oh_PLztbdAO9lc9IDgvm7e6GtR1pf/s1600/15-03-14-16+meet+mercy,+MFI+board,+IH+info+meeting+(40).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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People paid close attention to our presentation. Everyone seemed very interested.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hPZ2Xso9DyB6u-sNTR9EPyE1dNXksbngaFJp9tCWJ_GRccStfLHdC6Wi8xMs7zwHk3MX1ZIxg3pQIfTdeYYNukxjl1_NG8Cqr1nlKyyclgD-1HFpWG0rSoKVTkMXktqwLD34aYrt_sia/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hPZ2Xso9DyB6u-sNTR9EPyE1dNXksbngaFJp9tCWJ_GRccStfLHdC6Wi8xMs7zwHk3MX1ZIxg3pQIfTdeYYNukxjl1_NG8Cqr1nlKyyclgD-1HFpWG0rSoKVTkMXktqwLD34aYrt_sia/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="320" width="262" /></a></div>
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There were lots of good questions at the end of the meeting. This gentleman rose to give a very eloquent speech. "It makes me very proud that Iringa Hope is supported by its members and managed by the people here. This is the way it should be." He told us.</div>
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As things broke up Joan Mayers of USAID stopped to talk with Tom.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VNDyiGD_FFMsebL6tsn-3ZhyphenhyphennN7kMPHZUMo75Suno4PYvPYJ_Fh04Xgl6DGHnY8H1DMYz4xZVV18lhMOwe0PVPv3Vhpb7JIteofRQ3_OLr8CH1G6MVZ7mT7CslI57wPbL1YvWumSvrlb/s1600/ih.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VNDyiGD_FFMsebL6tsn-3ZhyphenhyphennN7kMPHZUMo75Suno4PYvPYJ_Fh04Xgl6DGHnY8H1DMYz4xZVV18lhMOwe0PVPv3Vhpb7JIteofRQ3_OLr8CH1G6MVZ7mT7CslI57wPbL1YvWumSvrlb/s1600/ih.JPG" height="297" width="400" /></a></div>
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To see a PDF of the presentation, click here <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Dk9faxJUomSEQ2NkR5SzBNNHc/view">Status 2015</a></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-27200266968739014152015-03-07T08:23:00.000-08:002015-03-07T08:26:43.113-08:00Mkimbize – On their way to give relief to Mtera<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went to Mkimbizi and then visited the local
fertilizer company’s manager. Mkimbizi
is located right here in town. We
generally try to visit on a Saturday since most of the members are at work on
the weekdays. Even on Saturdays it is
hard to have a meeting since many of the members go out of town to work on
their farms. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to Mkimibzi we saw a group of people packing
clothing into large bags. Some members
of the Mkimbizi parish were packing up clothing and food to take to Mtera. Things at Mtera are never good, but this year
is especially bad. The crops have
largely failed and many people are having a very hard time. Some of the members of this SACCOS are among
those who will be bringing aid to the area.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Attendance at the meeting was low, as it often is on a
Saturday. Additionally, the group going
to Mtera is eager to get started, as it will be a long bus ride. We decided that it would be best to shorten
the meeting. Tom gave an abbreviated
version of his usual talk about how Iringa Hope works. Being in town, most of
the members have visited our offices and are already aware of much of the
information. We gave them their
calendars and then Peter gave a brief
class. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This SACCOS now has 82 members and they gave 87 loans last
year (many are for 3 months so they can take 2 or 3 loans a year). Their average loan was for 450,000 TZS (about
$280) – with 100% of all loans being paid on time and in full. Overall they made a profit of almost
4,000,000 TZs last year (about $2500).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mkimbizi was one of the winners of the business plan
competition last year. They had planned
to go into the concrete brick business.
When we visited them last year they had made a lot of bricks but they
were having trouble selling them.</div>
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About
the time they started making these bricks a lot of other folks decided to do
the same thing. As a result the market
got flooded and what started out as a good idea turned into a marketing
problem. After trying to sell bricks at
the going rate for a few months they decided to start lowering the price just
to sell off their inventory. As they
lowered their price so did everyone else.
Finally they got to where they were selling very close to cost. They did sell all of the bricks, but after
accounting for all of their costs they only earned 23,800 TZS from 5,000,000
TZS in sales – not enough to bother with.
They have of course recovered their capital so they are now thinking about
what else they might do. One interesting
side effect was that when they lowered the price so they could sell off their
bricks they lowered the market price of bricks.
Even several months later the price remains low and shows no sign of
increasing.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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After leaving this meeting we went to meet with the local
manager of Yara, the fertilizer company.
Yara is currently the largest
fertilizer company in this area. They
also make the best product. We are
interested in doing a deal with them so that our villages can buy their
products in bulk for their members. We
also want the AMCOS (Farmer’s Coops) we are forming to get a good price from
the company.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We met with the Yara manager at a restaurant in town. We described what we are working on and what
we want from Yara (good prices, credit for our SACCOS, free delivery,
etc.). He thinks that he can do some of
what we ask but he will have to go to the headquarters to see about other
things. If we go ahead with Yara we will
sell over 12,000 bags of fertilizer this year.
This will make us the 3<sup>rd</sup> or 4<sup>th</sup> largest customer
in this area. It will be interesting to
see what Yara will offer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got ot Mkimbizi the members were busy filling bags with clothes and food items.</div>
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The chairwoman explained that they were hurrying to get ready to take a bus to deliver aid to the village of Mtera. Mtera is normally very poor but this year is especially bad since they had very poor crops.</div>
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Sandy gave the leaders calendars and pointed some things out. Our calendars are very popular here.</div>
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Last year they went into the cement brick business. Unfortunately several other people did the same thing. In order to sell all of their bricks they dropped the price to just a little bit above their costs. They sold all of their bricks, but the price of these bricks remains very low.</div>
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We headed to a restaurant to meet with the Yara fertilizer manager.</div>
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We had a good meeting with him. We will be his 3rd largest customer in this region if we decide to go ahead and buy from him.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-87640215571758381622015-03-06T09:14:00.002-08:002015-03-06T09:18:30.230-08:00Then there was Bomalang'ombe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After our visit at Ng'ang'ange we headed further down the
road to Bomalang'ombe. Bomalang'ombe is the
home village of Itiweni, our senior SACCOS Coordinator. We had heard about this village before, but
had never been there. As we continued on
our drive we again saw many scattered, small villages. Many of these are built along the road, which
often hugs the crest of the hills. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bomalang'ombe is very spread out. About 6,000 people or approximately 1,000
families live here. However, right in the middle of the village, where the
church is located, the buildings are so spread out along the ridge that we seem
to be in the country.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to the church, the pastor and about 40 of the
new SACCOS members were waiting for us – so went into the church for our
meeting. The pastor welcomed us and
introduced their SACCOS chair (he is technically not yet the chair because they
aren't registered). The chair introduced
the other officers and we started our meeting.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everyone here seems to be aware of the problems with government
and privately owned SACCOS and wants to know why we are different. Tom gave his talk on what makes Iringa Hope
different and why our SACCOS succeed while others don’t. After Sandy gave her Kiswahili greeting she
asked “How many of you are related to Itiweni?”
Immediately the room was full of raised hands. At least half of all of the people here are
relatives of Itiweni. The entire
leadership of this SACCOS is related to her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the hands were raised we once again were reminded of how
different it is here. For one thing, in
this country the women and the men still sit on separate sides of a
meeting. Sandy went back to take a shot
of the room and it is almost comical.
All of the men are way off to one side while all of the women are way
off to the other. In addition, you never
see a man and woman holding hands – but men hold hands with each other and
women hold hands with each other. There
are so many similarities, but sometimes the differences jump out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As Peter started to talk he asked a few questions. One question he had for the group was
regarding other lending groups that might be in Bomalang'ombe? We were told that there are, but they charge
15% a month and only lend for 2-3 months, similar to our previous village
visit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter gave a class on shares, loans, interest and repayment
to a very interested group. They just started
to organize last September, and then contacted Peter in January asking for
assistance in getting set up. They told
us that they had heard about us from our program on radio Furaha and from
Itiweni’s last visit. Right now they
have 45 members with 5 more working on joining.
They have collected 700,000 TZS so far, but they will need 5,000,000 TZS
(about $3,000) in order to register. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we left the meeting it had started raining. The members continued on meeting so they
could make some plans on how to increase their capital. We wish them great success! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcN9v0QOXUPY6yxCQhuJZH80sijksTQimSOwBR0Nvv8MtMU2Lk0pe0Arre7-x94qu-Zwm3l75sofjOG7k5APhY7ZZrylpIef0rcIyrJIWH5LR9H2n62YIv5nEwwh8A3gzD2fGsACqOmu8P/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(71).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcN9v0QOXUPY6yxCQhuJZH80sijksTQimSOwBR0Nvv8MtMU2Lk0pe0Arre7-x94qu-Zwm3l75sofjOG7k5APhY7ZZrylpIef0rcIyrJIWH5LR9H2n62YIv5nEwwh8A3gzD2fGsACqOmu8P/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(71).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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We went through many small villages that were spread along the roadside.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxvx1N55_eZJAEsbxOaHWkWNMlDDPyb-e-XNvDFn4EQiFpdoeb3FmvILMoa7Pi8T8ytzOPdvhaqc62HOr3O8IdvX8rSM2z0qj4BObr-txNlYSZbdqQwGUfcH9svXaqOg7Qk9LSqLczxTc/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(73).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxvx1N55_eZJAEsbxOaHWkWNMlDDPyb-e-XNvDFn4EQiFpdoeb3FmvILMoa7Pi8T8ytzOPdvhaqc62HOr3O8IdvX8rSM2z0qj4BObr-txNlYSZbdqQwGUfcH9svXaqOg7Qk9LSqLczxTc/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(73).JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you look carefully you can see how the villages follow the road along the ridges.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3k64WceDVjnG_ba4KUczrd70zXT4Jbldx4hdtqZmgRxfLUhyTA121LaH2cf8H7IM2vokZt5AzwZfWsLY1sfoQUQWdrDrknGDTb6zb-x2hpaEmrQk9OQ8MF3pZnuB1Y8L92pLdnuuZNeyd/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(79).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3k64WceDVjnG_ba4KUczrd70zXT4Jbldx4hdtqZmgRxfLUhyTA121LaH2cf8H7IM2vokZt5AzwZfWsLY1sfoQUQWdrDrknGDTb6zb-x2hpaEmrQk9OQ8MF3pZnuB1Y8L92pLdnuuZNeyd/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(79).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bomalang'ombe is so spread out that even when you are in the village it seems more like the countryside.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGfcqnnA6RJzf2ENAl6RvyiA-64yk1L9Uj8bTboyLF0WbHCIvNVq6Z_Vas2t2ZGVQAvQVtON6Ksn8lWRKl9oSSZow7zpDaDvVFsoUEJ5w4qs2TaWscw0Bq8BfpbTlf6BsuYiKQPP2gkoD/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(84).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsGfcqnnA6RJzf2ENAl6RvyiA-64yk1L9Uj8bTboyLF0WbHCIvNVq6Z_Vas2t2ZGVQAvQVtON6Ksn8lWRKl9oSSZow7zpDaDvVFsoUEJ5w4qs2TaWscw0Bq8BfpbTlf6BsuYiKQPP2gkoD/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(84).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a very pretty view of the city from the church.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrVfWoHNB7K8iCJ6qLlwXCto2MLjWeub-o673OS3JM8Ft3svF0GVd51K_bOaQgXlY9n-Woc0VnkCtX_UWNp1IuVxXmYoRSmHz6YhiNaJGDufxh3W1XjcEaRM7RhOtEzEjkYoMSniEDa2U/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(94).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrVfWoHNB7K8iCJ6qLlwXCto2MLjWeub-o673OS3JM8Ft3svF0GVd51K_bOaQgXlY9n-Woc0VnkCtX_UWNp1IuVxXmYoRSmHz6YhiNaJGDufxh3W1XjcEaRM7RhOtEzEjkYoMSniEDa2U/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(94).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are 45 members of this group. Most of them were here today.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5YpFfycAbIn-DMZY841_FNprGsC8NRT6c61DpS7sTDy68jAMJTcWU17M1m4H7k4YoX0WgKi4PBtjp7PtqiB0gI21439ZxUJFMaskVSMVz0E0U2N-3Ylsvs7UjoaEYNx3_lLnEETAIxha/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(99).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5YpFfycAbIn-DMZY841_FNprGsC8NRT6c61DpS7sTDy68jAMJTcWU17M1m4H7k4YoX0WgKi4PBtjp7PtqiB0gI21439ZxUJFMaskVSMVz0E0U2N-3Ylsvs7UjoaEYNx3_lLnEETAIxha/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(99).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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When Sandy asked how many were relatives of Itiweni most of the hands went up.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnejbEtz9NhE22F2QGZGZLjNQe60sOVx3LhRd-T3iGkC_m0D2j8JpUa_qAJ7-eb41dAS0Aq1jt8j8nThsrLHkYQmw9766pGHrgFTg1BEti0tKR01yif2xfc9ews8FwFAnH9VuWaLCXDuL/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(100).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNnejbEtz9NhE22F2QGZGZLjNQe60sOVx3LhRd-T3iGkC_m0D2j8JpUa_qAJ7-eb41dAS0Aq1jt8j8nThsrLHkYQmw9766pGHrgFTg1BEti0tKR01yif2xfc9ews8FwFAnH9VuWaLCXDuL/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(100).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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All of the leaders are related to Itiweni.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jp68DqR1ujOIHbOREPYTLa8nLqgce2V1zYVjn0Whf3qdsEh0_xPHtBopqhPTwZ-A15ADv1B8tnp4qqMjzHfyAI6atbW-yzaAWzpQE08PxQJAvlHFAiKPx01DlbmeZB0mbs97pioLup26/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(114).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jp68DqR1ujOIHbOREPYTLa8nLqgce2V1zYVjn0Whf3qdsEh0_xPHtBopqhPTwZ-A15ADv1B8tnp4qqMjzHfyAI6atbW-yzaAWzpQE08PxQJAvlHFAiKPx01DlbmeZB0mbs97pioLup26/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(114).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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This chubby little girl was so cute. She kept peaking at us until we gave her some candy. Then she made a mess - but her did not seem to mind.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2RAXsawC4HjZZ3CSHy8A_SLmqK1W4R4cmuIpLVea-A2n7Vw_lP1WYE0WJ5fsMy2rUqAfrYmTZTnSq2zH2Kt9iJ_0CESP6lc-fcuEDPUmsfYO6epr54aEWiFioKSIoiGlC8qfcbXe8FV9q/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(101).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2RAXsawC4HjZZ3CSHy8A_SLmqK1W4R4cmuIpLVea-A2n7Vw_lP1WYE0WJ5fsMy2rUqAfrYmTZTnSq2zH2Kt9iJ_0CESP6lc-fcuEDPUmsfYO6epr54aEWiFioKSIoiGlC8qfcbXe8FV9q/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(101).JPG" height="254" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is interesting how the men always sit on one side and the women on the other side!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgCsFFTk97gyKjiubi7Q-Mfk8s2SYAZcirCN9WjLmQbJ1ar6-QDq_RJVOaqkIcuI3xgaxEAH4_a1-3JiREl9G-PdAZ5aiBQhkpDSoZr9PvXAkcc5WmK8P6O8TMrKZj9ATJ_1DTs8VHY2f/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(106).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgCsFFTk97gyKjiubi7Q-Mfk8s2SYAZcirCN9WjLmQbJ1ar6-QDq_RJVOaqkIcuI3xgaxEAH4_a1-3JiREl9G-PdAZ5aiBQhkpDSoZr9PvXAkcc5WmK8P6O8TMrKZj9ATJ_1DTs8VHY2f/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(106).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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The chairman decided that they would make a plan to collect funds. We left the meeting for a quick chai and then home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGPjFIId25Ud-SNB4iDb3KDuNli34P4bI76XX_EA1GykKUSWYGDyHKqlSSVjUwj-4fDKWFblZQ79FXb-YH0U-4fkjbY4Cs4zDKRl8Jo5_Z97_T6bx54iBjwpbIGci9KdV2ql8EP1rpOj1/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(117).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGPjFIId25Ud-SNB4iDb3KDuNli34P4bI76XX_EA1GykKUSWYGDyHKqlSSVjUwj-4fDKWFblZQ79FXb-YH0U-4fkjbY4Cs4zDKRl8Jo5_Z97_T6bx54iBjwpbIGci9KdV2ql8EP1rpOj1/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(117).JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was raining as we left for the drive back to Iringa.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-63864131111772799972015-03-05T11:18:00.004-08:002015-03-05T11:18:58.019-08:00Today we are at Ng'ang'ange<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we first arrived in Iringa (it seems like a long, long
time ago – but it has only been four weeks) we discovered that there were a few
new villages that wanted us to come and talk with them. One which was very eager to talk with us was Ng'ang'ange. Ng'ang'ange lies in the highlands about a 2
hour drive from Iringa. It is on the
road to Bomalang'ombe, another new village for us. So this morning we were off to visit both
villages. Professor Gilman Nyambi, from
the University of Iringa accompanied us today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The drive to Ng'ang'ange is very pretty. The day started off clear and bright. We headed towards Kilolo, a road we have been
on several times recently. We stopped in
Kidabaga to ask directions, then noticed a sign right next to where we had
stopped that pointed the way. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Down another rutted, dirt road; past a number of small
villages; over a few hills; past a few trucks (some of them stalled in the
road); and finally up a hill on a walking path – and we were there. It really is pretty here, but there were many
people wanting to greet us, so we didn’t have much time to take in the views. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The pastor, Nebu Mgugile, here is new here, having been
assigned to this parish only 2 months ago.
He was ordained a few years ago and this is his second
congregation. He told us that he is very
excited about having an Iringa Hope SACCOS here. He was the treasurer at the SACCOS at Ipogolo
when he was an evangelist there and saw what their SACCOS did for the members
and the community. His congregation here
has an average income of about $400/year (just a little above average for this
area) and he wants to see them have a chance at improving their futures.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The general meeting began shortly after our arrival and they
were very anxious to get started. There
were over 50 people in attendance today and they were a very serious group.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went through our introductions and explanations. When Tom told the group that a generous donor
has sent them 2,000,000 TZS to help them get started there was lots of applause
and ululating. He told them that it is
up to them to raise 3,000,000 TZS (about $2,000) more to reach the required
capital for register. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peter presented a class on how to organize their SACCOS and
how to handle their money and their loans. There were a lot of questions about interest
and length of loans, and everyone wonders about where the money goes when they
buy shares. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We learned that there is a privately owned lending group in
the village but loans are for very short periods and have an interest rate of
15% per month. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The pastor then shared his experiences with the Iringa Hope
SACCOS in Ipogolo and told them it is the best thing he has seen and that it is
for everyone in their village, not only the Lutherans. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally the Ward Executive came to the front of the room and
spoke to the group. He told everyone
that he has been asking about Iringa Hope and has been told that it is the best
program in the region. He is planning on
joining and is ready to put his money in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We invited them to send 3 leaders for training at our
session in a few weeks. The meeting
continued as we were leaving. They were
going to choose 3 leaders and start making a plans for how to raise the
3,000,000 TZS they need.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We left Ng'ang'ange and headed towards Bomalang'ombe. We are confident that this group will work at
raising their funds. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFQeV2dFq3bkL5L8XDPXhHB0SYKeFUlgKdMGxDgR0TSob3vR2HZexVQpIkRbnVwjhyphenhyphenIFX5gHaJ_MXYTsKa3mJNha2xK-f_bqGmc5i8SX9tHS2hbuoyzMqvqmV4TUnK4FZMLYK-0pGY4yD/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFQeV2dFq3bkL5L8XDPXhHB0SYKeFUlgKdMGxDgR0TSob3vR2HZexVQpIkRbnVwjhyphenhyphenIFX5gHaJ_MXYTsKa3mJNha2xK-f_bqGmc5i8SX9tHS2hbuoyzMqvqmV4TUnK4FZMLYK-0pGY4yD/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(4).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>
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We passed through many picturesque villages.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLwIMoO-VGDlDzaAU-nWjVrFmBSCjv2RdN9AZChIvLYy6qCbjuRm1DU8nWU-yf3KeMxZf_yQl6Yz_180aN8qyCSxFJZrwMrZseD5Oupu2bUMRv4CR69DJYNvcsPC8ksE1P60ZXMhI2FSp/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLwIMoO-VGDlDzaAU-nWjVrFmBSCjv2RdN9AZChIvLYy6qCbjuRm1DU8nWU-yf3KeMxZf_yQl6Yz_180aN8qyCSxFJZrwMrZseD5Oupu2bUMRv4CR69DJYNvcsPC8ksE1P60ZXMhI2FSp/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(11).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then we turned onto a foot path for a drive up the hill.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Amn0w-L5qfTLnKjv3ee-xiM6U1VFmMQ4w5X9Xa9zGBnIJ0wYn-yyCEkJDlrac_WQjqBCa_0nzptOz9D12pbeDI1HT_OjQj2QmGAYRLIu_MdWZ-PwOT_M-yGLnVCIsH-GYycxh8sGk-lt/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(132).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Amn0w-L5qfTLnKjv3ee-xiM6U1VFmMQ4w5X9Xa9zGBnIJ0wYn-yyCEkJDlrac_WQjqBCa_0nzptOz9D12pbeDI1HT_OjQj2QmGAYRLIu_MdWZ-PwOT_M-yGLnVCIsH-GYycxh8sGk-lt/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(132).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Tom loved the scenery and started taking pictures while Sandy and Peter greeted people.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6JQNWxqPdxC2o6h_mcwEm3rZIIOXRJHdKAkMI9O_5pWolkWMECM60mqACraG45j2TPfmdbVwSat6B2qFOhPt9nIgbwYw3MfPyixdxV3oB-taQq1cs7PPkd3nf1QOYsrMr_AF0aSy2RbZ/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(17).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6JQNWxqPdxC2o6h_mcwEm3rZIIOXRJHdKAkMI9O_5pWolkWMECM60mqACraG45j2TPfmdbVwSat6B2qFOhPt9nIgbwYw3MfPyixdxV3oB-taQq1cs7PPkd3nf1QOYsrMr_AF0aSy2RbZ/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(17).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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It is a truly beautiful view from up here.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrl8aP4Vi4tUffvU_bBCJ0YnzggpkOWhlE8lRGZERF16ZQ3GRFvUcrg4oqzxqSv6SGKKrpd5-8yajTCLleDxyEWx2ECs2xp3m87NLUvumibVgH0rKHELEGmBd-rwknYvcQuRW3Nw6rHM-/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(20).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrl8aP4Vi4tUffvU_bBCJ0YnzggpkOWhlE8lRGZERF16ZQ3GRFvUcrg4oqzxqSv6SGKKrpd5-8yajTCLleDxyEWx2ECs2xp3m87NLUvumibVgH0rKHELEGmBd-rwknYvcQuRW3Nw6rHM-/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(20).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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The hills this time of year are very green and the huts blend in beautifully.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdN1aRFV9Hryf7kC0WX1u2dWx3hfwZLkvzyAzPl_zTHF_7-k8TVgtIvVrKwHAPgaj7mfy1H1s_4z3i0ZRUcMczxSWzQVMI32A_Yp-f02aWTtfq7chYolBW1vLuiNHiz_dzxL-zAmxz4xZI/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(34).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdN1aRFV9Hryf7kC0WX1u2dWx3hfwZLkvzyAzPl_zTHF_7-k8TVgtIvVrKwHAPgaj7mfy1H1s_4z3i0ZRUcMczxSWzQVMI32A_Yp-f02aWTtfq7chYolBW1vLuiNHiz_dzxL-zAmxz4xZI/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(34).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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There was a large group gathered. Currently the only option in town is a Catholic agency that charges 15% a month. What? That's right 15% a month.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JD8Hcr94T_8ADlJNVzSjW2cjd6uzuEIHi0O6HHgZ-odX6hxwVvnZp6ejQYiiY9OcyDo_-FUcDCJBucLNeq2110johRUuSx5uYn_95VZv6Zk_uaZEaBxwdY39lTlFUCkTiW4O57yYexYz/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(41).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JD8Hcr94T_8ADlJNVzSjW2cjd6uzuEIHi0O6HHgZ-odX6hxwVvnZp6ejQYiiY9OcyDo_-FUcDCJBucLNeq2110johRUuSx5uYn_95VZv6Zk_uaZEaBxwdY39lTlFUCkTiW4O57yYexYz/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(41).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Peter went thorough how to raise money and finish organizing. We invited them to send 3 leaders to training later on this month. (After we left the meeting they stayed to choose three leaders to go to training and make a plan to start raising funds.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLxv7RzC4GRgwREypLH0z74ak8BWP1fbwlWPJQwi41PCks25zOw2mUpDg5-2Mx8yNSS20aaZ8Yu4pysRQ-c1XjeULP9LbvB-QZQOUkECHfqLQvzroxmwcJD7BtSr4ZnAKq0g9hYOeZ_3d/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(58).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLxv7RzC4GRgwREypLH0z74ak8BWP1fbwlWPJQwi41PCks25zOw2mUpDg5-2Mx8yNSS20aaZ8Yu4pysRQ-c1XjeULP9LbvB-QZQOUkECHfqLQvzroxmwcJD7BtSr4ZnAKq0g9hYOeZ_3d/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(58).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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There were lots of questions about what happens to their savings and the interest they pay on loans. Currently the Catholic group takes the money out of the village and no one here gets any benefit. Everyone was very excited when we told them it all stayed here in their SACCOS which they own!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj09fR2SJBMJLq3Dr_lrimkFvy7FcyACEudpvkHtnLGUhUlK25DEE0e93_NEnH6pl_kx7FfZ32geCa24GqtjKeIUcEL7ffiS_789gkUgnvlVrtOjQr5hP_Z8O5LvUaiKplMT4mbBtR2KEid/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(63).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj09fR2SJBMJLq3Dr_lrimkFvy7FcyACEudpvkHtnLGUhUlK25DEE0e93_NEnH6pl_kx7FfZ32geCa24GqtjKeIUcEL7ffiS_789gkUgnvlVrtOjQr5hP_Z8O5LvUaiKplMT4mbBtR2KEid/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(63).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Ward Executive is joining this group. He told them that this is the best thing he has seen anywhere in his region. He went on to tell them that they were foolish if they did not start raising money right now. (He waived his fees and said he was ready to put money in.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4Cqv3B5F1S1Vhf6xad0bLclRHwCgQ6cxhzaBS1-XD_dTQO5cgv92WxeVOe5SQ3suCIILWgV7QEq2YxfPEstNQ6JtR8XTSpVEttQD-vCtEJqBsRlEfl0ffu51IhRJdwiJIPPq1hHlwsXp/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(68).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4Cqv3B5F1S1Vhf6xad0bLclRHwCgQ6cxhzaBS1-XD_dTQO5cgv92WxeVOe5SQ3suCIILWgV7QEq2YxfPEstNQ6JtR8XTSpVEttQD-vCtEJqBsRlEfl0ffu51IhRJdwiJIPPq1hHlwsXp/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(68).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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As we were leaving we waved good bye to the women working in the garden. They had already made their pledges to help fund the SACCOS.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXwDDiBlFOGPhnuUifhtLVqOOw-fYhPhGBFpzJor1TARPC3SwA5C8lZI-w7f2iaQkDBgfpiHGno_BlCjDSmZGtGB_vAEg-eRWVSYVgpQz-HLJFTL8-lWBhRzk4VAwL4UZxrfmPF14ADKn/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(70).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXwDDiBlFOGPhnuUifhtLVqOOw-fYhPhGBFpzJor1TARPC3SwA5C8lZI-w7f2iaQkDBgfpiHGno_BlCjDSmZGtGB_vAEg-eRWVSYVgpQz-HLJFTL8-lWBhRzk4VAwL4UZxrfmPF14ADKn/s1600/15-03-05++Ng'ang'ange%2B%26%2BBomalang'ombe%2B(70).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was down the road to Bomalang'ombe.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-15156091226000685442015-03-04T09:48:00.004-08:002015-03-04T09:48:56.304-08:00And the rains came (at Ifunda)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday, after we finished at Mgama, we went over to
Ifunda, which meant a short drive back to the main highway and heading a little
further southwest. Ifunda is right off
the highway, so no worries of bad roads getting there. The sky was very dark and rain clouds were
looming as we got there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Arriving at Ifunda we found that the members were just
gathering. We talked briefly with the
chairman, who then opened the meeting.
Ifunda is a new SACCOS. It was
just starting when we visited them with their partner parish, House of Prayer, last
year. At that time they had 34 people in
the group that wanted to get started.
Now they have 60 members, but they are not yet registered. Peter explained that they have been very slow
to get their paperwork done. He thinks
that it is due to concerns over the prior failed SACCOS here in town. It has now been finished and is at the office
of the co-op officer waiting to be registered.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We started the meeting with Tom’s remarks on Iringa Hope
Joint SACCOS followed by Sandy’s talk.
Both Peter and Tom wore their new shirts given to them by
Kitasengwa. Peter joked that now no one
could tell them apart (we think that they still can). Peter gave a class on the basics of
membership. He explained their
constitution, their rights, and their obligations. As he was doing this the rains came.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At first it was a gentle rain. Then it got harder and harder. Pretty soon we really couldn’t hear
anything. The chairman asked if we
should stop and wait, but the members wanted to keep talking. There were only 23 of the members here but
they were very focused on what Peter was saying. He finished up about the time the rain
quieted down, and asked for questions from the group.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Their biggest worry here is that Iringa Hope will be like
the government SACCOS. They were
reassured that with Iringa Hope, everything belongs to the members. Many people in Ifunda have been stung by a
government SACCOS and a private SACCOS.
Both of these took in savings then folded up with everyone’s money.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of the members who had visited with other Iringa Hope
SACCOS members started speaking up. One
woman began talking loudly. We didn’t
understand what she was saying, but she sounded angry! Peter was laughing so we decided it couldn’t
be too bad. He explained that she was
scolding the other members and asking them why it is that Ihemi and Mgama have
managed to get a SACCOS and Ifunda hasn’t.
She said that this is the best thing to happen here in a long time and
they need to get going NOW. Peter went
on to say that others in the group were also scolding the chairman, pastor, and
others for being so slow. They all want
to have their SACCOS working as soon as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter told us that he had been to Ifunda three times this
last year and every time there were only two or three members meeting with
him. He said that there have been delays
in getting things registered because they have been slow to do their paperwork.
He smiled and said that the type of enthusiasm he saw at this meeting is what he
has been looking for. He thinks that the
members are going to push and things will start happening now. It will be good to see what has happened when
we come next year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3_YlpcJY4oARYPk9bcw1r-ucz43GRhGQxAWyw_T8UGoiV-vkk7Q4w0BzR3n2jZsFJuWpkeUZHSLhseWC_HLeC7AFRxppM8ACcpbeBjBgHTnMF62F4K4fv2bM-SEkK0BkMbYq5c_3E7oF/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX3_YlpcJY4oARYPk9bcw1r-ucz43GRhGQxAWyw_T8UGoiV-vkk7Q4w0BzR3n2jZsFJuWpkeUZHSLhseWC_HLeC7AFRxppM8ACcpbeBjBgHTnMF62F4K4fv2bM-SEkK0BkMbYq5c_3E7oF/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(1).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Back down the road to the pavement. Lots of foot traffic along the way.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixP78ZgVdp5SymiAz5IHaBYIAuA40eLYi2dTdHDoKrQdwzbZX_osgwpPQ54seSd50LjYeE1CYogvBsLpQ9FbItUEqTQOb4dSGtdAPT70hY0lQFjRdz6JEI6TJxYZXj81zj-X7gQ3bKNcMl/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(45).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixP78ZgVdp5SymiAz5IHaBYIAuA40eLYi2dTdHDoKrQdwzbZX_osgwpPQ54seSd50LjYeE1CYogvBsLpQ9FbItUEqTQOb4dSGtdAPT70hY0lQFjRdz6JEI6TJxYZXj81zj-X7gQ3bKNcMl/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(45).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Looking out from Ifunda it looks like rain.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCmfhsy2HrEokO-UD1W-lLMz3CmxzIAX7aigL2NmHHqDub0XsBo3lnlnnm84BnHdIYzDYpcjyfqlSW_BJYsz0b9xzenT-w_Dy0B3A_XWVWu6wpxyz9XtgLdPJa5nIVGYRvsmJgkBFWmUb/s1600/14-03-08+Ifunda+(43).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCmfhsy2HrEokO-UD1W-lLMz3CmxzIAX7aigL2NmHHqDub0XsBo3lnlnnm84BnHdIYzDYpcjyfqlSW_BJYsz0b9xzenT-w_Dy0B3A_XWVWu6wpxyz9XtgLdPJa5nIVGYRvsmJgkBFWmUb/s1600/14-03-08+Ifunda+(43).JPG" height="275" width="400" /></a></div>
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There was lots of interest in Peter's explanations.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVim3aNvmM6sCdB6KDjylmrt3lNwbphGwwTmg_eIKWWrJrSIUWU5FYlGUhmm8zoriUZLDeMxwnFormwK91lrBWSzrQ2AtpdNHNOGCajYZSBRs2iMSF0kF2A80SeicGfhB0jqpjIQGquoD/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(59).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVim3aNvmM6sCdB6KDjylmrt3lNwbphGwwTmg_eIKWWrJrSIUWU5FYlGUhmm8zoriUZLDeMxwnFormwK91lrBWSzrQ2AtpdNHNOGCajYZSBRs2iMSF0kF2A80SeicGfhB0jqpjIQGquoD/s1600/15-03-03+Mgama+&+Ifunda+(59).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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As it started to rain it got harder and harder to hear.</div>
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Tom and Peter wore their shirts from Kitasengwa. Peter thought that people would have trouble telling them apart. What do you think?</div>
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dygqFerh1snktjH7GqbaHvuWsPmtU-l6m-8rQRecBhhqtyHHSxYtsdppAfGnZLc9pku8OmoiybGraNfJU3LqA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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When it started to pour it got nearly impossible to hear. But everyone wanted Peter to continue - so he did!</div>
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In order to be heard he had to walk into the aisle and everyone moved closer.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-52011923960987359092015-03-03T07:10:00.002-08:002015-03-03T07:18:28.847-08:00Off to Mgama<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We drove back down the road towards Ugesa today. We are not going as far however since we will
stop in Mgama. Mgama is an hour drive
from Iringa. It is a medium sized
village of about 1,500 households. Our
meeting today is at the church. Last
year we met in a community building – but we were told that that building is
not large enough anymore.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our first stop was at the pastor’s house. The chairman of the SACCOS was waiting to
talk to us. He knew that Tom would have
questions for him. He told us that last
year they made over 80 loans to their members.
Since many of their loans go to buy fertilizer they voted to buy
fertilizer in bulk and give it to their members directly instead of cash. They told us that they did this for two
reasons – first, they thought that they would get a better price and delivery
schedule this way (they did, getting a 10% lower price and a timely delivery),
and second they were afraid that some of the newer members might not buy
fertilizer but spend some of their money instead. When Tom asked how much profit they made on
their loans the chairman hesitated a bit.
“We made a $400 profit for the year.”
“The year before you made fewer loans yet made a profit of over
$2,000. What happened?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The chairman seemed a bit concerned, and then told us that
the crop prices were so low that people were afraid that they would not be able
to repay their loans. There were over
half of the members in this situation (remember what happened at Kitowo? There was a similar problem here.) So what did they do? The chairman told us that they called a
general meeting to discuss the problem.
They all voted to allow the loans to be stretched out as much as an
additional 3 months with no penalty and lowered the interest rate from 2.5% per
month to 1% per month. And did everyone
pay? Yes he told us, after they voted
for this plan everyone paid 100% on time and in full! He seemed to think that we might not like
this, but we thought this was another excellent example of how good local leadership
can solve a bad problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we went to the general meeting, the chairman apologized
for the poor turnout (there were 38 members there), but there is another
village meeting going on and he would like to end our meeting in time to join
the village meeting. Tom discussed the
Joint SACCOS and Sandy gave her Swahili greeting. As usual, Sandy got lots of laughs and
applause while Tom got close attention, but no laughs, except when he makes an
embarrassing blunder. Peter then went
over what Tom had told them. He thinks
that everyone understands it better if it is explained both Tom’s way and his
way. Afterwards there were lots of
questions. These members are very
involved in their SACCOS. The chairman
has prepared a good report on the SACCOS. Everyone listened closely.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When he finished his report he gave us a long thank
you. He told us that there are many
changes among the members; there are many more children in school and many new
homes being built. Despite this year’s
poor prices, Mgama can tell that things are getting much better here. The pastor told us that he sees many good things
among the congregation. Smiling, he also
mentioned that the church offering plate has more in it than there used to be.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting Sandy interviewed Betty Mwikamalo, 46 and
married with 5 chldren and 2 grandchildren.
Betty and her husband are supporting 4 people in their household. She has borrowed three years in a row from the
SACCOS. She has borrowed $200, $200, and
most recently $170 (She wanted to borrow $200 again, but their capital is being
stretched by the increasing members so she got less this time). She made very good profits on the first two
loans, but this time she only made $100.
She explains that the prices for maize here are very low (about $14/bag
while last year it was over $30/bag) so she barely broke even this year. There has been a company here urging people
to switch to beans and offering to pay big prices. She is thinking of switching her crop all to
beans. Tom suggested that maybe she
should think about having more diversity in her crops and plant both beans and
maize. It is dangerous to have only one
crop. What will she do if next year the
bean prices crash because everyone switched to beans?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next Sandy spoke with Aidan Kisinga. Aidan is 48, married, and has 5 children and
3 grandchildren. He currently supports 9
people – himself and his wife, 4 of his younger children, and 3 grandchildren. He has been a member of this SACCOS for 2
years and has taken out two loans. His
first loan was for $100 to buy fertilizer for his maize. He has paid his loan back from his tomato
sales (he also grows tomatoes and sells them in a small shop), but he has
decided to keep his maize. He tells us
that it costs him about $300/acre to plant maize and, at the current price, he
will net about this amount from his crop.
He has decided to keep all of his maize to feed his family. He also has sent some of the crop to his
younger brother in Dar Es Salaam. And
what about next year? He was one of the
members that got fertilizer instead of cash (about $150 in fertilizer). He has again planted maize but this year he
thinks that he will get a good profit.
“Look at the SACCOS member’s crop,” he told us. “We received good
fertilizer at the right time and at a good price.” Our plants are twice as tall
as those who waited for the government to supply fertilizer. </div>
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We left while the meeting was still in progress. They were talking about increasing savings
and the possibility of having the SACCOS buy fertilizer again. We are very impressed by the way that these
leaders have addressed the price problem.
This is another SACCOS that was faced with a large problem because of no
market for their crops, and once again we found that they were able to find a
creative way to help their members.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpnctwnPgAxIt44ADP0aff9VLZir7BBCMMK2hidvT_e0fUVXI9OK6hFFal_fJBj9LP1XiFsQwpqESbm3pvwpCnwO-uUitYWylxWWdc9lztWBWPwKuGE3k6A50fz3xxDSdtqIX-KS1iuqi/s1600/14-02-20+Mgama+(62).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpnctwnPgAxIt44ADP0aff9VLZir7BBCMMK2hidvT_e0fUVXI9OK6hFFal_fJBj9LP1XiFsQwpqESbm3pvwpCnwO-uUitYWylxWWdc9lztWBWPwKuGE3k6A50fz3xxDSdtqIX-KS1iuqi/s1600/14-02-20+Mgama+(62).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mgama is about a 20 minute drive down the road to Ugesa.</div>
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We greeted some members as we went to have chai.</div>
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There were about 38 members here to meet us. There is another village meeting going on today.</div>
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Sandy always gets lots of smiles and laughs when she greets everyone in Swahili. Tom gets laughs when he makes blunders.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">After the meeting Sandy interviewed Betty Mwikamalo, 46 and married with 5 chldren and 2 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Betty and her husband are supporting 4 people in their household.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Next Sandy spoke with Aidan Kisinga.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Aidan is 48, married, and has 5 children and 3 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He currently supports 9 people – himself and his wife, 4 of his younger children, and 3 grandchildren. </span></div>
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As we got in the car Sandy took out her knitting. Peter was interested in what she was making - it is a prayer shawl.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-81570061213304660792015-03-02T09:29:00.002-08:002015-03-02T09:41:55.787-08:00Ugesa - A SACCOS that is changing lives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we visited Ugesa.
Ugesa is a two and a half hour drive from Iringa. The first 40 minutes are on the highway
heading south west of town, after turning off the tarmac and heading south the
drive gets interesting. We passed through
small villages of mud huts, and then continued on to a logging area where we
shared the road with the trucks carrying large loads of logs or lumber. With
the top-heavy loads they carry, they don’t dare drive on the shoulder, so on
many occasions Tom veered off the road and on to the embankment to escape the
trucks. When we weren't sharing the road with trucks, we were often sharing it
with herds of cattle. In those cases we would creep forward pressing the herd
to the sides of the road. Young boys are
usually the ones herding the cattle, hitting the cows with switches. These boys are school age, which leaves us
wondering why they aren’t in school.</div>
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When we arrived in Ugesa there were a lot of members already
gathered for our meeting, but this being Tanzania, they all waited while we
went into the pastor’s house for chai. Tom gave a calendar to the pastor and everyone
having chai with us was eager to see the pictures of the people they knew. One of the officers asked if we could bring
several hundred of these for him to sell.
We told them that they are too heavy for us to bring so many, but maybe
we could get some printed here. Peter volunteered
to look into this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was good attendance at the general SACCOS
meeting. This group is always attentive
and does an outstanding job. There are a
little over 100 families in this SACCOS (about 600 people). They have developed a system where they keep
rotating loans so that there are several loan cycles in every year and everyone
gets a loan. This last year they again
had 100% repayment, which is normal for them, and earned over $1,250 in
profit. They are also good savers. Last year they grew their capital by over
$4,500 through savings. When we asked
what they would like us to discuss on our radio show, they suggested “Why
people need to save more”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ugesa has been operating for a while now. Due to their rotating loan system there are
many members here who have taken out 3-4-5 loans. With this in mind, Sandy decided to change
her interview questions, so instead of asking about one or two specific loans, she
asked how membership in the SACCOS had changed their lives. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The first person Sandy talked to was Anziti Longo, 48, and
married with 6 children and 8 grandchildren.
Anziti has been a member since the SACCOS began. She has taken out several loans. Her last two loans have both been for $300,
which she has used to expand her clothing store. She tells us that over the past few years she
has earned enough profit from her loans to build a new home, put in solar
power, buy a motorcycle, and send all of her children to school. She is now starting to build a new, larger
house. She plans to rent out her old home, and her new home will have a room to
rent as well. . She tells us over and over that the SACCOS
has changed her life, but we think that she changed her life – all the
SACCOS did was give her a loan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next Sandy talked with Elias Mgeyekwa, 46 and married with 5
children. Elias has also been a member
of this SACCOS since it started. He and
his wife, who is also a member, have taken out a number of loans. Two years ago they took out a loan of $400 to
plant potatoes. After paying all of
their expenses they earned a profit of $400.
They used their profit and combined it with another $400 loan to buy
land and plant 20 acres of trees. When
the trees are ready to harvest in 7 or more years they will be worth $2,200 per
acre. To do all of the planting he hired
three men full time. Now that the trees
are in the ground he is using his employees to go into the lumber business. He has applied for another $400 loan to
finance the purchase of trees for this business. He invited us to stop out and see his crew at
work sawing logs into lumber, which we were happy to do. Since joining this
SACCOS Elias has been able to send all of his children through secondary
school, has improved his family’s diet and their overall living standard and
has been able to build a very good home.
When he went out to have his picture taken he told Tom, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The two people that we interviewed not only improved their
lives and those of their children, but between the two of them they have
created five full-time, well-paying jobs.
If you include their five employees, these two members have improved the
lives of seven families. And best of
all, Iringa Hope still has the money it started with (plus a profit) for the
SACCOS members to use over and over again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS office here is so small that when Tom and Peter
met with the SACCOS officers to go over their records, Sandy had to go and sit
in the pastor’s living room. To pass the
time she asked for help learning the Hehe tune that the Mwatasi folks sang for
us. Pastor Fyataga and his wife are both
Hehe and were happy to oblige. After lunch and before our departure he
gathered the SACCOS members together for a Hehe song and dance. A great way to end our meeting!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Along the way home we stopped and looked at Elias’ lumber
mill. It is similar to the mill Christiania
Church bought for the diocese in 2002.
It consists of a large saw blade and bed attached to a diesel
motor. We were afraid of what this blade
might do to one of them if they were to slip, but there is no OSHA in Tanzania
and people do this sort of thing all of the time. We watched him and his men for a while and
then headed back to Iringa. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the drive to Ugesa we pass through many small villages.</div>
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You don't often see two cows yoked to a wooden plow anymore - but you do here.</div>
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A basic road hazard here is the cows. Wherever you find cows you also find small children with switches.</div>
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There were lots of members waiting to greet us.</div>
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During chai Tom brought out some calendars. They are always a big hit here.</div>
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Over half of the members were here.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first person Sandy talked to was Anziti Longo, 48, and married with 6 children and 8 grandchildren.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Next Sandy talked with Elias Mgeyekwa, 46 and married with 5 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Elias has also been a member of this SACCOS since it started.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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Sandy asked the pastor to help her learn a song. He did one better. He went outside to where our members were still sitting and started singing. Soon they all joined in and there was singing and dancing.</div>
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We stopped to see Elias's sawmill. OSHA would not like this at all!</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-17752881978281678962015-03-01T05:57:00.000-08:002015-03-01T05:57:08.014-08:00If this is Saturday this must be Nduli!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Saturday we were off to Nduli. Nduli is on the far edge of Iringa near the
airport. It is a short 20 minute drive
down the new tarmac from where we are staying.
Nduli is Roger and Trish Blomquist’s partner parish so they joined us
there. We set off about 9:30 for our
meeting. Along the way we picked up
Peter Silayo, our SACCOS Coordinator.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We got to Nduli at 10 sharp – but no one was waiting for us. Tom walked around and looked at the new
pastor’s house – they have been building this for several years now. Soon the Blomquists arrived and we all went
to the pastor’s house for chai while we waited for people to show up. This is the first time that the SACCOS
officers have not been on hand to greet us.
Peter had been in phone contact with a SACCOS officer who told him that
people were indeed going to attend the meeting.
After a long wait and several phone calls we learned that we would be meeting
outside by the community center and not at the church as we have done in the
past.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We walked the short distance to the community center and
there we found 35 people sitting in the shade of a tree waiting for us. Nduli is close to town so that many of the
members here have jobs in town that keep them busy all week. This leaves Saturday as their day to work on
their shambas (farms) so we tend to have smaller groups at our meetings. We were pleased to see about this many of the
members waiting here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a fairly large SACCOS with 120 members (soon to be
134). In addition to their own capital
they were able to borrow 15,000,000 TZS last year (about $10,000) from Iringa
Hope. Even with the loan from the joint
SACCOS they didn’t have enough capital to give loans to all of their members. As a result, some of the members who wanted
larger loans have waited almost two years to have a turn borrowing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the chairman opened the meeting, Peter gave a greeting
and then Tom had his turn. As part of
his remarks, Tom always reminds our members that Iringa Hope belongs to them
and them alone. This is important
because so many of our members are worried that we might have a connection to
the government or some family. They all
know from experience that either of these things will not be good for
them. Tom talked a little about Iringa
Hope, explained how the money is used (Peter talked more about this later) and
then told our members that this year we are planning on starting 6 AMCOS
(Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies – or Farmer’s Coops) and the Institute
of Agriculture, represented by Roger Blomquist, is sponsoring Nduli. This resulted in lots of applause and then Roger
took a few minutes to explain the relationship of the Institute of Agriculture
to the AMCOS that will be started soon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Following Roger’s remarks Sandy gave a brief greeting. She discovered that one of the women on our
2015 calendar (Ms January) is from Nduli.
Sandy also recognized one of the women from a dramatic presentation on
women’s empowerment that was presented on the International Women’s Day a
couple of years ago. The mama blushes when
she was reminded of her roll in that production. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter gave a class on AMCOS, and the differences between a
SACCOS and an AMCOS. There were lots of
good questions and lots of enthusiasm.
One member wanted to make sure that neither the government nor any
“wealthy people” are involved in Iringa Hope.
We don’t understand Kiswahili so the pastor translated the question and
answer session for us. Peter does a
thorough job of answering the questions that are raised. Peter told everyone that our AMCOS will be
the same as our SACCOS, that is, it will belong to the members and only to the
members. We think that it is very
important that our members own and operate everything and this meeting certainly
endorses that idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were some children in the group with their mothers so
Tom got to be the “candy man”. Most of
the children don’t seem to realize that there is candy inside of the shiny foil
wrapper, so they often just play with it.
There was one little girl who sat on her mother’s lap for the whole
meeting just playing with her treat and she never did get the foil off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When our part of the meeting was over the SACCOS members
held a meeting to talk about organizing an AMCOS and we sat down for interviews
with a couple of the members. Our first interview was with Witness Kiweli. Witness is 22, married, and has two young
children. She has taken out two
loans. Her first loan was for $900. She combined this with $300 she and her
husband had saved to buy a motorcycle.
Her husband then started providing “taxi” service (this has gotten to be
very common here). They paid off their
loan in less than a year and have been earning about $160 a month since
then. Her second loan was also for $900. Using this she and her mother-in-law went
together and bought a “three-wheeler” which is basically a motorcycle with a
small trailer attached for making deliveries.
Their profit from this vehicle is about $280 per month – so they will
soon have recovered their investment.
Witness explained to us that she had to wait over a year for her first
loan – but she did not mind, she knew that the people who wanted smaller
amounts should go first. Witness has
used her profit to increase her savings in the SACCOS and now she and her
husband are starting to build a new house.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next Sandy talked with Petro Mpogole, 46, and married with 5
children. Petro was the first chairman
of this SACCOS. He did not seek
reelection when his term was up so that he could focus on his business. Petro told us that he did not take out a loan
while he was chairman because he wanted the others to go first. After his term was up he took out a loan for
$900 to start a beverage distribution business.
He bought a small shop near town, bought some stock, and started
supplying the small dukas (shops) in the area.
Petro told us that he earns about $150 per month – or $1,800 per year -
from his shop. He has now paid back his
loan and is hoping to get a second loan to expand another of his shops. When we asked him about his children he told
us that he has one child in secondary school, one going to the University in
Dar es Salaam, and one going to the University at Dodoma. We laughed together when Sandy told him that
we didn’t need to ask him what he did with his profits; he pays for all of
children’s schooling. With five children
all of school age, we understand all too well where the money goes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As we were leaving the chairman called us over to the
ongoing meeting. “Mr. Tom and mama Tom”
(they don’t seem to realize that Sandy has a name of her own), he told us (in
Swahili, so the pastor had to translate) how grateful they all were for the
SACCOS. He told us that the SACCOS is
making big changes at Nduli. Incomes
have risen among the members, there are many children being sent to school, and
there are new houses. It is really
amazing what a difference a small loan makes for our members.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we arrived at Nduli the SACCOS officers were not there. Usually they are on hand to greet us and talk about how the SACCOS is doing.</div>
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After having chai and waiting for about an hour Peter found out that the meeting is under a tree by the community center.</div>
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When we got there we found the officers and some members waiting for us.</div>
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Tom told the members that the Institute of Agricultural was going to sponsor an AMCOS at Nduli. Roger Blomquist from the Institute was there so he had to get up and talk.</div>
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Sandy had noticed that one of our "calendar girls" was from Nduli. She also noticed one of the women who had been in a play here at Nduli a few years ago. As the pastor pointed her out she blushed and everyone laughed.</div>
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Tom gave the children candy. This little girl did not know it was candy but she liked the way it crinkled and enjoyed the bright colors. She sat in her mom's lap and played with it while the meeting took place.</div>
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As Peter explained an AMCOS most of the members took notes.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"> Our first interview was with Witness Kiweli.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Witness is 22, married, and has two young children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">She has taken out two loans.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Next Sandy talked with Petro Mpogole, 46, and married with 5 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Petro was the first chairman of this SACCOS.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He did not seek reelection when his term was up so that he could focus on his business.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-38501382309892398352015-02-28T06:49:00.001-08:002015-02-28T06:49:43.269-08:00Our trip to Kitasengwa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Friday we went to Kitasengwa. Kitasengwa is about a 60 minute southwest of
Iringa, just off the main highway. We first
visited here in 2013 when they wanted to learn about how to start a
SACCOS. Since then they have started
their SACCOS and joined the Iringa Hope network. On Friday we were interested in seeing how
they have done since giving their first loans to members.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We first went to the pastor’s house and talked with the
officers of the SACCOS. When we were
here last year we interviewed some people who were hoping to get loans. At that time, this SACCOS was just getting ready
to give their first loans. </div>
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One of the
people we interviewed then was the pastor’s wife, Dora Kinyunyu. Dora is 48.
She and the pastor have 4 children.
Last year she was hoping to borrow 250,000 TZS ($150) to go into the egg
business. She thought that 100,000 TZS
($60) would be necessary to purchase 100 young chicks and to start her
business. When we talked to her this
year she told us that she had borrowed 450,000 TZS ($280) for her 100
chicks. We suspect that when she
factored in all of the necessary expenditures for her business, she realized
that she would need a larger loan. She set
up a chicken coop with feeding stations and “laying buckets” and bought her 100
chicks. Some of the chicks turned out to
be roosters and she has sold some of them for the stew pot. She now gets an average of 40 eggs a day and
she is earning 210,000 TZS ($130) a month and will do so for 12-16 months. This means that she will net a profit of
about $1,500 from this loan! She is paying
school fees for their two children who are in secondary school as well as for
the two who are in primary school.
Although the government provides primary schools here, they are not
without cost. Each student needs to
purchase a school uniform, books, and supplies; which are mandatory for school
attendance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We drove to the community center to have our meeting. This SACCOS now has 40 members. Last year it had 36 members with 26 people in
the process of joining. However, after
we started this SACCOS a “lending group” formed in the village. This sort of group is a loosely affiliated
collection of members who contribute some funds at periodic intervals and make
small loans out of the funds they gather.
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Generally the problem with groups like this is that there is
not enough capital to make a difference.
They are mainly useful so that people have a place to keep their money. Studies
have shown however that they are not effective at raising the income of
people. Potential SACCOS members had
joined the group because it promised to lend money for any purpose and they promised
to make loans as soon as a member joined.
As you know, if you've been following our blog, we only lend money to
make money and we require members to belong for 6 months and save some money
before being allowed to take out a loan. The temptations of quick and easy money steered some people away from
joining the SACCOS.</div>
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So, how has this worked out for them? It seems that the group has had trouble
collecting on loans and has very little capital to lend. As a result people are leaving the group and are
once again asking to join the SACCOS. We
asked the chairman if this was a good thing for the SACCOS. He told us that they were not sure that they
would let the group members in. He is
concerned that they may bring bad habits with them. This is an area where we don’t offer
suggestions. It is up the membership
committee of the SACCOS to decide.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This SACCOS has about 7,000,000 TZS in its bank
account. In addition it was able to
borrow 8,300,000 TZS from Iringa Hope last year. They used these funds to make loans to members,
netting a profit of 500,000 TZS (about $330) for the year. So far, every SACCOS we have started has made
a profit in its first year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We talked about how Iringa Hope works, how to get loans,
etc. There were many good questions for
us and we enjoyed the session. The
farmers in this area have been lucky.
They have had a sales agent who has been able to get them fertilizer on
credit and at good terms. It seems
however that this is coming to an end.
This year they will not get credit and they will have the same problem
buying fertilizer as most of our villages.
We discussed with them forming a “buying club” and how it might work for
them. Longer term we hope to form an
AMCOS (Farmer’s Coop) here as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the meeting ended Sandy went to interview one of the members. She sat down with William Nogta, 64, married,
and with 6 children. He and his wife are
currently supporting his son who is at the University in Dar Es Salaam, another
son in an industrial arts program, and his youngest child who is now in Form
3. He told us that last year he borrowed
1,000,000 ($625) to farm vegetables. His
main crop is Irish potatoes, peppers, and egg plants. He has hired two full time workers on his 8
acres. He is paying them $450 for the
year, which is a very good wage in a village where the average income is
$300/year. He expects to earn a profit
of over 1,700,000 TZS when he sells his crop (about $1,050). He told us that this will pay his children’s
school fees and leave him enough to do some improvements on his house.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We said good bye and headed back to Iringa, where we met
with the General Secretary for the Diocese.
As our program has grown our members have come to represent a larger and
larger portion of the income of the Diocese.
This year alone our members will donate over $50,000 to their
churches. The Diocese is aware of this
and wants to know how they can help us expand our work further.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We stopped at the pastor's house.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Dora Kinyunyu.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Dora is 48.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">She and the pastor have 4 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Last year she was hoping to borrow 250,000 TZS ($150) to go into the egg business.</span></div>
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When we arrived at the community center the members were waiting for us.</div>
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These twins were adorable as they kept running around. The little girl was dragging a stick around for awhile. We were wondering why she was doing this, but when her mother took the stick away her brother started hitting her!</div>
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The SACCOS surprised us by giving us shirts. Mama thought that I looked a lot like the poster - I did not agree.</div>
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Tom and Peter got shirts while Sandy got a skirt.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sandy sat down with William Nogta, 64, married, and with 6 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He and his wife are currently supporting his son who is at the University in Dar Es Salaam, another son in an industrial arts program, and his youngest child who is now in Form 3.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-44769507540095158642015-02-25T08:51:00.001-08:002015-02-25T11:01:13.184-08:00The mountains at Mwatasi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The trip into the mountains today takes us through trees and forests as well as over the hills.</div>
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There are lots of trucks on this road. They never move over. They just assume you will somehow move over for them.</div>
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It was clouding over and starting to rain when we got there.</div>
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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.</div>
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Over half of the membership was here. Our members always seem to turn out for our visits.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyPcDhdqZJz5c1WQgX0aL2FD-942nFlOSMPq79cbaHGWRl-lBfS1LxIr8kOZm8ao4ys67mcr7gUxDnpNunahA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Towards the end of the meeting the members broke out singing and dancing. They were very happy to see their SACCOS working.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sandy interviewed Katherine Uhagili, 30 years old, married, and with one small child.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Next Sandy talked to Henrik Kagine, 55 and married with 4 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Henrik has been saving to develop a tree farm.</span></div>
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It was raining as we left. We did not want to be stuck in the hills for the night.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-34971219098766678362015-02-24T08:45:00.001-08:002015-02-24T09:33:21.812-08:00On to Ukegwa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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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.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There was a large forest fire burning across the valley.</div>
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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.</div>
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Peter went over and had a look around too.</div>
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The new pastor here is very impressive. He is also 6'3' or 6"4" and towers over all of his members!</div>
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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.</div>
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Sandy is always a hit with her message in Swahili. Everyone smiles and hoots for her.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Before we left Sandy interviewed Josef Mohadisa.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Josef is 65, married and has 7 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He supports himself, his wife, and 5 of his grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The second person interviewed was Anyes Ngusi, age 45, married and the mother of six.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">She and her husband are supporting 4 children and grandchildren here and one child in college.</span></div>
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When we left the fire was still burning and it was getting cloudy. Luckily it held off until we got back to Iringa.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-22691193302195671942015-02-23T10:04:00.001-08:002015-02-23T10:05:53.534-08:00Ipalamwa and a Trip into the Mountains<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we visited Ipalamwa and Ukegwa. They are both in the mountains about two
hours south west of Iringa. It is a very
pretty drive, but if it is wet it is also very treacherous. The road to Ipalamwa is basically a one lane
road with sporadic truck traffic.
Driving down the road we had the usual traffic; a few herds of cattle, an occasional flock of
chickens, trucks that hogged the whole road (thank goodness for 4 wheel drive
so we can take the bank), and the more recent addition of suicidal motorcyclists. But mainly the road was peaceful and the
drive was beautiful. We were lucky
today, the road was dry both going out and coming back. It only takes one good shower to turn this
road into standing water and lots of mud.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we arrived at Ipalamwa we were greeted by a group of
members. They had already gathered and
were ready to get started. Well over
half of the members were present today – an excellent turn out. Last year when we were here there were 41
people interested in joining, but most of them were concerned that we might be
connected with the government. They had
all been burned by government programs before and did not trust anything
associated with the government. After
our meeting last year we were concerned that this location might struggle for a
while.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year we found that they had 74 members with 9 more
working on joining! They had pushed to
get their registration done and had made a few loans to members. We told them last year that they needed to
collect 1,800,000 TZS ($1,200 at the time) and we would help them get the
rest. Instead of this they had rushed
ahead and had gotten over 7,000,000 TZS (about $4,600)! I guess that they were much more excited than
we thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom reminded them that they were the owners and managers of
this SACCOS. Then he and Peter talked
about how Iringa Hope works to support them.
One of the evangelists got up to thank us for this wonderful
program. He said that the government
promises them loans and seeds and fertilizer and all sorts of things – and
nothing happens. Iringa Hope tells them
we will do something for them and we do!
He thinks that there will be many more people wanting to join once they
realize this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some other members asked questions about how Iringa Hope
operates, what the fees are, what they are used for, etc. Peter did a great job of answering the
questions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandy took two members aside to interview them. The first one she talked to was Nathaleta
Mgveke, 62, married, with 9 children and 10 grandchildren. She and her husband still support the 3
youngest of her children. They are also
supporting 6 of their grandchildren making a household of 10. Her first loan was for 155,000 TZS ($100) to
plant beans. This variety matured
quickly so she harvested her crop and repaid her loan in 3 months. She earned $100 profit from this crop. She is now planning on planting a larger
crop. The chairman told Tom that she
will probably get 3 crops of beans the way she is working. These beans do not yield as much as some, but
the harvest is much faster. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The next person Sandy interviewed was Tuheri Nyalusi. Tuheri is 44, married, and has 6
children. He borrowed 700,000 TZS (about
$450) to plant beans. He planted a
different type of beans on a larger plot.
When he harvested his crop he sold it for 3,200,000 TZS, for a profit of
2,400,000 TZS (about $1,600). He used
his savings to pay a variety of fees for his children. He is sending 2 children to secondary school,
one to standard 5, one to standard 3, and two to kindergarten. He told us that with some past due fees and
payment for the coming year he has spent all of his profit on his children. He was hoping for another loan to plant more
beans, but this SACCOS, like most of our SACCOS, is short of capital so they
are taking turns. He will most likely
get another loan later on, but not now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had a quick lunch, some discussion of the problems of the
farmers here (most revolve around not having the capital they need to buy the
inputs they know are needed) and then were on the road to Ukegwa.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Along the way we passed through many small villages. Notice the smoke rising from the roof in the hut in the background. These huts have no chimneys so when the women light a fire to cook the smoke builds up in the hut and slowly leaks out of the grass roof. Uff-da!</div>
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The scenery is great as we drive into the mountains.</div>
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The roads are just one car wide so it is a challenge to pass the occasional truck.</div>
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The members were waiting for us when we arrived.</div>
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Everyone was very attentive as we talked. Many of them took notes.</div>
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This evangelist rose to tell us how thankful he was that we had come to his village and started a SACCOS. "Now we have hope for the future here in Ipalamwa," he told us.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first one Sandy talked to was Nathaleta Mgveke, 62, married, with 9 children and 10 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">She and her husband still support the 3 youngest of her children.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The next person Sandy interviewed was Tuheri Nyalusi.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Tuheri is 44, married, and has 6 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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After a quick lunch we were on the road to Ukegwa.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-34257511268218380672015-02-23T09:45:00.000-08:002015-02-24T08:49:07.279-08:00A Sunday at Ihemi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went out to Ihemi for church. We have wanted to go there for the past few
weeks, but there have been pastor’s meetings, ordinations, etc. so that the
pastors were not around. Today however,
we were finally able to go and visit.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The past few years we have been driving an old wreck
affectionately known as “the beast.” I
think from the name you can guess what this car was like. This year, however, we made arrangements to
have a very nice car. Even a nice car needs to be serviced once in a while, and
today was the day our car was in the shop.
Denis Ngede came to our rescue with a car to rent and a driver that came
with it. Peter Harrits, the Bega Kwa
Bega director, went with us to Ihemi. He
hadn’t been there before so he was looking forward to going. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Arriving at Ihemi we were met by many old friends. There is Aloyce, the man who dug the first
well at Ihemi; Immanuel who is the chairman of the Ihemi SACCOS; Mama Mbembe,
the widow of the first pastor who welcomed the Christiania group in 2001; and
many, many more. It is good to see so
many old friends and see how things have been going for them this past year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastor Donald Kiwanga, the new Ihemi District Pastor,
greeted us and told Tom that everyone was expecting him to preach today. Tom has done this many times before, but
usually he is asked ahead of time – but he agreed to do it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pastor Kiwanga had arranged for the choir from Mlandege to
visit and sing at Ihemi today. We have
always thought that the Ihemi choirs were great, but Pastor Kiwanga was at
Mlandege before coming to Ihemi. In
addition, Pastor Mongolesa, the former district pastor at Ihemi is now at
Mlandege. Between them they thought it
would be a good treat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The service lasted 2 ½ hours today. Tom’s sermon was fairly short – about 20
minutes or so – but there were lots of announcements, singing, dancing, and
several offerings. A typical service at
Ihemi lasts 2 hours so it was not really too short.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After service we went out to the steps for the auction of
the “in kind” offerings. Today there
were two chickens and some corn brought in.
Ihemi always has a lively auction, they have a very good auctioneer. It seems however that they have changed the
rules of the auction. It used to be the
highest bidder won and paid the bid price for the item. It now seems that bidders pay the amount of
INCREASE that their bids represent whether or not they win the bid. We do not know this so as the items are
brought out we bid away, buying a chicken for the pastor (we actually bid on
all of the items as gifts for the pastors, but since other people also wanted
to buy for the pastors we let them win!).
When the tally was made, we had bought the chicken for $5 (it normally
would sell for about $2.50) but we owed $8 because we had bid the other items
up! Oh well, it is always fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went over to the pastor’s house and had lunch. Pastor John Mhekwa was here today. He had been in Minnesota last year and had
come to our house for our fall dinner meetings.
He asked if he could go to Ugesa with us later on. We said we were glad to have him!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After lunch we went over to Aloyce’s house to buy some avocados
and arrange for this year’s Easter eggs (we have been having Easter eggs made
for the children at Ihemi. Aloyce raises
chickens, maize, avocadoes, and a variety of other crops. We normally have his wife cook and color the
eggs for the Ihemi children on Easter.
We have been doing this for about 10 years now so the children have come
to expect their eggs. As always, Aloyce
does not want to charge us for the eggs or the avocados, but we paid him
anyway. He has been suffering from
various health problems for several years, but he looks much better now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We said good bye and headed back to Iringa. We will be back to visit the Ihemi SACCOS and
talk about starting an AMCOS here. We
also would like to go back to another service but our schedule is pretty busy
so we are not sure we will make it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is always good to be at Ihemi!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were greeted by Mama <span style="text-align: left;">Mbembe</span>. She is the widow of the pastor who greeted us on our first trip here in 2001. She is a delightful woman who makes sure she is always around to greet us when we come.</div>
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Our friend Aloyce is the one who hand dug a 70 foot well for Ihemi. It ultimately failed, but it was amazing how he went down a small hole and dug the well by hand.</div>
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Pastor John Mhekwa was there to greet us. We know John from the Ugesa SACCOS. He was in Minnesota last year and came to some dinners at our house.</div>
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Pastor Luci Fweni, the Ihemi Pastor, came over and greeted us. Her father came over today to see us as well.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Immanuel, the SACCOS treasurer here, came over to see us and have chai before church.</span></div>
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The church was packed today. As we walked into church people kept greeting us. Finally we got to the alter where the choir was singing. One of the choir members had to stop dancing and give Sandy a hug (Tom got one too).</div>
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The Mlandege chior was visiting today. After church Pastor Donald Kiwanga, the new Ihemi District Pastor, insisted we all have our picture taken. (He is in the red robe. His wife is on his right).</div>
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The auction is always a lot of fun. The congregation gathers outside while the choir sings, then the auction is held. We bought a chicken for the Pastor.</div>
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On our way home we stopped at Aloyce's house to arrange for this year's Easter eggs.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-54911119518107077672015-02-21T07:08:00.001-08:002015-02-21T07:08:23.352-08:00A day at Ipogolo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we visited Ipogolo.
Ipogolo is a very short drive from Iringa. You just go down the hill, turn right, and
there you are! The Ipogolo church is
very active. The pastor’s name is
Nixon. We have known him for several
years now. Last year he was in the US
visiting churches and talking about his parish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We got to Ipogolo around 10 and met with the chairman and a
member of the board. Ipogolo is very
well organized. It currently has 83
members with another 9 working on joining.
We visited in their office awhile then walked over to our meeting room. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As we were walking over we stopped to look at their new
church. They have been working on a
large new church for about 5 years. So
far the walls are up and the roof has been framed. It will hold about 1,000 people when it is
finished. Pastor Nixon tells us he is “whispering for it to get done” so it
will be soon. Whispering for something is a common joke with Nixon. There was a movie he saw on American TV where
someone could whisper and things would happen!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went into our meeting and found 23 members waiting for
us. Pastor Nixon explained that there
were two funerals today so many members were gone. He had been at the hospital in Iringa earlier
today to see his wife, Prisca, who has malaria and had to hurry back to meet
with us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom gave a brief talk outlining how Iringa Hope works and
how funds were used. He went over some
of the numbers that we had found from our interviews including the number of
children sent to school, the decline in malnutrition, and the general increase
in the family’s health and well-being.
While this is a much richer congregation than most that we visit, there was
general agreement that they had seen all of these things happening here too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The chairman of the SACCOS got up and gave a report. It was very detailed, giving the number of
loans, capital, income, etc. Overall
this SACCOS earned over $4,000 last year.
Their members have saved $11,170 so far.
However, even with this, they had to borrow funds from Iringa Hope Joint
SACCOS to make loans to their members.
The chairman told us that last year Iringa Hope had loaned them
11,700,000 TZS (about $7,500) and they were still short about $12,000.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While we were all listening to the SACCOS annual report to
the members, a dog walked in. He kept
walking around looking at the members and trying to get some attention. Several people tried to shoo him away, but he
was very patient and persistent. Finally
he lay down in the aisle and listened for a while.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This SACCOS has plans to start work on a small building this
coming year. Like many of our SACCOS
they have been working out of a small, closet sized area in a church
building. This year the church has
offered to give them some land so that they can build a better place for their
SACCOS. With 83 families in this SACCOS
there are 498 people represented here.
They are hoping to gradually increase their membership with a goal of
having 150 families – or almost 1,000 people.
They certainly do need a building to support this work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is one of the locations where we hope to start an AMCOS
(a Farmers Coop) this year. They
discussed this at our meeting. There is
a lot of excitement about doing this here.
Even though this is a suburban church, most of the members farm at least
part time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting Sandy interviewed two of the members. The first person she talked with as Yusta
Sailale, 58, and a single mother with 5 children and 6 grandchildren. Yusta
currently is supporting herself and 5 other family members. She told us that she has taken 2 loans. Her first loan was for $435. She used this to support her chicken
business. After paying off her loan she
had earned $135. Her second loan was for
$830. She has used this loan to expand
her business. Her chickens are still
growing so she does not yet know what her profit will be, still she expects to
make a lot more than her first loan. She
used her profit to pay school fees for her children and she deposited some in
her savings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandy next talked to Shadrak Kilamwela, 39, married, with 2
children. He told us that he and his
wife also are supporting some other relatives so that there are 6 people in his
household. His first loan was for
$200. He used this loan to plant maize
and beans. Maize prices were very low
last year, so he only made a profit from his beans. He earned $200 after selling his crop and
paying his expenses. Once again this
year he has borrowed $200 to plant maize and beans. If the prices come back up to their normal
range he expects to earn about $600 from his crop. “Thank God the rains have come” he said. Besides paying school fees for his older
child, he also bought some chickens and a young pig which he intends to
breed. Payment to the owner of the boar
will be one of the baby pigs. He will
raise the piglets and then take them to market.
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We had a brief lunch with Pastor Nixon and the SACCOs
officers. While we were eating his son
and daughter came over. His seven-year
old son greeted us in excellent English.
He was a bit shy but Sandy got him to talk with us awhile. Nixon’s daughter is a real cutie. She gave us a big smile as we were
leaving. Nixon rode into Iringa with us
where we dropped him at the hospital to see his wife. He was hoping she was well enough to return
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We talked with two board members of the SACCOS. Look at the wall chart behind them. This circle chart divides the year into two month segments. each segment has listed the things that will be going on at their SACCOS.</div>
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Ipogolo is building a large church. It will hold about 1,000 people when finished.</div>
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The chairman gave a report to the members. It is their annual meeting and year end report. (The chairman is standing. Pastor Nixon is at the far end of the table.)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzm68shWaL4i6L88Ooe3qYAWBZCvRfmqdi3LW0Zq2hlHeBO7Mjbp3MpeEIT_hQP86v5QKBuFJrySStWprY3_g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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The dog kept wandering in and out of the meeting.</div>
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Finally it lay down in the aisle and listened awhile.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">The first person she talked with as Yusta Sailale, 58, and a single mother with 5 children and 6 grandchildren. Yusta currently is supporting herself and 5 other family members.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sandy next talked to Shadrak Kilamwela, 39, married, with 2 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He told us that he and his wife also are supporting some other relatives so that there are 6 people in his household.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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While Sandy did interviews Tom went out and met with the SACCOS officers and board members.</div>
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Pastor Nixon's daughter came over and made faces at us. Tom made an instant friend when he gave her some candy.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-37009479141019782342015-02-20T09:52:00.001-08:002015-02-21T07:09:31.847-08:00At Lulanzi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went to Lulanzi in the morning, then worked in the
office in the afternoon. Lulanzi is
about a 75 minute drive into the
mountains of the Kilolo District.
Lulanzi is also the home village of our longtime friend Alex Mhanga. Last year when we visited Lulanzi we met a
delightful old man who told us about teaching in Tanzania in the “old
days.” He was a school teacher in the
40’s when Tanzania was a British colony.
He was there to greet us today along with the officers and the pastor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lulanzi started to organize their SACCOS last year after we
visited. They have been slowly working
towards getting their capital together and the members enrolled. So far they have enrolled 34 members and have
another 9 working on paying their fees.
They have collected 950,000 TZS – which falls short of the 5,000,000 TZS
they will need. They asked us if we
could help them with this, but we explained that we are no longer doing this
and they needed to ask their US partner for help if they needed assistance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The people here are anxious to start getting loans. They have learned from talking to other
SACCOS members that this will help them to increase their incomes. One of the members came over to Tom and told
him he listened to our radio program all of the time and wondered when he would
start broadcasting. There is a group here
that gets together on Saturday to listen to the rebroadcast of our program.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Peter gave a class on the rights and obligations of being a
member of a SACCOS. Itiweni explained
how Iringa Hope works. You could see the
heads nodding and the smiles as things were explained. </div>
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Peter told us that some of the people have
been in a SACCOS before. Like so many
that one was sponsored by a rich family.
The people bought shares, saved their money and applied for loans. The family then gave a big loan to a
relative, closed the SACCOS and left town.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having had this type of experience the members are very
excited about having an Iringa Hope SACCOS.
In Iringa Hope all of the members own all of the assets. There is no one controlling member or group. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting we went into the pastor’s house for
lunch. We were surprised to be greeted
by the daughter of a past Ihemi Evangelist. (Our own partner parish here is
Ihemi.) She is a theology student at the
University of Iringa. She is doing her
internship at Lulanzi and came to meet us when she heard we would be there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While we were waiting to eat Sandy took a look at the ladies
preparing “chips”. They were cooking
over a fire in their “kitchen”. The room
was smoky but the women were busy working and ignoring it. This is a pretty common thing here and
accounts for many of the deaths of the women from lung diseases.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we were leaving, our Ihemi friend asked for a ride back
into town. Along with her came a big
basket full of things and a few sacks to take into town market to sell. If we hadn’t been visiting at Lulanzi her
alternative transportation would have been a bus to Kilolo followed by a short
walk to catch another bus to a bus station near Iringa and then walk the rest
of the way, which would have been a 4-5 hour trip. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom spent the remainder of the day at the University with
the MFI team. When he left the others
were still hard at work and they will be with us again all day tomorrow
(Saturday). We aren’t sure of the hours
that our staff keeps the rest of the year, but when we are here they put in a
lot of very long days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to Lulanzi we were surprised to see our "Bush teacher" from our last visit. When we were here last this 90+ year old man told us about being a "Bush teacher" back in the 40's.</div>
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Lulanzi lies in the foothills of the mountains a 75 minute drive from Iringa.</div>
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The past Evangelist's daughter was here to greet us. She is currently a theology student at the university.</div>
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This is our "Bush teacher" friend. He had lots of good questions about how an Iringa Hope SACCOS would work.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sandy took a look at the ladies preparing “chips”. They were cooking over a fire in their “kitchen”. The room was smoky but the women were busy working and ignoring it.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-88651530433286796572015-02-19T10:28:00.002-08:002015-02-19T10:29:23.097-08:00Off to Ilambilole<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Leaving Isimani we drove down the dirt road to the
pavement. As we got onto the pavement
Tom sped up only to see a “50” speed limit sign (50 km/hr that is – about 30mph
– speed limits are often only 20 or 30 mph here). He started to slow down but out from behind a
tree stepped a policeman with a radar gun.
The police have been very aggressive this year. We have seen a lot of set-ups like this
one. </div>
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This officer waved us down and
showed us that we were going 59 in a 50 zone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom explained about just getting on the road and seeing the
sign, but it didn’t matter. The officer
was polite, but insistent that we pay the fine (about $20). As he started to walk behind us to get his
ticket book one of the ladies that we had picked up at our meeting at Isimani
called out to him. He stopped over and
there was a torrent of Swahili flung at him.
After a second he straightened up and came over and told us “No ticket
this time. Please drive slower.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were, of course, curious about what had happened? According to Itiweni the policeman eats in
the woman’s diner all of the time. She
had told him that these people were her guests and if he wanted to ear at her
diner he needed to forget about the ticket.
We decided it paid to take on riders.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We dropped off our riders at their destination and continued
on to Ilambilole. Ilambilole is closer
to town than Isimani, but it is down a long, rutted dirt road. As we went down the road we were jostled and
thrown around. At one point it seemed
that none of us were on the seats and the car was not touching the ground
either. Anyway, we arrived safe and
sound.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Ilambilole SACCOS is located inside of the parish
compound. The compound is a nice area
that is fenced off and guarded. We
pulled in and were met by the chairman and some of the officers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS general meeting started soon after we arrived. We
are planning on starting an AMCOS (Farmers Coop) at this location so Itiweni
covered some information on how this is to be done. One of the requirements is that the officers
of the AMCOS must be different than the officers of the SACCOS. This is of course to avoid direct conflicts
between the group that sells Agricultural inputs and products (an AMCOS) and
the one which finances this (a SACCOS). Most
of the members of the two organizations will probably be the same. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The group raised a lot of questions about their AMCOS would
be. “Is this a government program?” No,
it is strictly an Iringa Hope program.
“Good,” they tell us. “If it was
a government program we would not want it here.
The last program cost us all money and we do not trust government
programs.” There were many questions and
a lot of excitement. One question that
we thought interesting was, “How many people can we have join this
program. Is 2-300 too many?” We told them that we thought that the first
year they should have under 100 members while they get organized. But why the question? It turns out that they have been talking
about this since we first discussed this with their leaders. When they mentioned this to people everyone
wanted to join. They were concerned
about how many they should admit when they get started.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They selected their initial leaders so that they could start
to organize their AMCOS. We emphasized
that we “required” at least one woman officer in all of our SACCOS and would do
so in all of our AMCOS. They promptly
selected two women and a man to lead their effort.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom went off to discuss the SACCOS performance with the
leaders. The membership of this SACCOS
has been flat for two years now. We
would like to have our SACCOS grow to at least 100 members. They have not been admitting new members
since they do not have enough capital to give more loans. This is a tough issue. Tom advised them that they should work on
having their members save more and they would find that it would help with the
capital issue. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom then asked about their collections. Last year there were 10 members who had crop
failures and were late on their loans.
They told him that they had collected 100% of these funds. An how about this year? This year there were 2 members who were sick
and did not tend their crops correctly and two who had crop failures. After making sure that they were different
people from last year, Tom asked about collecting these. It turned out that they had already taken the
savings (this is 1/3 of the loan value) and had told the cosigners that they
would have to pay if the borrowers did not (every loan has 2 cosigners). In one case the cosigners were paying and in
the other 3 cases they felt they had a good work out plan for the loans.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While Tom was doing this Sandy was interviewing two members. The first person she talked to was Jema
Kivike, 51 and married with 5 children and 5 grandchildren. She and her husband are supporting 3 of their
children, one grandchild, and an orphan.
They have been members of this SACCOS since it was formed and have taken
out 5 loans over the years. For last
year’s crop they had borrowed 600,000 TZS (about $400) and planted maize and
sunflowers. Neither one of these crops
did well so their profit for the year was only $335. They used their profits to send one of the
children to secondary school and one to a technical school to be a
seamstress. Her most recent loan was for
$420 to again plant maize and sunflowers.
She is hoping to get a better yield and better prices this year. When she was asked how membership in this
SACCOS had changed her life? She smiled
and told us that since joining the SACCOS her income had increased enough that she
has sent all of her children through school and some of them to technical
school. She is also building a new brick
house which will soon be done. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The second person interviewed was Chesco Mgaya, 38, married and
the father of 3 children, ages 15, 11 and 3.
He has been a member of this SACCOS for four years and in that time has
taken out three loans. Last year he
borrowed 300,000 TZS to plant an acre of maize and close to an acre of
tomatoes. He had a good maize yield of
12 bags. He sold 6 of those bags at the
Isimani market for 60,000 per bag, and together with a group of farmers, he
shipped his tomatoes to the market in Ilula where they sold for 450,000. He had paid back his loan with his sale of
maize, so the tomato sales were all profit.
He saved some of his profits in the SACCOS, used some to pay school
fees, and invested some in his next crop of tomatoes. His latest loan was for 330,000, which was
used to plant maize. The tomatoes he
planted were completely funded by his profits from the last loan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS officers and the pastors hosted us at a late
lunch before we headed back to Iringa.
Tonight Tom does our call-in radio program. The program has close to 200,000
listeners. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to Ilambilole there were a number of members waiting for us.</div>
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The meeting was well attended. Peter had gone ahead and discussed a number of things before we got to the meeting.</div>
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Tom gave this little girl some candy. She enjoyed the candy while she sat through the meeting with her mother.</div>
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They selected their AMCOS leaders. (From left to right are the Chairperson, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.)</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first person Sandy talked to was Jema Kivike, 51 and married with 5 children and 5 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">She and her husband are supporting 3 of their children, one grandchild, and an orphan.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The second person interviewed was Chesco Mgaya, 38, married and the father of 3 children, ages 15, 11 and 3.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He has been a member of this SACCOS for four years and in that time has taken out three loans.</span></div>
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We had a quick lunch and headed back to town. Tonight we do our call-in radio show.</div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-50045010777158732612015-02-19T09:45:00.001-08:002015-02-19T09:47:24.739-08:00Visiting at Isimani<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We started our day today with a visit to Pastor Msigwa, the pastor
at the Diocese who coordinates with Bega Kwa Bega. We try to keep him updated on what Iringa
Hope has done and is planning to do. We arrived
early so we had some time to visit with friends while we waited for Msigwa to
arrive. It is surprising how many people
we know here.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we went over our annual report with Msigwa, he expressed
his amazement that our program was so big and he was pleased to learn that the
SACCOS members donated such a large portion of the DIRA budget. I think that since we work all over the
Diocese, people do not realize how big an impact Iringa Hope has; it is either
that or we just are too quiet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After leaving the Diocese we headed over to the University
to pick up Itiweni and Peter. Itiweni
was just back from a funeral for her uncle.
He was an older man and his death was not unexpected. However, his death
and funeral happened at a time when one of her sisters is hospitalized,
awaiting an operation, and her mother has been ill. Illness and death seem to be ever present in
so many of the families we have come to know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Isimani is located close to the Dodoma road, about an hour’s
drive from Iringa. It is a relatively
new SACCOS, having been started in 2013.
They have made money every year since.
This last year they had a profit of 3,000,000 TZS (about $1,700). They are well run by a small, round lady who
runs things with a firm hand. We always
enjoy seeing her and this year was no exception.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are currently 69 members in this SACCOS. They told us that they had over 20 people who
wanted to join, but since they do not have enough capital for their current
members they were reluctant to let them join.
We suggested that they reconsider and allow more to join – but we
stressed that it is their decision.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was good attendance at the general meeting; about 60%
today. This is not uncommon for this
SACCOS, which has had some very enthusiastic members from their beginning. They
always have lots of questions and we were not disappointed on this either. First Tom explained the way that Iringa Hope
Joint SACCOS works. We discussed this
with them last year, but we thought they needed to hear some of it again. Itiweni gave a session on loan fees and their
uses, what interest rates should be, etc.
Peter followed up and again had lots of questions. The members got busy discussing interest
rates, repayment schedules, how to plan your loans, etc. Everyone was busy gesturing and talking – we
loved it! <o:p></o:p></div>
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As the meeting broke up Sandy went to interview two
members. The first one was Rehema Ngoda,
aged 48, married with four children and two grandchildren – all of whom she and
her husband are supporting. Rehema has
been a member of this SACCOS since it started.
Last season she borrowed 900,000 TZS (about $500) and planted her five
acres in sesame. Sesame is a new crop
here, but she had experimented with it the prior year and found it sold for a
good price. When she harvested her crop
she got 32 bags of seeds which sold for 210,000 per bag. After paying off her loan and expenses (she
had hired two helpers who were paid after the harvest and had to pay fees to
ship and sell her crop) she had earned $1,500,000 TZS (or $1,000). With her earnings she tithed, sent all four
of her children to school (three to secondary and one to primary), and bought
some goats and piglets to raise. After
all of this she still had enough left to increase her savings and start on a
new house for her family – very impressive!
She has once again borrowed 900,000 TZS and planted sesame. She says that the prices are still high so
she is hopeful that she will have another good year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As Rehema was leaving Simon John Vidoga sat down to
talk. Simon is 51, married, and has 4 children. He is currently supporting 6 people (7
including himself). He has also been a
member of this SACCOS since it began.
Over the past three years Simon has taken out three loans. His second loan was for 900,000 TZS ($600) to
plant maize. The maize crop last year
was OK, but the prices were 50% lower than the year before so his profit was
lower than he had expected. Still, he
did manage to earn about $200 for the year from his loan. He used part of his profits to send his
daughter to secondary school and his other two children to primary school. He also added a little to his savings and
used the rest for his family. This year
he borrowed 1,200,000 TZS ($680). He is
using part of his loan to plant maize and the rest to buy some lumber and tools
so he can do work as a carpenter. He
told us that this year he will sell ½ of his crop as “fresh corn” and ½ as
mature corn. This will help steady his
income since lately fresh corn (immature corn cobs) is selling for more, while
normally mature corn gets a better price.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When the interviews were over we headed down the road
towards Ilambilioe. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we first got to Isimani we went into the office ot talk to the officers.</div>
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About 60% of the members had come to this meeting. The sun was hot so they sat in the shade.</div>
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Sandy interviewed members while the rest discussed a variety of issues.</div>
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There was a very lively discussion going on. Can you imagine a group of people sitting around discussing loan rates, terms, conditions, how to do collections, etc?</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">The first one was Rehema Ngoda, age 48, married with four children and two grandchildren – all of whom she and her husband are supporting.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">As Rehema was leaving Simon John Vidoga sat down to talk.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Simon is 51, married, and has 4 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">He is currently supporting 6 people (7 including himself).</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-8885197705917324312015-02-17T08:10:00.001-08:002015-02-17T08:10:22.139-08:00Kiponzelo-Growing Fast<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went out to Kiponzelo. Kiponzelo is about an hour’s drive southwest
of Iringa. Most of the trip is on the
highway, but the last twenty minutes are down a rutted dirt road. We first visited Kiponzelo in 2013 with a
group from Gustavus Adolphus church. At
that time there was a lot of enthusiasm and 42 people signed up to form their
SACCOS. Visiting now, two years later,
this SACCOS has 108 members and another 10 are working on joining. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We stopped in at their office and chatted with the officers
of the SACCOS. Like most of our SACCOS,
Kiponzelo has been profitable since their first year. In 2014 they earned 3,000,000 TZS (about
$1,700). They have slowly added to their
initial capital so that they now have 11,000,000 TZS or about $6,500. However, with over 100 members this is not
enough for all of their members to get a loan.
Last year we arranged for them to receive a loan from Iringa Hope of
23,000,000 TZS ($13,500). Putting this
together with their own capital they were able to give loans to about one half
of their members (their average loan was 350,000 TZS or about $220). They were anxious to hear if they might be
able to borrow more capital this year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We told them that this year we are planning on adding
200,000,000 TZS (about $110,000) to the Iringa Hope capital base, but with more
SACCOS joining it was likely that they would have access to a little less than
last year. Tom was apologetic about
this. He told them that he would send
them as much as he could, but it would likely be less than what they had last
year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We talked a little about last year’s loans. When we were at Kitowo we learned that a
combination of poor yields, low prices, and hail damage made many farmers’
crops a loss. But at Kiponzelo they had
slightly better than average maize crops (about 17-20 bags/acre compared with
10 at Kitowo) so even though the prices were very low, they still made
money. They told us that once again this
year their SACCOS had 100% on time payment for their loans.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We told them that we were starting five AMCOS (Agricultural
Marketing Cooperatives – the Tanzanian equivalent of a Farmer’s Coop) this
year. The Kiponzelo SACCOS members have
been very anxious for us to help them start an AMCOS. We think that this would be an ideal area in
which to start an AMCOS, however we are concerned about having enough capital
to start the ones we already have promised.
Besides, what they really need right now is more capital for their
loans. Everyone agreed with this, but
they still would like to start an AMCOS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following our meeting with the officers, we attended a
general meeting with the members. The
room was packed tight. There were 41
members in the room and more would have liked to come in. Tom discussed with them how the funds are
handled in Iringa Hope. He emphasized
that they own and run everything in Iringa Hope – so when they borrow they
borrow from their neighbor. Everyone
here takes their SACCOS very seriously.
As Peter began to talk the skies opened and the rain poured down on the
roof. Those of you who have had the
experience of being in a brick building with a tin roof during a heavy
rainstorm know what happens next; the noise is so deafening that nothing else can
be heard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We stopped the class on SACCOS and Sandy took out the Iringa
Hope calendar and went around the room showing it to the members. Our calendars are always a big hit over
here. People all want a copy and want to
know how they can get their picture in next year. We bring as many as will fit in our luggage,
but it only amounts to two per SACCOS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When the rain let up we went back to our meeting. Peter gave a good discussion of the
importance of planning and how to be effective.
We finished up by answering questions and asking for volunteers for us
to interview. One question kept coming
up – how can we get more capital? Tom
pointed out that 5 years ago Iringa Hope had 0 TZS while by the end of this
year we will have 800,000,000 TZS – so we have made great strides. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandy went off to interview two members while Tom and Peter
finished up with the members. The first
member that Sandy interviewed was Tarchisia Nyenza. Tarchisia is 42 years old, married, and has 5
children. Two years ago she borrowed
90,000 TZS (about $60) to buy fertilizer for her maize. She got a good crop, yielding 20 bags from
her one acre. She decided to keep 10
bags for consumption by the family and used the other ten bags to make corn
mash for brewing. When she sold her brew
she earned 800,000 (about $530) which, after deducting all costs, netted her
500,000 TZS (over $300) profit for the year.
She used most of her profit to buy her children school uniforms and pay
fees, but she also added to her savings.
This year she has borrowed $200 to plant her crop. At the moment her crop is in the ground,
however she is hoping she will do better than last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sandy’s next member was Exaud Cosmas Myinga, a 34 year old
married man with 1 young child. Exaud has
also taken out two loans. His first loan
was for 550,000 TZS ($370) to plant 3 acres of maize. He sold half of his fresh corn (the younger
ears used for roasting) for 450,000 TZS ($300) to one trader and the other half
for 340,000 TZS ($220) to a second trader.
Unfortunately while the first trader paid him, the second one ran away
with the crop and did not pay. When the
rest of the crop was harvested he had another 26 bags of maize. He sold half of this maize for 30,000 TZS a
bag (remember that in Kitowo they only got 20,000 TZS) and kept half to
eat. So how much did he earn? If he had gotten paid for all of his fresh
corn and had sold his entire crop he would have earned 780,000 TZS (about
$520). As it was he wound up earning
280,000 TZS ($185) in cash and enough maize to eat for the year. Not bad, but not what he could have earned.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And what did he do with his earnings? He told us that since his son is still young
he is not yet in school, so he has started to build them a real house with a
floor and a roof. He figures that this
year’s profit has covered about half of the cost of the house he is
building. He has taken out a second loan
for $830. He plans to use this to plant maize
using better seeds and fertilizer. He
wants to again sell half of his crop as fresh corn and half after the final
harvest. He thinks that this will allow
him to finish his house, and still increase his savings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After finishing the interviews we went in to have lunch with
the officers. Once again they wanted to
talk about how to get more capital and how to start an AMCOS. This is a SACCOS with strong leaders and
enthusiastic members, so we hope they will get the capital they need to
grow. <o:p></o:p></div>
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First we stopped into the SACCOS office to talk with the officers.</div>
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The room was crowded as we started the meeting. A number of members stood outside looking in.</div>
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Sand addressed the meeting in Swahili. She always gives a greeting and gets lots of smiles and applause. (Tom on the other hand keeps confusing the Swahili words for hello and good bye; often getting his own laughs for a different reason.) </div>
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Peter gave a lesson on on planning.</div>
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While Tom continued with the meeting, Sandy interviewed some members.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first member that Sandy interviewed was Tarchisia Nyenza.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Tarchisia is 42 years old, married, and has 5 children.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Two years ago she borrowed 90,000 TZS (about $60) to buy fertilizer for her maize.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sandy’s next member was Exaud Cosmas Myinga, a 34 year old married man with 1 young child.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Exaud has also taken out two loans.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-43354954261556372092015-02-16T11:08:00.000-08:002015-02-16T11:08:00.721-08:00Pommerini – A Great SACCOS and Our First AMCOS!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Leaving Kitowo we drove down the road another 30 minutes to
Pommerini. Pommerini is one of our more
successful locations. They have been
growing steadily for the past few years.
Starting with 50 members and 7,000,000 TZS (about $3900) they have grown
to 107 members with 17,000,000 (about $9,450).
This last year they earned over 2,000,000 TZS (about $1,100).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS members at Pommerini had better luck than those
at Kitowo. Despite the low prices,
everyone at Pommerini did okay last year.
A couple of occurrences meant that loans had to be reworked; two members
died last year and one became very ill.
The loans to the members who died are being paid by their cosigners (all
loans require two cosigners) so they are late, but they are being paid. The member who became ill had 1/3 of his loan
repaid by his savings and his family is now repaying the rest of the loan. We were concerned that perhaps the SACCOS
members might feel that these rules are too harsh, but this SACCOS has
instilled in every member the understanding that the loans they take out must
be repaid for the SACCOS to succeed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was exciting to hear the report of the first Iringa Hope AMCOS. An AMCOS is an Agricultural Marketing
Cooperative Society. It is basically a
Farmers Union or Farmers Coop. We are
starting to form AMCOS so that our members will have a place to buy their seed
and fertilizer. Last year we worked with
this village to form our first AMCOS.
Last fall was their first season in business. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Their AMCOS already has 70 members. About 45 of the members of the AMCOS are
also members of the SACCOS. Last fall
the AMCOS borrowed 15,000,000 TZS (about $10,000 at that time) from IHJS and
bought fertilizer to sell to the members.
They sold it to their members for 55,000 TZS a bag and to non-members
for 65,000 per bag. They sold 174 bags
of fertilizer, making a profit of 900,000 (about 10%) and they have a few bags
of fertilizer left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When asked for their evaluation on how their AMCOS could
better serve them, they told us that they could have sold much more fertilizer
if they had had more stock. They also
want to buy seed to sell and they want their AMCOS to stock sprayers and insect
spray. There was a lot of enthusiasm as
they plan for the future. We discussed
our plans to have 5 AMCOS registered this year and to start a Joint AMCOS, which
will be able to purchase farming supplies collectively.</div>
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After the meeting we gathered the AMCOS members together for
a photo of the first Iringa Hope AMCOS.
All of the members weren’t at the meeting, but for those who were this
will be a fun photo to have. If all goes
well, someday there will be an AMCOS by every SACCOS in Iringa Hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first member interviewed here was Atu Mangulisa. Atu is 52 years old, married, and the mother
of six. She and her husband are
supporting all of the children because they are all in school; the youngest is in
Form 4 and the others in technical schools and the university. Atu joined Iringa Hope so that she could earn
some extra money for her children’s school fees. This last year she borrowed $135 to plant
peas. Her peas were damaged with the
hail but were not destroyed. As a result,
after repaying her loan, she earned a $70 profit. This year she is hoping to
borrow $400 and plant more acreage with peas.
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The second interview was with Donald Nyalusi. Donald is 32 years old, married, and has two
young children. He is a primary school
teacher, but he tells us that teachers are paid so poorly that he must farm as
well. Last year he borrowed $200 to
plant peas from which he earned a profit of $135. He used his profit from this to pay his
sister’s school fees (she is in form 4 this year). He is hoping to borrow $560 this year. If he gets this loan he will plant some maize
and some peas. He wants to start
diversifying his farm so that he will not be crippled by any one problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our afternoon at Pommerini concluded with a meal of chicken
and rice. It was a long day, followed by
a very bumpy ride back to Iringa, but the people we met and talked with left us
feeling encouraged and impressed with how, with the assistance of Iringa Hope,
positive changes are happening in their lives. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Arriving at Pommerini we were greeted by some old friends.</div>
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The room where the meeting was held was absolutely full.</div>
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The chairman of the first Iringa Hope AMCOS gave a report.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLlyBb8hqbGV5frFq5rUoOqhAwr-8J8esQVvJpFwshR7FtQq-7Su-pvp4w60nfVnYiwcEfzYUuzW5DRqWWa2ngL1mwZ37CcKHVpLxg6qUAiN71FQj4ByFEb5zcEPevj5yeNiP_1hqMJnM/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(78).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLlyBb8hqbGV5frFq5rUoOqhAwr-8J8esQVvJpFwshR7FtQq-7Su-pvp4w60nfVnYiwcEfzYUuzW5DRqWWa2ngL1mwZ37CcKHVpLxg6qUAiN71FQj4ByFEb5zcEPevj5yeNiP_1hqMJnM/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(78).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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These are the members of the first Iringa Hope AMCOS who were present at our meeting.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdSs9fgPhPbrkDqeR9pIDsEaBKfAkP8aLR1c1pDQW2ugvKWlTfKIq6f5YqGoLGdP_usj2y2VYnYjI1b-tSbszYc_xe41x7qj5XImZMlz9RYHA2Axeq9wx1pg26DMABcV6WQraSBiCxTgK/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(85).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdSs9fgPhPbrkDqeR9pIDsEaBKfAkP8aLR1c1pDQW2ugvKWlTfKIq6f5YqGoLGdP_usj2y2VYnYjI1b-tSbszYc_xe41x7qj5XImZMlz9RYHA2Axeq9wx1pg26DMABcV6WQraSBiCxTgK/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(85).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first member interviewed here was Atu Mangulisa.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Atu is 52 years old, married, and the mother of six.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncFd6KIuMZE0FpyFKEVkAA_RIWcqln768eyekTg0-unLrMjOzKSIW9W9HILc61fNszCE9zSn5Zef269SeiQHD00fuRgtgu9W-0XM2gtig1gzHPkxrWYiIl8jGbA6GkjBhz6f9473s6qoH/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(87).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncFd6KIuMZE0FpyFKEVkAA_RIWcqln768eyekTg0-unLrMjOzKSIW9W9HILc61fNszCE9zSn5Zef269SeiQHD00fuRgtgu9W-0XM2gtig1gzHPkxrWYiIl8jGbA6GkjBhz6f9473s6qoH/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(87).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The second interview was with Donald Nyalusi.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Donald is 32 years old, married, and has two young children.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-3092808601185604932015-02-16T10:36:00.002-08:002015-02-16T10:36:30.440-08:00Kitowo - Hail, bad prices, and low yields – Bad news well handled!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went out to Kitowo and Pomerini. Kitowo lies about 40 kilometers from Iringa in
the Kilolo District, and Pomerini is several kilometers further along the same
road. We had heard that there are some problems at Kitowo so we were interested
in hearing about what had been going on.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Arriving at Kitowo we are greeted by their new pastor and
the chairman of the SACCOS. We had chai
with the pastor while the members gathered.
Kitowo was hit last year with a double whammy. First there was a bad hail storm that destroyed
much of the peas, the main cash crop for many in the area. Maize farmers suffered because of extremely
low prices, resulting from a glut on the market due to an extremely high yield
of maize throughout the country. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The result of this double whammy was that 50% of the
member’s loans were not paid on time.
This is the worst repayment rate that we have seen so far. However, this SACCOS did exactly what we have
been telling them to do. The Kitowo loan
committee went to each member to discuss their situation. They developed a “work out” plan for each
borrower. Some would take an extra 3
months, some an extra 5 months, a few an extra 6 months; but everyone is
committed to paying their loans! Two
months into the plans everyone is performing as promised.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course this was not their only problem here. Much of the money they had lent came from our
central bank – the Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS (IHJS). Their SACCOS had borrowed 10,000,000 TZS
(about $6,000) and could not pay this back since they were not collecting from
their members. So what did the IHJS
do? They too have a loan committee. This committee met with the Kitowo officers
and made a SACCOS work-out plan. So far
the SACCOS is on track to repay their loan with 50% of it now paid back.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were very proud of how this problem has been
handled. Many people have wondered how
Iringa Hope would handle a farm disaster – and now we know. We have felt that our leaders were more than
capable of handling problems, and now they have shown it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The people we interviewed today were among those who have
had to delay payment of their loans. The
first person we met with was Konstansia Chahe, age 72, married with 4 children
and 11 grandchildren. Konstansia told us
she had borrowed $400 to plant peas. Her
peas had just flowered and were beginning to set when the hail storm came and
ruined the plants. She said that she
tried to salvage what she could, but there really was nothing left after the
storm. She still had the maize that she
plants for food so she decided to sell some of this to pay back part of her
loan. She was able to pay $270 back from
this. To earn enough to pay back the
rest (and have some money for buying food) she took a small amount of money and
went into the mandazi and bagia business (two popular snacks). She bakes these items and sells them at a
local secondary school. So far she has
earned enough to pay back another $65 plus interest. Her plan says that she will have paid it all
back in two more months. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our second interview was with Pius Kigodi, aged 75, married
with 9 children and 15 grandchildren.
Pius told us he still supports himself and his wife plus three
grandchildren, whose parents have died.
Pius took out a loan for $200 to plant an acre of maize. He had been
expecting to sell his maize for 50,000 or more a bag (like other years). But, because of the bumper crop in Tanzania
last year, the price fell to 20,000 TZS per bag. As a result he lost money on his crop (he had
to pay $24 in interest – so the $200 crop was below the loan plus
interest). He needed to have some money
for his family so he only repaid $70 of his loan. The SACCOS agreed to carry him until he can
sell half of this year’s crop in April as “fresh corn”. For now he is paying only the remaining
interest The good news is that the type of maize that he is growing has two
ears per stock so after harvesting one to be sold as “fresh corn” he will still
have half of his crop left to harvest later in the year. At current prices he will earn about $70 from
this crop – but he is hoping prices will rise.
And what about the future? He is
already planning how to diversify his plantings next year and thinking about
how to save enough in his SACCOS to get a loan (he must save 1/3 of the amount
he wants to borrow).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Although it’s always disappointing to hear about people’s
losses and struggles, we were encouraged to hear the stories of perseverance
that we heard at Kitowo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After a long meeting we thought we needed to get going for
our next stop of the day, but they had prepared a light meal for us, so we
contacted our group that was waiting for us at Pomerin and told them to expect
us a bit later. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEgllP4MU52UAKW2nFn9Pzxy-tKtmnadcy-lNjuXJLLEaaFV97vosUmF6kMO_-uGPDJD0MATR4BBzuJNAfrq0W2CZGXY8kTBNtzL9oP4O7pmkYUP7VG6sAEf5QxhK-6oUxceOcrhWBG_l/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEgllP4MU52UAKW2nFn9Pzxy-tKtmnadcy-lNjuXJLLEaaFV97vosUmF6kMO_-uGPDJD0MATR4BBzuJNAfrq0W2CZGXY8kTBNtzL9oP4O7pmkYUP7VG6sAEf5QxhK-6oUxceOcrhWBG_l/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(4).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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We had chai with the pastor while the members gathered.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFFywhvXNEB44G0M3TATKrvWLEqhmUMnl24_axXzD7WvYMd20U95R-zH0WT9orT1V_LtEdgv6wk4zIVmzn7hawE49mCDbr6Z9XAtoPKYcThJhnx23np0OwewQVmEYsQ-CDUBn_JfAUa8e/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(26).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFFywhvXNEB44G0M3TATKrvWLEqhmUMnl24_axXzD7WvYMd20U95R-zH0WT9orT1V_LtEdgv6wk4zIVmzn7hawE49mCDbr6Z9XAtoPKYcThJhnx23np0OwewQVmEYsQ-CDUBn_JfAUa8e/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(26).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">50% of the Kitowo member’s loans were not paid on time.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">This is the worst repayment rate that we have seen so far.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">However, this SACCOS did exactly what we have been telling them to do.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">The Kitowo loan committee went to each member to discuss their situation.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">They developed a “work out” plan for each borrower.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ShmPUDKRgEQqWXa4B4rppUwFGr60cs43lbDG4eU_3yikIOyRtGvlb7sMdqR86yDBfr2S_xBXs91nBy16SwkNeCiWKiJ_cHuY_HIppDCqh6Y2Ds5ApU2jQMJlofKtZJ8AJ5qrvl2C1bA/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(40).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ShmPUDKRgEQqWXa4B4rppUwFGr60cs43lbDG4eU_3yikIOyRtGvlb7sMdqR86yDBfr2S_xBXs91nBy16SwkNeCiWKiJ_cHuY_HIppDCqh6Y2Ds5ApU2jQMJlofKtZJ8AJ5qrvl2C1bA/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(40).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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We wanted to hear some of the member's stories about their work out plans so Sandy sat down to do some interviews.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgLR_ZtztwqEokiiUhEgsK2NjzpSUIhrVNDF43rJqD8zlh346acoLN3cXx7eMg0UT4opFfntJGM8BiM_o2lUnjU5aKJJWHFwlMfe_MEr1QhJKTbSWLuRUzICBbjPPyHqJiFCCDEaUlz8I/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(33).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgLR_ZtztwqEokiiUhEgsK2NjzpSUIhrVNDF43rJqD8zlh346acoLN3cXx7eMg0UT4opFfntJGM8BiM_o2lUnjU5aKJJWHFwlMfe_MEr1QhJKTbSWLuRUzICBbjPPyHqJiFCCDEaUlz8I/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(33).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The first person we met with was Konstansia Chahe, age 72, married with 4 children and 11 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Epg2lwHyrtrk2Mle3wBmrxUUIIlVz_h_63oHkpvEGSltpzGQc8P4wjTL1kKfMIOZInuhzml4iIpxYJWOsoTUl5uBOHMtb_srAYOs-ut2SbDGMB1MOQlpe6aIzWkC7F9tHFwPQeZDwhyphenhyphenH/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(43).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Epg2lwHyrtrk2Mle3wBmrxUUIIlVz_h_63oHkpvEGSltpzGQc8P4wjTL1kKfMIOZInuhzml4iIpxYJWOsoTUl5uBOHMtb_srAYOs-ut2SbDGMB1MOQlpe6aIzWkC7F9tHFwPQeZDwhyphenhyphenH/s1600/15-02-16+kitowo+++pommerini+(43).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Our second interview was with Pius Kigodi,aged 75, married with 9 children and 15 grandchildren.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Pius told us he still supports himself and his wife plus three grandchildren, whose parents have died</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-1421337625829693442015-02-14T08:27:00.000-08:002015-02-14T08:41:56.689-08:00Kitapalimwa and Mkwawa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we had a double header. Our first stop was at a preaching point of
Kitapalimwa, which is a 30 minute drive from Iringa on the Mkwawa road. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Kitapalimwa has already registered as a group. Registering as a group is very limiting for
the members so we are helping them change to a SACCOS. This was our first visit to Kitapalimwa. Itiweni and Peter have been her before, but
we have not. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We arrived at the small church at about 9:30 in the
morning. They are building a larger
church next to their old one, with the idea that this preaching point may
become a separate church in the future.
When we got there we found the pastor and several members waiting for
us. We stopped to take a look at the
crops. This is an old tobacco growing
area. Like many such areas the soil has
been depleted. Now the main crops that
the parish members grow are maize and tomatoes.
The parish has about 300 families in it.
Their average income is about 5-600,000 TZS per year (about $300) –
pretty typical for a rural village.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After having chai we went into the church for our
meeting. This SACCOS currently has 37
members. There are another 10 members in
the process of joining – so the SACCOS will be reaching about 280 people
(family size is 6). Of the 37 members,
20 were here this morning for our presentation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following greetings and introductions Enock, who was with us
today, talked about the steps to register their SACCOS, their rights and
obligations, and what their constitution says.
Peter then talked about the differences between a SACCOS and a
group. Since this SACCOS is just now
forming they have not yet given out loans – so we did not stop to do any
interviews.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So far on this visit we haven’t met a lot of children coming
to peak at the wazungus. But today Tom
spied some children and was in his element handing out candy as more and more
children appeared. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our second stop was at Mkwawa. Mkwawa is a large parish located on the edge
of town. Since it is in Iringa
proper the incomes here are higher, with
many of the people having regular jobs in addition to their shambas
(farms). Because this was Saturday many
of the SACCOS members were out at their farms for the day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Arriving at Mkwawa we were met by some old friends. We have been here many times before and know
Pastor Askali, the officers, and some of the members. Mkwawa is working on a large new church,
which, when completed, will hold 800 to 1000 people. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After looking at the new church and visiting with the pastor
in his office, we went over to meet with some members. Mkwawa SACCOS has 45 members with 5 new
members in the process of joining. There
were 20 of them here this morning to meet with us. Since this SACCOS has been up and running for
awhile we did not need to review the basics like we did at Kitapalimwa – so we
spent our time explaining how Iringa Hope Joint SACCOS works. There were a lot of good questions. One of the board members of the Iringa Hope
Joint SACCOS board is a member here, and he answered some of the questions. We reminded everyone that they owned the
Joint SACCOS and were entitled to know anything they wanted regarding the
operations of the organization.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting Tom talked with the officers while Sandy
interviewed some members. This SACCOS made
22 loans last year. Their average loan
was $800-higher than a more rural area, and most members were borrowing for
their farming activities. They had 100% repayment and earned a profit of
$1,500. They also have higher savings
per member.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first member Sandy interviewed was Piti Sovelo, 53 years
old and married with 6 children. He has
been a member of the Mkwawa SACCOS for 3 years and has taken out 2 loans. He took out his first loan last year for
$380. He used this to plant and
fertilize a field of maize and tomatoes.
Maize prices last year were very low and his tomatoes did poorly so
after paying off his loan he only earned a profit of $280. He used some of this loan to increase his savings
and this year he borrowed $560 for planting tomatoes. The weather has been very good for tomatoes
so far, so he is very optimistic about his profits.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next person that Sandy interviewed was Upendo
Sovelo. Upendo is 49 and has 4
children. Two years ago her husband went
to Dar es Salaam and she hasn’t seen him since.
Now she is supporting 3 of her children (one is older and has left home)
and 1 of her grandchildren. She has
belonged to this SACCOS for 5 years and has taken out 3 loans. Two years ago she took out a loan for
$120. She used this to buy a cow. When the cow had a calf, she gave the calf to
the church as a tithe. She sold about
$140 worth of milk, and when the cow quit producing milk she sold it for $280. She then bought another cow for $200, which
is due to calve in March. She has now borrowed
$125 to buy a pump to irrigate her vegetable and tomato fields. She told us that during the rainy season
(now) her vegetables sell for a small amount – but during the dry season when
she will use her pump, the vegetables should bring a higher price. So far she has sold enough vegetables to pay
for her pump. She thinks that by year
end she will have earned many times what she spent.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The people we meet and talk with continue to impress us with
their ingenuity and their ability to raise their standard of living with the
gift of a small loan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We met at a preaching point of Kitapalimwa. They are building a larger church behind the old in anticipation of this becoming a separate parish.</div>
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We went over to look at the crops. This used to be prime a tobacco growing area. With depletion of the soil tobacco has become unprofitable here. Our members grow mainly maize and tomatoes.</div>
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Enock was with us today. He explained to the members the differences between a group and a SACCOS.</div>
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Tom found some children and gave them candy. </div>
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At Mkwawa we met many old friends.</div>
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After meeting with the SACCOS Sandy and Enock interviewed some members.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The
first member Sandy interviewed was Piti Sovelo, 53 years old and married with 6
children. He has been a member of the
Mkwawa SACCOS for 3 years and has taken out 2 loans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The
next person that Sandy interviewed was Upendo Sovelo. Upendo is 49 and has 4 children. Two years ago she lost her husband.</span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-85644609280560320202015-02-13T10:05:00.000-08:002015-02-13T10:14:19.770-08:00A Day at Tungamalenga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went out to Tungamalenga. Tungamalenga is about 150 km (94 miles) from
Iringa on the road to Ruaha. Driving
down the road Tom was going about 50 km/hour (30 mph) but it seemed more like
60 or 70 because the road is in such bad shape.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to the village we went into the SACCOS office
for chai and a chat. The chairman
apologized for the poor turnout. One of
the church members had died the day before and most of the members were at the
funeral. In fact, he wondered if we
might have a shorter meeting so they could all go to the funeral afterwards
(funerals here are often all day events with most of the village in attendance). <o:p></o:p></div>
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The SACCOS here has been doing very well. It has 74 members and has turned a profit
every year since it started. Last year
it earned over 7,000,000 TZS (over $4,000) while its members earned another
50,000,000 TZS (almost $30,000) profits on their loans. Looking at their records it seems that their
average member earned about $540 in profits – a huge amount for someone whose
normal income is only $300/year!<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were two things that really helped this SACCOS last
year – 1) they were able to borrow about 20,000,000 TZS ($12,000) from Iringa
Hope thereby increasing their loan capital from 17,000,000 TZS to over
37,000,000 TZS and 2) we got permission for them to experiment selling
fertilizer to their members. What does
it mean to get permission? Since a
SACCOS is a type of financial entity it is prohibited from selling things. In order to legally sell fertilizer they need
to form an Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (or AMCOS). Starting this process is in fact one of our
goals today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We discussed some of the details of how Iringa Hope Joint
SACCOS works, looked at their records, and discussed how they might work on
their AMCOS. When our meeting with the
officers concluded we met with the general membership. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There were 29 members at today’s meeting. Peter
updated them on some of the rules and regulations of a SACCOS. We introduced our new employee, Nuru Lugalla,
to everyone, then Tom talked a little about Iringa Hope and what it means to be
a cooperative. Everyone was very attentive
and asked some good questions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally Itiweni started telling them about forming an
AMCOS. “And who here would be interested
in joining an AMCOS” – immediately everyone’s hand shot up and people started
clapping. The chairman told Itiweni that
he had taken a survey and everyone in the SACCOS said they wanted to join. He told us that there were a number of people
who bought fertilizer from them last year that wanted to join one too. They decided to select a new chairman (an
AMCOS needs to have different officers than a SACCOS so they will need to do an
election for this) and start collecting names and entrance fees. They want to make sure that they are
organized by this fall.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the meeting wound down and people started to go to the
funeral, we asked to interview two members who we have not spoken to
before. The first member we talked to
was Stefania Nginga, a 54 year old divorced mother with 4 children and 3
grandchildren. Stefania has taken out 3
loans since she joined Iringa Hope. Last
year she borrowed $190 for planting rice and ground nuts (peanuts). She said that she estimated that this
increased her profit by $450. She took
this profit and used it to buy ground nuts and rice from local farmers which
she took to Iringa and sold in the market.
This more than doubled her money so that she wound up with a $970 profit
for the year! She took some of this
money and added it to her savings while she reinvested the remainder in her
farm. Her most recent loan was for $630
which she has used to plant and fertilize her crop of rice and ground
nuts. She is looking forward to a large
profit this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second member that we interviewed was Petro Mahenge, a
32 year old married man with 2 children.
Petro took out a loan from Iringa Hope for $190. He used this for his rice fields. After harvesting his fields and paying off
his loan he had a profit of $550. He
used his profit to repair a room in his house for his children, and then bought
two cows and a goat. He explained that
with the cows and the goat his wife could increase their earnings by selling
milk. He has now taken out a second loan
for $380. He is using this loan to
expand his rice farm. </div>
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Although his
children are currently too young to go to school, he told us that he is getting
ready to send them through secondary school and on to trade school. </div>
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We finished the day by talking with the pastor. She kept thanking us for working to bring the
SACCOS here. Both she and the chairman
told us over and over how much their SACCOS has changed life in Tungamalenga. It is exciting to think of what changes their
AMCOS will bring to their community.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Tungamalenga has a very nice building for their meetings.</span></div>
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First we met in the SACCOS office with the local officers.</div>
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When Itiweni started talking about forming an AMCOS everyone got excited.</div>
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When she asked who would join an AMCOS all of the SACCOS members quickly raised their hands.</div>
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After the meeting Sandy interviewed two of the members of this SACCOS.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The
first member we talked to was Stefania Nginga, a 54 year old divorced mother
with 4 children and 3 grandchildren.
Stefanie has taken out 3 loans since she joined Iringa Hope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The
second member that we interviewed was Petra Mahenge, a 32 year old married man
with 2 children. </span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-361149313924843982015-02-12T09:59:00.000-08:002015-02-12T10:31:27.459-08:00Itungi - Things are looking good<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today we went out to Itungi.
This is our fourth visit to Itungi on Iringa Hope business (Itiweni and
Peter have been here more often than this, we only visit once a year). This village has had a difficult time coming
up with strong leaders, and our first few visits were discouraging in this
regard. Now, however, they seem to have
a working group of leaders and an enthusiastic group of members.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Itungi is located a few kilometers south of Ilula. Arriving there we were met by a small group
of members and the Pastor. This is a
small SACCOS, but a big percentage of the members (92%) were in attendance. The Itungi SACCOS now has 28 members with 10
more working on joining. They told us
that now that they have had their first round of loans there are many people
asking about joining. According to the pastor there are 250-270 families in the
parish (including 6 preaching points) so they are already reaching over 10% of
their parishioners. With 28 members they
are reaching 168 people in this parish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Following brief updates by Tom and Peter, the members were
invited to ask questions. The treasurer opened
this part of the meeting. She is the
strongest of the officers and is a very impressive lady. The questions she asked were questions that
she has been asked by the SACCOS members.
She asked how funds were borrowed, what the rules are for borrowers and
how they worked. She was wondering if
the Coop officer got any of their money and how they could convert from a
“Group” to a SACCOS. Peter answered all
of the questions and gave everyone a lesson on how things worked and how to get
the most out of their loans. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we were finished with our meeting the SACCOS members held
their own meeting. We took this time to
interview two of the members. The first
person we interviewed was Alex Nyawlingo, 40 years old, married with 3
children. Alex has been a member of this
SACCOS for 2 years now. His first loan
was for $130. He used his loan to plant
beans on an acre of his land. After
selling his beans and repaying his loan he made a profit of $270 – very
good! He told us he used his profits to
send his children to school this year.
His second loan was for the same amount ($130) as last year. His crop is still in the ground so he does
not yet know what his profit will be, but it is looking very good so he thinks
he will do better than last year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We next interviewed Atuhombye Kulanga, 50 years old, married
with 5 children. Although her children
are grown, she and her husband are supporting her daughter and two
grandchildren. She too has been a member
of the SACCOS for 2 years. She told us
that her first loan was for $100. She used
this loan to buy fertilizer and seed for ½ acre. Because of her loan she was able to use the
CVP method of farming and she harvested what was for her a record crop of 10
bags from a half acre. After repaying
her loan and all costs she earned $100 profit.
(Maize prices were way down last year, so her profit wasn’t as much as
she would have liked.) She put her
profit into her SACCOS account, allowing her to take out a larger loan ($200)
this year which she used to plant maize and tomatoes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over chai at the pastor’s house he told us that he is very
happy with the gains that his congregation is making from their SACCOS. Last year their SACCOS earned almost
1,600,000 TZS profit (about $1,000) and offerings at the church are up. Overall their average loan last year was for
$220. The Pastor and the treasurer asked
us about borrowing more capital from Iringa Hope, and of course we told them
that we would do the best that we could for them. They were also worried about admitting more
members. We told them that if the people
who wanted to join were trustworthy and would benefit the SACCOS, it would be
good to have them as members.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We left with a good feeling about this group. It has taken them awhile to reach the point
where they are at, but now they seem to be heading in the right direction. The treasurer is a real treasure and the
members who have gotten loans are reaping the benefits of belonging to their
SACCOS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were greeted by Pastor Kikoti and some of the SACCOS members.</div>
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We thought that the hoe and the motorcycle made an interesting contrast.</div>
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Peter was with us today and answered many questions. Over 90% of the members were there.</div>
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The treasurer asked many questions. She is clearly a leader here and is a very impressive lady.</div>
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Tom gave this little girl some candy. After she eat her candy she kept running back and forth peeking at us.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We interviewed Alex
Nyawlingo first. He is 40 years old, married, and has 3 children. Alex has been a member of this SACCOS for 2
years now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We
next interviewed Atuhombye Kulanga. She is 50 years old, married, and has 5 children. Although her children are grown, she and her
husband are supporting her daughter and two grandchildren. She too has been a member of the SACCOS for 2
years. </span></div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3774805076740535001.post-8673962245533321402015-02-11T09:03:00.000-08:002015-02-11T09:03:29.219-08:00Magubike and Three Cups of Coffee!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Many of us recall the hit book entitled <u>Three Cups of Tea</u>
which described how it took three calls on a remote village to be trusted
enough to have a talk about issues.
Well, among Norwegians and Tanzanians at Magubike, it has also taken three
visits with discussions over tea (and coffee for Tom) to get to the heart of
their SACCOS issues.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Magubike is a 75 minute drive from Iringa. The turn-off to Magubike is on the road to
Ruaha National Park, in the midst of tobacco country. We first visited Magubike in 2013. At that time there was a group led by the
Pastor who wanted to buy a sunflower press to make oil from sunflower
seeds. Tom reviewed their plans for “a
machine” and explained how it would not make money and would most likely be a
burden to them. The Pastor was very
insistent that this was the thing to do.
He had a group of church members who also were convinced that this was
the way to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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During that first visit we had a group meeting in the church
to describe our approach to SACCOS and how it would work for them. There had been a government SACCOS in
Magubike at one time which went broke, taking many people’s money with it. There was also a SACCOS in the nearby
village, but it excluded most of the local farmers. On that day in 2013 over 100 people pledged
that they would join a SACCOS, and 48 of them paid a small amount down on their
entrance fees.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On our return the following year we found there were only 21
members in the SACCOS. What had
happened? Most of the 100 people had
thought that this would be like the government SACCOS and they could get “free
money.” When they found out that this
was not the case, they left. The
remaining 21 members seemed to understand what we were doing but were very
nervous about their savings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once again the Pastor had a plan for “a machine,” and once
again Tom went over the many problems with his plan. At the end of this visit the Pastor seemed to
accept that he would not get his machine – but that an Iringa Hope SACCOS was a
very good thing for his parish. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Today marked our third visit to this village and we
discovered that there were some problems here.
It seems that the former Pastor had a scheme worked out to get money out
of a “machine” purchase – which was why he wanted it so badly. He was very frustrated that we found so many
problems so he decided that he would get some money out of the SACCOS
instead. He had been telling his
congregation that the SACCOS belongs to the church (which is not true, it
belongs to the members NOT the church) and if he did not get enough funds from
their tithes, he would just take money out of the SACCOS. This did not happen, probably because he had
been told that we go after Pastors who try this, but the threat had been enough
to cause people to lose interest in the SACCOS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We talked to the officers of the SACCOS. They were very happy we had come to check on
things. They have been working with the
20 folks that have joined. This past
year they made 15 loans to their members, with an average loan of $210, had
100% on time repayment, and earned over $1,000 for their SACCOS. Reviewing their records we found some
mistakes (everyone seems to need reminding) but nothing that they won’t correct
in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally we asked to interview some of the members who had
gotten loans. The first person Sandy
interviewed was Katalin Kilasi, a 64 year old widow. Katalin was the mother of ten children, seven
of whom have died, leaving her with 3 children and 10 grandchildren. She is supporting herself and one grandchild
whose father has died. She has taken out
two loans to plant her cash crop of beans.
Her first loan was for $100. This
allowed her to plant her 2 acres with beans.
Last year prices on beans were low, but she managed to repay her loan
plus she earned a $100 profit. She used
her profit for school fees for the grandchild she supports, and, in addition,
she invested in a yogurt business. She
buys milk, makes yogurt and delivers it on foot to her neighbors. She isn’t the only one benefiting from her
investment, as yogurt has nutritional value for those who consume it! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Katalin’s second loan of $180, is still in the ground, but
she is expecting a profit this year too.
She plans to use her profit from this year’s crop to expand her
business. Sandy complemented her on
being so clever. She told her that her
grandchild is very fortunate to have such grandmother. Katalin, who had been looking very serious,
broke out into a big smile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We next talked with Julius Mbwilo, 60 years old and
divorced. Julius raised four children and
now he has three grandchildren. He supports
himself and 1 other relative. Julius
took out a loan for $135 which he used to plant tomatoes on his one acre. After harvesting his tomatoes he repaid his
loan and had earned a profit of $170. He
used his profit to invest in his next crop, so as a result, this year his loan
was smaller. He thinks that this year he
will earn a very BIG profit because it has been a perfect year for tomatoes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As we prepared to leave, one of the evangelists told us that
he would like us to come to a church service and explain what a SACCOS can do
for them. He said that they need to know
that Iringa Hope SACCOS belongs only to them.
He explained that he had not joined the SACCOS previously because he was
afraid the pastor would take his money.
Now that he understands what we are doing he will join the SACCOS and
would like others in his preaching point to do so too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our third visit (our third cup of tea- or coffee) was an
eye-opener. We learned that there has
been a great deal of miscommunication and false representation of how an Iringa
Hope SACCOS is structured and how it works.
We hope that our visit has dispelled some of the rumors that have
circulated and that more members of the community will decide to take advantage
of being a member of a SACCOS.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9sJ3vci5OBnVgp2QRC8CXXa7jZ7OAwGKyob5PMgYXeCKbudAHXvdsmXYjW3VYRh1GgNJYvJbgPPgXRTZXrF_s1PzBZEU5as5JeyV-NTyhSeAJ3VaC5P-PAyHZNRDovFHApodHRjATXVfm/s1600/15-02-11+Magubike+(14).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9sJ3vci5OBnVgp2QRC8CXXa7jZ7OAwGKyob5PMgYXeCKbudAHXvdsmXYjW3VYRh1GgNJYvJbgPPgXRTZXrF_s1PzBZEU5as5JeyV-NTyhSeAJ3VaC5P-PAyHZNRDovFHApodHRjATXVfm/s1600/15-02-11+Magubike+(14).JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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Magubike is about a 70 minute drive from Iringa. It lies in a tobacco farming region.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKLE8w9Tk3kA7rk2r4onvdp3n3759I_y-V5PF9BBTLVauBOxGvEyPrkl95VUblz-Og2BzO7cwG9lUEtZhl78OtzcXVIHwlEEo7_Z8oYB-WE5CmMI0MHNoyS526yTITxKfz1O6hCcYivS7/s1600/15-02-11+Magubike+(28).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKLE8w9Tk3kA7rk2r4onvdp3n3759I_y-V5PF9BBTLVauBOxGvEyPrkl95VUblz-Og2BzO7cwG9lUEtZhl78OtzcXVIHwlEEo7_Z8oYB-WE5CmMI0MHNoyS526yTITxKfz1O6hCcYivS7/s1600/15-02-11+Magubike+(28).JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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There is a small town here, but the parish lies outside of the town proper.</div>
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First we had tea/coffee. As we chatted we learned a lot about what has been happening here.</div>
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Katalin was quite reserved when Sandy interviewed her.</div>
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She broke into a big smile when we told her how lucky her grandchild was to have her as a grandmother!</div>
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Julius expects to get a BIG profit from his tomatoes this year. </div>
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Tom & Sandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06110829663573621951noreply@blogger.com0