This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

We often give updates in our e-newsletter or monthly snapshot videos. But we wanted to mention five things we were excited about recently that may not have been shared anywhere else.

1. Meeting Editha
Editha is a Savings Group member in Tanzania. When she created her small business, she did so with her community in mind. Editha and other members of her village had to walk long distances to fetch water from marshes and carry the heavy load back on foot. So, she took a loan to have a waterpoint and tap installed at her house. Not only is access to safe, clean water a huge benefit for her family - it helps her community too. Editha’s tap is one of the only ones in her village. She charges a small amount for other members of the community to come fill buckets too. Now, Editha’s profits support her family, and her safe access to clean water supports her community too.

2. A whole bunch of new friends
The 2022 Tour de Talents isn’t over just yet. We still have 2 days to go - but we are incredibly proud of the immense strides everyone has made to bring us to the 30,000 mile mark. We’ve had 337 people sign up to take part in the 2022 Tour de Talents; more participants than we have ever had at a single event before. It is great reconnecting with members of the Five Talents family, and adding a whole bunch of new family members too! Team Tour de Talents can achieve so much together - just like Savings Group members.

3. A new Programme Coordinator
The new programme in Mombasa, Kenya, is still taking form. We are incredibly excited the Board in Mombasa have selected a Programme Coordinator: Lauzi! Lauzi is 27 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Statistics from Kenyatta University. We’re so excited to welcome her to the Five Talents family and see what wonderful things she will accomplish in Mombasa.

Maneka, Programme Coordinator in Aru, with the new car.

4. A new car
Our team in DR Congo are now able to travel more safely to and from Savings Groups! We recently secured funding so the programme team there could purchase a car. Here is Maneka, the Programme Coordinator, with the new car! The terrain our partners travel is very difficult, and we are so grateful that Maneka will be safer on the roads in this vehicle.

5. We’re resuming visits to our programmes again (with safety precautions in place for the communities we’re visiting!)
We are very fortunate that Zoom and other technology keeps us connected to one another & our partners, and our approach means we don't need to visit - all the training, monitoring etc is led by our partners who live in the communities themselves. But partnership relationships are often best nurtured through face to face conversations and interactions, and it is inspiring and encouraging both for us and for our partners and Savings Group members to meet in person again. The joyful welcome we received in Burundi (photos below) recently says it all!

We have a few spaces left on our Uganda trip next year, and are also planning trips to Kenya and Tanzania in February and May 2023. Let us know if you're interested in joining us at info@fivetalents.org.uk.