Iringa Hope visits 2014: Today at Ifunda

Today we went to Ifunda. It is a pleasant 45 minute drive southwest of Iringa. As in most other villages, there are no financial institutions in Ifunda so the Microfinance Institute was contacted for help in starting a SACCOS. There are six other visitors from the US staying at Ifunda. They are from their companion parish, House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Oakdale, MN, and they joined the group for the SACCOS discussion.

Pastor John Mhekwa and the new Bega Kwa Bega director, Peter Harrits, accompanied us – so counting Itiweni, Peter, Pastor Request, Sandy and myself we were a large group. John came along to visit some of the people that he knows in Ifunda. Everyone was glad to see him. This was Peter Harrits’s first visit to Ifunda and he impressed the locals with his command of Swahili. Today was the third visit to Ifunda for Peter and Itiweni. Their first two visits didn’t result in anything, and they decided that that today the village either needs to get serious about starting a SACCOS, or if they can’t find the necessary leaders to start their own SACCOS, then those who are interested should join a SACCOS in a neighboring village.

First we had to have chai, which was quite elaborate compared to what we have had in other villages. It included chapatti with jam, mandazi, eggs and fruit. After chai we walked to the church to start our meeting. There weren’t many people to begin with, but people continued to come during introductions and opening remarks. By the time the Itiweni’s class got under way there were 34 very serious listeners.

We introduced ourselves and made some comments. Sandy reminded the group that today is International Women’s Day and she went on to tell the group about some of the things women from other Iringa Hope SACCOS have done by saving and borrowing. The women all gave her a hoot and then sang the “mama song” to her.

Itiweni gave most of the class today, however both Peter and Request also joined in. As Itiweni started talking out came the pens and paper. This group took some serious notes about what they need to do and how they need to organize. Itiweni explained many details about how a SACCOS works. One man wanted to know how many shares he could buy. Another woman wanted to know if someone left could they rejoin later on. Every now and then Itiweni got everyone laughing. At one point they started to sing and then wound up dancing. It seemed that they were all having fun as well as learning about a SACCOS.

When the class was over we left the meeting so the group could start to organize. We went over to the Pastor’s house to wait for lunch. When the SACCOS organizational meeting broke up we went in to eat. They had elected three officers and started to collect entrance fees. They said they had 34 members and would be working on starting to save. We had an excellent lunch and then were off to town.