This blog post was written by May Mak, our Senior Trusts & Foundations Officer.
Group members meet in Tanga, Tanzania, one of the new regions where we work.
Every year, Five Talents participates in the Big Give Christmas Challenge: a match funding campaign that brings charities, philanthropists and the public together to raise funds for good causes. Last year, your generosity through our Big Give Christmas Appeal, raised over £80,000 to expand our work in Tanzania across sixteen dioceses in partnership with the Mothers’ Union Tanzania.
To date, the programme has started 251 Savings Groups, enabling 5,959 women and men to learn, earn, save and invest together to build stronger, more resilient futures by themselves and to the benefit of their children and wider communities. The funds raised through last year’s Big Give campaign will continue to support the programme through to the end of 2022, doubling the impact as our partners aim to start, train and mentor an additional 57 new Savings Groups (c.1,140 women and men). Mariam and Agatha are members of different Savings Groups in Tanzania, but both demonstrate the resilience and determination of those we work with to be agents of their own change.
Mariam is married with two children. “Before joining the programme, my business was too small and I was losing hope that I could make enough money to provide for my family. Thanks to God and my Savings Group, I borrowed money to expand my business. I was able to renovate my cafe and because of my profits, I could purchase health insurance for my children. This is a big relief because I know if they become unwell, they will be taken care of.”
“My name is Agatha and I am blessed with five children. I used to depend solely on my husband for my family’s financial needs. My life was not good. I wasn’t able to do anything. I tried to establish a business many times, but was never able to because of my lack of capital and business skills. When I joined my Savings Group, I was finally able to save. I learnt about business management and then I borrowed money from my group. I started a business selling ground nuts, seeds and spices - this changed my life. My life became happy, I can pay my children’s school fees, I am even able to help people in my village with their needs. Now that I am a business woman, I am taken more seriously in meetings and I can contribute to discussions and decision making. This has improved my self-worth.”
What strikes me most about Mariam and Agatha is their new found confidence, their self-belief and self-validation that they are able to make change by and for themselves and their children. This is the power of financial inclusion and education and the difference your support has and continues to make. Thank you. If you’d like to learn more about our 2021 Big Give Appeal for Burundi please click here.