Ugesa

Today we visited Ugesa, a village in a beautiful setting, a 2 ½ hours’ drive southwest of Iringa. Rev. John Mhekwa joined us for the day.  John was the Pastor at Ugesa for a number of years.  He started a lending group there which has become the Marine Ugesa SACCOS, a member of Iringa Hope.  John came along to visit friends and to see how things are going.

The road to Ugesa is rutted and rough.  We drove through woodland, past swamps and through several towns.  Today the road was far better than the first time we went to Ugesa, when we drove through swamps that reached to the car’s hood.

When we got to Ugesa the Pastor, the SACCOS chair, the treasurer, the secretary, and several members were there to greet us.  They were glad to see us and insisted that we have chai before we started the meeting.  Talking over chai they told us that their SACCOS has grown this last year to 96 members – with several more waiting to join.  Last year they made over 1,250,000 (about $950) in profits and had a 100% repayment rate.  They were able to make loans to all of those asking for less than $400, but there were 20 members who were asking to borrow more.  They told us that to meet all of the borrowers requests they would need another 8,000,000 TZS. The other borrowers were asking for an average loan of $800.  Since they did not have this much capital they lent them $400 instead. 

There is another SACCOS in town run by the government. We were a little surprised because the government SACCOS we have heard of so far have all closed.  Apparently this one is losing money, but has not gone broke.  We asked what is wrong with the government SACCOS that the people here needed another one, and the chairman explained that there are many problems with the government SACCOS: 1. The SACCOS loan officer is a government employee who only gives loans to his friends.  The SACCOS is happy to take your savings, but almost none of the local farmers can get a loan.  2. One can get a loan for only 3 months, which is not very helpful when you need 6 months to get a crop.  He went on with several other issues, but we thought that the 3 month limit said it all.

Following chai we went into the church for our meeting.  There were 46 members present.  Following introductions, Peter and Rev. Request (our intern) gave two short lessons, followed by a question and answer period.

The people here had a lot of questions – but not about the lessons!  Can you help us get good seeds?  (It turns out that 50% of the seed they are sold will not sprout.)  We can’t get fertilizer here – can you help us get that?  (We talked about other SACCOS and what they were doing.  We will have a session discussing this at our training meeting.).  Can you help us sell our crops?  (It turns out that with them being so remote they get about 40% of the Iringa market price for their crops.)  Can you help us form an AMCOS?  (An Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society)

We had a good discussion with them about their problems.  Finally one of the members rose to say how much they appreciate our work here and how this SACCOS has brought new life into their community. 

As the meeting broke up we stopped to interview two members.

First we met Lodin Mhewa, 40 years old and married with 4 children.  He has been a member here for 3 years.  During this time he has taken out three loans.  His most recent loan was for 450,000 TZS.  He employs 6 people part time on his farm.  This year he expects to earn a 300,000 TZS profit after paying his helpers, paying off his loan, and accounting for all his expense.  He explains that his loans are very important to him.  “Without these loans I could not make a profit,” he says.

Elda Mgaya is a 41-year-old widow.  A mother of 5, Elda is also supporting her elderly mother.  When she was expecting her 5^th child her husband died of TB, following a lengthy illness.  Two years ago Elda joined the Marine-Ugesa SACCOS.  Since then she has taken out four loans.  Her first loan was for 300,000 and was used to make bricks.  Her profit from this was 200,000.  She used her profit along with a second loan of 350,000 to buy beans which were then taken to market in Mfinga.  She has her daughter running the bean business, which has thus far earned a 600,000 profit, and they are still selling beans. Elda’s 3^rd loan was for 400,000, which she used again for making bricks.  Her profit was 1,000,000, which she used to buy land for her sons who are now farming.  She is now in her 4^th loan cycle and she has borrowed 450,000 for farming on her shamba (for fertilizer, beans, corn and hired help), hoping to make a 500,000 profit.  She is able to take out larger loans each time because she has also used profits to increase her savings in the SACCOS.  Elda has provided jobs to others in her community. Brick making has employed six people.  She also hires day laborers during planting season.  She has sent one child to secondary school and one to vocational training.  She has set her daughter up in the bean business and she has purchased land for her sons.  – A very impressive woman.

We had a rider on our way back to Iringa.  One of the ladies needed to go to town for a funeral and riding with us saved her almost a day of travel!  In Iringa we went to the Huruma Center with a large bag of potatoes from Ugesa to the children at the center. We had a very short visit with Mama Chilewa before delivering Peter and Request to their homes and then finally, returning to our own apartment.  

Ugesa is a 2 hour drive once you leave he pavement.

On the way you pass through one of the few forests.

This used to be part of the forest but is now just piles of sawdust.

We were greeted when we arrived and told that we must have chai first!

We had lively discussion with the leaders over chai.

We have been bringing along our calendars which feature members of the SACCOS and thier stories.  They are always a hit.

After the talks there were a lot of questions.

The members of this SACCOS wanted me to take their picture afterwards.  There were over 50 members at the meeting.

They had a lot of fun posing for the picture.

First we met Lodin Mhewa, 40 years old and married with 4 children.  He has been a member here for 3 years. 

Elda Mgaya is a 41-year-old widow.  A mother of 5, Elda is also supporting her elderly mother.  

It is a long way back to Iringa.

We stopped at the orphanage and gave them a large sack of potatoes we bought at Ugesa. (Ugesa has the best potatoes)  It is always good to see Mama Chilewa