At Nduli

Nduli is a short drive north of Irina near the airport.  The road to Nduli is under construction and is a challenge to navigate.  The Nduli SACCOS, called Yordan SACCOS, was started last year and has 96 members.  Their first round of loans averaged $535 per member and was given to 17 people – 5 men and 12 women, which was pretty typical mix of borrowers.  They are already into their second round of loans and which are averaging $400 – still a bit higher than average, but closer. This SACCOS made a profit of 2,000,000 TZS (about $1,300) in its first year – a very good job.

The members of this SACCOS who attended the meeting have already created 22 full time jobs and about twice as many seasonal jobs.  They seemed very interested in tips on planning a business and using loans.  Rev. Request, who is doing an internship with us as part of his Master’s degree, gave the presentation today.  He talked about how you should learn from each other, creativity, and using loans for your business. 

Following his talk there were a number of questions.  One person asked if their group could borrow money to buy a grinding machine for their peanut butter project.  The answer is “no,” because only individuals may borrow from a SACCOS.  They will need to have one or more individuals from their enterprise take out the loan for the grinder.  Another member asked if Iringa Hope could help sell their crops.  We have thought about this, and concluded that selling crops requires a different organization – like an Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS).  A third question was one we have heard at other SACCOS meetings, “Can you help us get good fertilizer and seed?” 

We talked to 47-year-old Consolata Mwenda, who is married the mother of four children and foster mother to three children.  Consolata is already on her second loan.  She has used both of her loans to grow tomatoes.  With her profit she bought a used motorcycle which she has her son run as a taxi service in Dar es Salaam. She explained that she makes more money in Dar than she would in Iringa.  She hires her married son to  run the business.  She hopes that that with the profits from her current loan she will be able to afford a second motorcycle so that she can expand her service.  Looking to the future she tells us that she would like to buy a pump for irrigating her fields.  She tells us that her tomato crop is often weak because poor rainfall.

Mikael Ilmos is 40 years old and the father of six.  He has also taken two loans from this SACCOS.  Mikael grows maize in his fields.  He tells us that his crops have been hit by low rainfall, but he still managed to make a profit from both loans.  He borrowed $400 and had a $450 profit.  He hopes to borrow again so that he can start buying sunflowers, pressing oil, and then selling it in the village.

After the meeting we went over to the Pastor’s house for lunch.  The Pastor at Nduli was at Itungi last year.  We had visited with him there.  His wife was pregnant with their first child at that time.  Sadly, she lost the child when it was born prematurely. We were particularly touched by the loss of this child, as it was expected at the same time as our 10^th grandchild, who is now a healthy 9-month old.  We expressed our condolences to Pastor and Mama upon our arrival, and as we were leaving Mama came to give Sandy a good-bye hug.  

The Pastor greeted use.  We knew him from Itungi where he was last year.

The Agricultural Institute Joined us at Nduli.

There are good leaders here.

  

Our intern, Rev. Request, gave the talk today.

We talked to 47-year-old Consolata Mwenda, who is married the mother of four children and foster mother to three children.

Mikael Ilmos is 40 years old and the father of six.  He has taken two loans from this SACCOS.

As we were leaving Mama came to give Sandy a good-bye hug.