Madang Saving Group meeting
AFOD TRANSFORMING PERENNIAL CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE USING VSLA
AFOD-Uganda in partnership with World Food Programme is implementing a Cash Based Transfer modality from July 2018-June 2019 in 8 clusters in Lobule settlements, Lobule Sub-County in Koboko District where the refugee beneficiaries receive assistance in form of cash of Uganda shillings 31,000 per person, per month.
AFOD has been equipping refugees with financial literacy skills as a complementary activity to reduce poverty by financially and socially empowering the poor and vulnerable refugees. VSLA is being encouraged by AFOD to provide members a safe place to save, access small loans and obtain emergency insurance.
Madang savings group found in Kuku cluster in zone B has strengthened their savings initiative with the support from AFOD with the aim of improving standards of living of their members. The savings group started on 6th May 2015, with a total number of 28 (6 men and 22 women) who are all refugees. This group sits every Wednesday where every member saves a minimum of 1,000 UGX to a maximum of 5000 UGX weekly. Last year, the group members managed to save 3,800,000 UGX and acquired an interest of 1,200,000 UGX and a welfare contribution of 65,000 UGX’’.
In an interviewed with a former secretary of Madanga Savings Group, here are his excerpts, ‘I came to Uganda from the Democratic Republic of Congo on 15th October 2013 due to insurgency that forced thousands of people to flee their homes with many crossing the border into Uganda and mainly settled in Lobule, I was registered by OPM in 2013 and in July 2018, I started receiving my cash entitlements’’. On the benefits of the saving group, the treasure of the group Doreen 40 years of age says, ‘the saving group has helped members to access small loans in cases of emergencies, boosted our relationship with the host community and among the beneficiaries, encouraged us to work hard, learned how to save, acquired knowledge on record keeping and boosted our unity which was not the case before. All the above benefits were hard to come by before’’. When asked about the source of money they save, she said, ‘We offer labor to the host community and through selling of the crops we cultivate and our monthly cash entitlements’.
John a 37 year old member of the group said ‘we have been able to transform perennial challenges into opportunities. Since the inception of the association, most of the members in Kuku have accessed small loans to pay fees and cater for the needs of their children, these are things we could not do prior to AFOD/WFP intervention. “My standard of living has positively improved through the products of VSLA savings and loans insurance.” says John. “I urge other refugees who are not in any savings group to join us because this is the only way for us to share new ideas when we meet.” And in case of any opportunity as a group, we would prefer to pool our resources and invest in selling produce (rice) because it has more profit and ready market. As Madang savings group, we take this opportunity to thank AFOD, WFP, OPM and UHHCR for supporting us in various ways and more so, the government of Uganda for according us a hospitable and receptive environment that allows refugees participate in agriculture regardless of our status.
