This blog post was written by Rachel Beale, our Fundraising & Communications Assistant.
Cover of our 2022 Impact Report: Vision.
With your support our partners were able to transform hundreds of communities last year. Next week we will be releasing our 2022 Impact Report: Vision. Please keep an eye out for the digital version on our website and share it with a friend when it goes live! For now, we’d like to introduce you to one Savings Group member who is featured in the report, Agatha, from Tanzania.
Agatha is 42, married and has 5 children.
“Before joining [my Group] I had to depend on my husband for my family’s financial needs. I tried to establish a business many times but was never able to because of my lack of capital.”
After training in their Savings Group, many members, like Agatha, develop a new vision for their business, their family and even their own future. Sometimes Savings Group members have already started a business when they join, but they do not always have the tools they need to address the challenges their business faces.
Illiteracy, a lack of business skills and access to loans were some key challenges for business owners that communities identified when speaking to our partners. Consequently, when businesses failed as a result of these challenges, the owners were less able to provide for their own families. Our partners train Savings Groups so that they do have the vital tools they need to address those key challenges and can then create businesses that generate lasting impact. Gaining access to capital in her Group enabled Agatha to transform her life.
“When I joined the programme I was finally able to save and then borrow money. I started my business of selling ground nuts, seeds and spices. This changed my life. I manage to pay school fees for my children and I am helping people in my village.
Because I am now a business woman, I am taken more seriously in meetings and can contribute to discussions and decision-making. This has improved my self-worth. I have saved 150,000tzs (£52) and I know my business has a future because my Group is helping me to expand it.”
Access to financial services, skills training and support from her Group have enabled Agatha to turn her vision of becoming a successful business owner into reality.
Learn more about our partners and Savings Group members in our 2022 Impact Report: Vision, coming soon.