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VSLA Groups Kibuli Community – Kampala, Uganda
Hope for a Child facilitates 2 VSLA groups within Kibuli inner-city community in Kampala, Uganda.
Our Ugandan program coordinator Rose Gidongo has started 2 new urban savings and loan groups, with 2 further groups due to be started very soon. Urban VSLA groups have the additional complications of security and the more rapid movement of individuals into and out of a community. The Kampala groups that have been created are called ‘Faith and Hope group’ and 'Prime Destined VSLA’. Both groups have set their share value at 5000ug shs (£1.60), the interest rate for both groups is 10 percent per month, the security fund is 500 ug shs (16p) and the late coming fine is 1000ug shs (33p). Both groups have chosen 9 months as the length for the first cycle. Each group consists of 25 individuals who were chosen as the pioneers for the scheme in Kibuli. The ‘Prime Destined VSLA’ consists of 9 men and 16 women, whereas ‘Faith and Hope VSLA’ consists of 4 men and 21 women.
Current success stories since the creation of the groups in January 2009:
- VSLA group members are proud of cultivating a saving culture in their lives, which they had never experienced before.
- Businesses which were collapsing like Betty and Ruth’s slum clinic are once again developing after receiving a loan worth 250,000ug shs (these are sisters, daughters to a retired 80 year old reverend, looking after their other siblings and orphans raised by their dad.)
- There is a lot of ease in accessing loans with little collateral security, minimal documentation required and no transport costs involved in reaching the centre.
- These VSLA groups are also social groups where members are benefiting from advice from more highly experienced members in business and day to day life.
Quotes from the groups:
“VSLA is the only hope for improving livelihoods in Uganda and Africa as a whole”.
“VSLAs are self help groups, where even the weak financially are able to raise a small amount of money to save and after a few weeks use the little accumulated savings to boost their household incomes”.
“Individual VSLA members cannot believe their eyes when they realise they have saved a reasonable amount of money.They are wondering why this programme took so long to reach them”.
“To them this is what it means to be empowered since it is they that are managing their resources, saving and loaning is easy”.
“One member says, that, had all foreign agencies started with VSLA programmes in Uganda, then, poverty would have received a natural death”.
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