We had agreed to meet at 7am with Stella, the programs administrator, to visit one of the active groups in the community. This is a group with nearly 80 members. They are comprised of young men and women, who are determined to transform their lives. The group membership also includes widowers who are working hard to pay the school fees of their children. Many of the members are stone cutters, farmers, small scale businesses.
This group is very active and very strict with attendance. "Members who do not attend get fined" Stella explained to me.
So when I arrived in the meeting, I was really excited to see how they carry out and manage their savings. I watched as their team leader, read out the names of all members.
Everyone sat down under a large mango tree, and with the warmth of the morning sun, the grass around dried off from the morning dew. All were excited about the day. It is also the day that they get to meet each other, it's their support group. They share stories, many times they share their challenges too.
The team leader meticulously counted the cash as each member handed in their savings for the period. Another team leader recorded all in the big blue counter book. Once all monies were collected, it was counted out and read out loud for all to hear. This is transparency.
The next exercise is to inquire if there are members present who would want to borrow from the pool.
At the end of the exercise, they also save for a member who has lost a close relative. This to me is solidarity. They stand for one another. This group has now become their family. They gave me an opportunity to speak, and I was honoured to do this. I shared with them about community health insurance which I believe, that in addition to saving for their businesses, they will save for their health too. They listened attentively and asked a lot of critical questions.
The learning here is the solution this group has found for themselves to drive out poverty. I hope to go back there another day.
I hope that you will also consider supporting them to grow. To increase their savings. Join me in my next visit and training with other groups. There are over 250 savings groups in the community. They need more direction and training. They need more guidance and support to grow their groups better. Be part of this team and grow with them.
Thank you for your support and hope to hear from you how you would like to support these groups
Links:
A day helping to change the fact that in the realm of humanitarian aid, shoes are often an overlooked necessity. This was, however, noted by a kind family in the USA when they first visited this village of Ayac and promised to bring them some shoes, when they next visited them.
How exciting this moment was for them!
Lalam was so excited, " I am so happy that they kept their promise and brought us these shoes. I can now walk without worrying about sharp objects.
Most children or even their older families in developing countries don't have the same choice when it comes to shoes. If they have shoes, they will wear them. But for the majority, who don't, infections caused by parasites in the soil can be dangerous- even lethal. And at the very least, going without shoes can cause injuries and possibly hinder children from going to school. And for many children, a pair of shoes can be the difference between a hopeful future or a bleak one.
In a practical sense, we need shoes to keep our feet healthy. It’s very easy to get diseases like tetanus if you are walking barefoot in rustic conditions, not to mention even more common things like infections.
In poor resources communities battle with jigger outbreaks - a small parasitic flea that burrows into the body through the soles of the feet and grows up to 2,000 times their original size in 10 days. They then become like small tumors all over the foot, resulting in pain and difficulty walking. Often the only treatment is to cut them out with a scalpel.
Shoes are a much better alternative than long-term, painful treatment. In addition to our health needs, shoes are key to education. Shoes are simple things. It’s a simple answer to pressing health crises, an opportunity to go to school and tangible proof of a child’s infinite worth. It’s so easy today to be overwhelmed by all of the need that exists around us, but we can start chipping away at that need by providing one pair of shoes to one child at a time, and through that action, we can both shoe and change the world.
And we ask you to be part of this support, give them that dignity to get them to school without worry of infections, cuts or any other danger.
thank you for your support
Links:
Poor women around the country are forging the pathway to a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. At Karin community initiatives Uganda, we are always thinking about the specific needs of poor women and families and how we can empower families and groups to escape the vicious circle of poverty.
These previous months have been promising, we are thrilled to see , in particular, how diary farming is transforming the lives of families in our community Gulu. It should ne noted that dairy production plays an important economic and nutritional role in the lives of many people in Uganda, in particular our Gulu community. However, rearing livestock has traditionally been expensive as livestock such as cows are expensive to purchase, take a lot of space and suck up a lot of money for feed and maintenance, leaving poor farmers to rarely see a significant return on investment in these animals, let alone compete with larger livestock producers in the country.
By distributing cows to local farmers groups, we have registered tremendous progress in the productivity of these animals and we strongly believe this can and will put women and their children on the road to economic empowerment. In the picture, KCIU Executive Director together with Mr. John Bosco .L. (Board member) are handing over a cow to Catherine, one of the beneficiaries in our local farmer groups in Gulu. These small-scale farmers will also continue to be trained in modern and improved farming methods like hay making to increase productivity of the animals so as not to miss out on the prospects of increasing their incomes from diary production.
By helping to support Catherine's efforts, you’re enabling hundreds of other women in her area to see and learn better ways of earning income and feeding their families, learn crucial agricultural and financial skills-- skills which will enable her and her community to economic growth and empowerment.
Access to appropriate financial services through our women in micro finance initiative has also enabled women and families to build assets, manage risk -- and keep their children in school. Women groups in Agonga have been empowered to make artifacts, hand bags and energy saving cooking stoves that are friendly to the envionment and have a high demand on both local and international markets.
Links:
Organising women to challenge the existing norms and culture in efforts to promote their well being has not been an easy task and in this present era of globalisation and rapid developments, the problem of poverty still remains as an important area of concern in many parts of the world. In 2000, the United Nations declared the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and one of the goals is to halve the proportion of people below the poverty line by 2015.
Poverty is a human deprivation and blocks the access of the poor to mainstream institutions delivering services like education, health, nutrition, training, credit, market linkages and technology.
Most of the developing countries like Uganda have a dual financial system with an informal and a formal financial sector. The poor and lower-income people are usually left out from the formal financial system. The lack of access to the formal financial sector is a result of the lack of the collateral required due to risks involved in lending but also due to high costs involved in small-scale financial services and weak legal enforcement. The banks have always been reluctant to serve the poor, especially the asset-less, who cannot offer any collateral. Moreover, rural poor find the formal institutions alien and inaccessible.
To bridge this gap, karin is empowering women groups around the Karin health centers through micro loan projects that enable households to become self-reliant. Other projects include modern dairy farming, artisan training, Bio-sand filter safe water, value chain management, energy saving stoves, etc..Empowered households will be able to take care of their health, send their children to school and increase local incomes.
Since 90% of Northern Uganda's population are agriculturalists, most of these farmers are being skilled to put away their rudimentary tools and practices to embrace modern methods of farming which yield higher returns, market access and are friendly to the environment.
Karin as an organisation, is very pleased with this tremendous progress, when the community is organised, it is easier to channel support to them. Some members have been trained in making energy-saving stoves. These stoves are made from local materials including clay. We hope that members can make these stoves and sell them and in addition incorporate these in their homes. We are very grateful for partners like you for changing the lives of our community members. We encourage you to keep supporting our projects as we strive to make this world a better place.
Links:
Dear friends,
The Association is now registered and members are happy with this achievement. The Association brings together a diverse group of members engaged in several activities ranging from art and craft, beekeepers, dairy farmers, market traders, small-scale vegetable growers and members who are just eager to learn new skills and belong in an organized group.
Lucy who also just joined the group is a mother of 4 and sell in the local Laliya market. "For me am happy that I can now get to meet with other people with the same ideas with me," she said. "I have been struggling in my business and I am hoping that through this group I can learn new skills that will enable me to do different things better," she added.
The Chairperson of the Association, Johnson, shared with the new group, how the partnership with Karin Community Initiatives Uganda, will help them build and increase their household incomes. He encouraged members to attend meetings and ensure that they participate in all activities that the Association has.
" I am really very happy to see that at last, our wish has come true. For a long time, we have been training in group management and formation with support from KCIU. I am encouraged that many members have continued to attend these meetings. I thank KCIU for their support," Johnson the Associations Chairperson narrated.
As an organization, we are pleased with this achievement, when the community is organized, it is easier to channel support to them. In the last week, we have trained some members in making energy-saving stoves. These stoves are made from local materials including clay. We hope that members can make these stoves and sell them and in addition incorporate these in their homes.
This is a clear achievement in our mandate to transform communities and make them more self-reliant. We continue thanking you for this support. Please share our stories with your friends so that we can make this world a better place.
Thank you friends
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you will get an e-mail when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports via e-mail without donating.
We'll only email you new reports and updates about this project.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
