Women ending poverty: WORTH notes from the field

Growing Numeracy Skills Empower Derartu Women

Derartu Group in Dendi district of Oromia began its WORTH group almost a year ago.  The group started by saving just 50 cents per week, but over time, they have been able to graduate to saving one birr a week.  At the beginning of the program, no one knew how to read and write. Oromia regional state recently switched to Afaan Oromo as its official language.  This meant that any woman in the group who had ever attended school in her younger years, had learned to write in Amharic script not in Oromo script, the current language being used in the region. The literacy volunteer could read and write only Amharic, not the newly-transcribed Afaan Oromo with its Latin script.

At the beginning of the WORTH intervention, a literacy volunteer was recruited from outside the group to get the group started with literacy study.   After several months, Tadelich, a contributing WORTH member, learned how to read and write in Afaan Oromo language and she is now able to teach others.   “I have children and when they come back from school, previously I could not check what they had written.  Now I can easily understand and help them.  I can even read what a torn paper says.  Before I could not read Afaan Oromo script.  Now I have started to read books like this, and I have started to expand my knowledge.  It’s a huge change in my life.”

But literacy is not the only thing that has changed these women’s lives.  New-found numeracy skills have empowered Derartu group members to better manage their money.   Says Alemi Megersa, ‘I didn’t know numbers- what do they symbolize?  What are they used for?  But after training in WORTH, I have started to feel their benefits.  Now I’m in total control of my money.  Now I know how to add, now I know how to subtract.”

“Now I have even started using numbers to manage my small business in my home, when I am making local beverages. Previously I didn’t know how much I had invested or how much I had sold.   Now I can somewhat record and control how much I spent.  I can also do numerical calculations.  Even if it’s just an ordinary calculation,  I can make that calculation!  Even if it’s just a small difference, that’s a huge difference for me.”

"Because I don’t have land myself, the only option I have is to be involved in this small business.  Previously I had to go to loan providers even just to get a small amount of money.  It was difficult because you could not get money easily.  They would appoint you to come one day and when you went they would tell you to come back another day.   But now with the profit from my business, I am paying into my loan’s principal and saving the excess profit as well."

Other Derartu group members are making and selling local alcohol, juice made of barley flour, local breads, injera and sauce.  They also engage in petty trade, selling matches, candies, soap, kerosene, oil and salt.   Each one is using their newly gained numeracy skills to gain control over the money that flows in and out of their hands.

A glimpse of the impact WORTH is having...

For the past two months, I have had the fortunate opportunity to intern with the WORTH program under Project Concern International Zambia. I could never adequately express my gratitude and appreciation for having been a small part of such an amazing initiative. As soon as the WORTH model was explained to me, I knew it was something special. The motto of "dependency is not empowerment" signaled to me that this is a program that truly values women. Coming from the United States, I was only familiar with women's development programs that provided some kind of start up money or micro enterprise loan to begin with. After working with WORTH, I can't imagine such models since WORTH women are given no such supposed "assistance"; they are taught that they must help themselves to improve their own lives.

Every WORTH woman I have met has fully taken this advice to heart. I had no idea women could even be as strong and empowered as the remarkable women I met are. On my very first field visit, I visited a WORTH group composed primarily of elderly women. These women were engaging in testing physical labor to build a chicken pen. I remember watching in amazement as they stacked their freshly made bricks row upon row. What impressed me even further was how genuinely selfless these women were. They repeatedly explained that their ultimate goal was to raise money by selling chickens so that they could more adequately care for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children in their communities.

This noble spirit proved to be a common thread among all the WORTH groups I visited: WORTH groups building schools for OVCs, WORTH groups visiting the elderly and sick of their community, WORTH groups rescuing the troubled youth of their area who were dabbling in prostitution and drinking. These women are not satisfied with merely being empowered- rather, they are so thrilled with their newfound voice and strength that they want to touch as many people and do as much good as they possibly can. I was touched and inspired a million times over by the women I met. I always found myself thinking that American women could learn a great deal about hope, gratitude, and perseverance from these dignified Zambian women. I always felt apprehensive about intruding on their meetings, but each time, they greeted me with lovely songs and passionate dancing, immediately making me feel welcome.

I feel unbelievably thankful and privileged to have caught a glimpse of the impact WORTH is having on Zambian women. I'll never forget standing in a circle with other WORTH women and listening to each woman share how WORTH has ameliorated her life- in the final testimony, the woman proclaimed that she does not need men because she is married to WORTH.

That's empowerment.

Tufune Social Work

The inspiring women of the Tufune WORTH group have begun to use their collective power to fight promiscuous behavior and early pregnancies among young girls. The women of this group live in Kabulongo village where there exists a noticeable problem of girls being wild and drinking. The WORTH women explain that many of the community parents fail to meet the basic needs of their children such as food and clothes. At their impressionable age, the girls want to look good and own new clothes, so they often go to bars to gain money from men. The Tufune women want their children to be brought up in a good way; they are scared of HIV/AIDS and don’t want their youth to make themselves susceptible to it.

The women tackle the issue by first approaching the girl’s parents in hopes of gaining their permission to talk to the young girl. Once the parents give their blessings, the elder women of the group sit with the girl and try to teach her lessons to make her realize that what she’s doing is wrong. So far, the women have successfully approached three girls.

The first is Violet Chilubano, an 18 year old girl who dropped out of school when she was 15 because she was pregnant. Violet had lost both of her parents at a young age. She explains that she was simply bored and attracted by the dancing in bars. Before she knew it, she was in too deep. Thankfully, Violet’s aunt, Agnes Zambu, is a member of the Tufune group, so the women were able to convince Violet to change her ways. Violet expresses genuine gratitude for what the Tufune women have done for her- they have given her hope. Violet now plans to return to school soon.

Violet’s friend Harriet has also benefited from the intervention of the Tufune group. Harriet happens to be the daughter of the Tufune WORTH group’s chairlady, Emelda Nyangu. Harriet’s father passed away when she was in grade 4, and Emelda could not manage to buy anything more than food for her family. Harriet could not accept the fact that her mother would not buy her new shoes, so she ran away. Emelda asked the group to look for her, and they soon discovered that she was working as a barmaid. The group was able to convince her to come back home, and she is now receiving treatment for TB.

Katherine T. Phiri, another Tufune WORTH group member, was also able to save her daughter with the help of her WORTH peers. Her daughter Louisa became pregnant at the age of 15, and the man wanted to marry her. The Tufune women encouraged her to refuse the man and to return to school. Louisa agreed and is now a member of the WORTH group. She is back at school and has taken out a loan from the group to start a business of selling candles, and dried fish. She proudly says, “ I want to learn so I can keep my child”. The women of Tufune WORTH group hope to touch even more girls. Undoubtedly, they will.

New-Found Literacy Helps Defend and Win a Court Case

Taitu Bekele is a member of the Gergis Group in Bekay, Ethiopia. Her WORTH group started in September 2006 and Taitu has already found that her new literacy skills benefiting her life in more ways than expected.

In Taitu’s area, any adult woman who had attended any kind of education had learned to read and write in Amharic script. When the regional state decided to officially adopt Afaan Oromo language, which was transcribed with Latin letters, this left virtually all adult women functionally illiterate in the language of the state.

Says Taitu, “After WORTH, I am now able to write my name in Afaan Oromo language. My children are able to read Afaan Oromo script. I am using my literacy knowledge during the kebele meeting and when the Farmers’ Association calls a meeting. We use literacy at the clinic and hospital when we are paying and taking receipts. We also use literacy for writing things in the court. If two farmers are quarreling over a border, they will go to the social court in our kebele. The court then sends a letter to identify the case. They must read the letter and sign it”.

“After organizing into WORTH groups, we have learned our rights and obligations. We are learning through the program materials. If we face a problem, we ask each other questions. Then the whole class discussion clarifies the issue.”

“After learning to read, I have come to know my rights and obligations through different means. I was in court for a land claim case, and I was able to defend myself. I sent my application to the kebele. After identifying the receipts, I took the receipts to the court. This was taken as evidence. I also witnessed different documents. And because of this, I won the case! By looking at this evidence, the court decided on my behalf, and now everything is ok!”

“Before WORTH, I was sending five children to school. Now I am sending an additional one. …. None of my children are out of school now”.

“I may be old, but I can understand the importance of education.”

Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of 2008 presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, hosted by WORTH groups in Uganda

Last month WORTH women in Uganda invited Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of American Democratic Congressman and 2008 presidental hopeful Dennis Kucinich, into their groups to learn about WORTHs unique model and the amazing results of their participation in the WORTH program.

Upon her return to the U.S., Mrs. Kucinich wrote the following account about her most recent trip to Africa and particularly about the WORTH program on her own blog.

        "As you may already know, I lived for 16 months in East Africa, in a village of subsistence farmers. There was no electricity and no water bore hole in the village, and I loved it. I learned to value and respect the ‘peasant’ culture of self reliance, community, respect for the environment and freedom from the tyranny of an industrial society with its constant economic demands. There I learned a great deal about the industry of international development and experienced for myself the tremendous Western disparity and confusion between the simplicity of the lifestyle of peasant culture and the label of poverty. Something I am working very hard to remedy, working to create opportunities for peace, prosperity and a healthy environment to flourish, without destroying a valuable way of life that we in the West should be learning from.

It is with this heart that I flew to Uganda to visit some women’s groups in villages in the Mbale region. These communities have benefitted from a WORTH, a women’s empowerment and savings based microfinance program that was developed in Nepal with the help of a wonderful lady called Marcia Odell and her husband Malcolm who encouraged her to use ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ a method that instead of looking at problems and solutions, looks at how we can strengthen our strengths so our weaknesses fall into insignificance. WORTH is now in eight different countries, serving hundreds of thousands of women through their empowerment and education, providing them with the skills to run their own community banks and strengthen their communities through micro-enterprise, education and basic community led savings and loans services.

It took three and a half hours to make the drive from Kampala to Mbale and then about an hour driving into the rural villages to meet with one of the groups of 25 women who were running their own WORTH microfinance savings group. They meet each week to learn literacy, skills in micro enterprise and community banking, as well as to save together and lend their collective savings to one another at 2% interest, so that each member of the group has the benefit of the use of capital to start and develop their enterprise...

I spoke to one lady who explained the value of WORTH to her and her family. She had 14 children of her own and was now looking after her brother’s five children, after he and his wife had passed away due to AIDS. Through the ethic of the WORTH model, with emphasis on group support and strengthening, community empowerment through women’s empowerment, education and microfinance through the mobilization of savings, this previously illiterate women with little hope to support nineteen dependents explained how she could now clothe them, feed them and send some of them to school. A dream come true. Her microenterprise started after joining the WORTH group and realized that people had to go great distances to buy medicine. She took out a loan from the community’s joint savings and invested in a small number of medicines. She set up a little stall in the village and sold the medicine to those who needed it. She used her profits to pay back her loan and to buy a larger stock of medicine. She now has a thriving business that provides affordable medicine to the community and now advises people on aspects of healthcare. She supports nineteen dependents using a mixture of her income from her microenterprise and the produce from the land she and her family farm.

According to a recent government report, 1 in 8 people in America live below the official poverty line of $19,971 per year for a family of four. Over 97 million live on less that twice this level and all those are without adequate healthcare. 50% of bankruptcies are due to healthcare costs. Having come from a country with a tremendous national healthcare service, I am astounded that America of all places still does not serve its people with this most basic need. Whilst Dennis and I strive for the transformation of the health industry to become a health service and for sane economic practices which enable equity rather than debt, it is my dream to for those models that are working in the ‘Global South’, namely WORTH to help those in need in the ‘Global North’ who in many cases suffer great levels of poverty through systemic faults (which Dennis and I are working to correct), which can be overcome to some degree through community networks and empowerment. It is the responsibility of us all to encourage and facilitate the creation of systems of education and economy that provide communities with the skills to employ their own enterprise to secure the fulfillment of the needs of their families."

First Lady Laura Bush Visits WORTH group in Zambia

Last week a rural WORTH group outside Lusaka, Zambia hosted Mrs. Laura Bush at a gathering of their village bank members on June 28, 2007.   The women were eager to show Mrs. Bush not only how they manage the operations of their bank, but how funds are invested in micro-enterprises that they also manage themselves. As the owners and members, they save together, make loans to one another, manage the accounting and distribute the interest on their loans back to group members, while also learning basic literacy and entrepreneurial business skills. The WORTH women told Mrs. Bush about their pride as successful bankers and business women and the difference that the additional income from their banking and small businesses makes to their families.

Visiting both the Tufune WORTH group and a local market where many of the group members are engaged in small business ventures, Mrs. Bush observed the ingenuity and success of these “micro-enterprise projects, where women are able to take care of themselves, support themselves -- many of them are widows -- because of loans that they make to each other” as she noted that evening during an exchange with Zambian First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa.

In Zambia the WORTH program targets HIV-affected communities and specifically works with caretakers of orphans, people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable populations. Mrs. Bush mentioned the benefits of integrating HIV prevention with WORTH’s multifaceted approach for women by “empowering them to provide for themselves and their families”, which is of particular importance in HIV-affected communities.

“We are thrilled that Mrs. Bush was able to see a WORTH group on her brief visit to Zambia. Village banking has become an important strategy in combating HIV/AIDS, which rapidly drains the resources that families have when illness strikes” says Marcia Odell, long-time Director of WORTH, who accompanied Mrs. Bush on her visit to the Tufune WORTH group. “When women discover their own innate abilities to succeed at business and accumulate wealth, they also take on leadership roles in their communities and everyone benefits,” Odell stated.

Among the women Mrs. Bush met was Emelda Nyangu, chairperson of the Tufune WORTH Group. When Ms. Nyangu, a widow, first heard of WORTH she was most attracted to the program by the opportunity to learn to read and write.  She also recognized the benefits of the basic accounting and entrepreneurial skills that WORTH promotes for starting a business that would help her care for her own five children and her four nieces and nephews who were orphaned when their parents died of AIDS.  Today Ms. Nyangu is literate and runs a profitable business selling fish door-to-door and in the local market. The Tufune group is currently educating the community about HIV/AIDS, lobbying to abolish early marriage and has stopped domestic violence in members’ households through informal counseling of offenders. The dream of the Tufune group is to be able to build a school in the community to serve the needs of children and young people through grade 12, buy a mill to grind maize commercially and drill a borehole to offset current water shortages.

WORTH women in Uganda have a lot to celebrate

In Uganda, we've had several great success stories to share this month. Groups are reading Selling Made Simple - the third book in the Women in Business series - and are working to increase the strength and success of their microbusinesses. Having a firm handle on village banking skills, women are managing flourishing village banks and looking forward to the end of their first banking cycle when interest is calculated. Several groups have self-replicated based on the good example of formal WORTH groups in their areas.

I was on my way back from the field on the May 3rd, when I saw a group of people with Our Group - the first book in the Women in Business series. Seeing these women prompted me to stop and learn more. This group had been replicated in the Namuela village, within the Butemulani cluster. Clementina Azemwa (third from the right) confidently shares this about her experience with WORTH:

"I was not an official member of any group but I was impressed by the content and use of lumasaba in this book, so I asked Nabutuwa Teopista of the Butemulani women's group to lend me her copy. I then started my own WORTH group. Besides me are my daughters in law Mutuwa Scovia,Celina Namweke, Nabuduwa Jennipher, and my grand children Sarah Mutonyi and Wokunyanya Malika - a boy whom I teach Lumasaba with the aid of this book."

This is proof of the amazing impact of WORTH activities in the Mbale area.

Another WORTH group doing wonderful things is the Namutambo Womens group. Here the involvement of the group officers is improving day by day and the group has noticed! They continue to save regularly - confident in their management team - and they have reelected the committee members for a following year. They attribute their success to their Empowerment Worker Jesca Khainza and to the District Director of Women Ministries, Major Sarah Wandulu.  A group member,  Kisakye, had this to say about WORTH, “Most of the women in this group are members of the league of the mercy church ministry and they had given up coming to WORTH group meetings for their church meetings. But, when I talked to them about the benefits of WORTH, they started saving and now have 10 active members. Four members have taken loans totaling Ushs.25,000 ($15.16USD,) and they have a balance of Ushs.80,000 ($50.00USD) in the cash box that they will loan out next week.”

The group meets on Wednesdays at Soono Salvation Army church and they promised to continue the reading and saving program as per the WORTH model.

Finally, a blind woman - Simuya Lusyana - had this to say about WORTH:

“My name is Simiyu Lusyana. I am a 34 year-old widow, and a resident of Bumuyonga village in Namicha. My husband died in 2005 leaving me with two children, Rebecca Nderema and Mary Carolyn Hatete - aged 6 and 13 respectively. Life has been challenging from the time my husband died. It has been hard to provide for my children in terms of clothing, shelter and food. It is not possible for me to go back to my parents in Karamoja for help, so I joined the WORTH program in my community. Meeting with the women in my group brings me encouragement and emotional support. Sometimes they even collect some extra money for me to use for feeding.”

The Namicha women's group has been helping this woman meet her basic needs as well as recover from grief and stigma after the death of her husband who was HIV positive. The group hopes to help Simiyu start a small business to earn her own income, and become self-sufficient.

-Jane Wanyama
WORTH Coordinator
Mbale, Uganda

For more information about WORTH, please visit our website at: http://www.worthwomen.org

 

One Lap of America - WORTH car finished 4th!

A US friend of WORTH - Carl Warren - has a passion for racing cars. Every year he takes part in the One Lap of America race and "spotlights" a non-profit organization on his race car. This year WORTH was the featured program and great exposure it got! Not only was our logo featured prominently on the hood of the car, but Carl invited his friends to make donations to the WORTH program! The One Lap event was a great opportunity to expose the WORTH program to more people and Carl managed to score an overall 4th place. Congratulations to Carl and congratulations to WORTH!

Snapshots of three WORTH women: Cambodia

WORTH Program staff in Cambodia recently spoke with WORTH women in each of their three program areas. Here is what they had to say about their experience with WORTH Cambodia:

"Saving with WORTH has been good for me, because before I did not think it was possible. Now I see I have saved a lot of money in my group. When I save more money I earn more interest. I'm happy with my group because I have learned new skills. I really enjoyed the second book of the WORTH series, "Road to Wealth," and I will start the third book "Selling Made Simple" soon. Because of the WORTH program I am also more confident to share information with others in my community about the dangers of human trafficking and other issues critical to women in my community.

I am a silk weaver. Before I did not have my own capital; I bought silk from a middleman on credit at a high price. After I finished weaving, I had to sell my products to the same middleman at a lower price because they wanted to make a large profit on my product. If I did not follow their system, they would not allow me to get silk (raw materials) from them. The middleman profited off my powerlessness.  Now this has all changed. I borrow money from my group to buy silk at a low price for my weaving. Then I can directly sell my product to the buyer at a higher price, consistent with the market. I am making much more profit on my silk weaving than I ever was before, and I use these profits to improve the life of myself and my family."

- Ms. Mol .Sokhin, WORTH Treasurer of Strey Ekpheap group, Chheu Teal village, Thnot commune, Bati district, Takeo province.

"I'm happy to be part of my WORTH group because the other group members help each other learn literacy. We also share business knowledge and experiences with each other and through this support, we all get positive results together. I learned how to read, write, add and subtract by using the first and second books in the WORTH series. I have also learned about human trafficking and advocacy so I can protect myself, my family, and other people in my village. I took a loan from my group to expand my dessert business. Last year, my business was small. I sold only one kind of desert and made only a small profit. Now, because of the loan I got from my group, I sell many kinds of desserts and I have more customers. I have more profit, which helps me support my family."

~ Ms. Sok Eng, Rick Chamroer WORTH Group Leader, Kraleng Koet village, Lvea Leu commune, Chamkar Leu district, Kampong Cham Provice.

"Through WORTH I have learned literacy and business skills, and have a better understanding about women's issues in my local community, such as human trafficking, and domestic violence. I now know ways to prevent them peacefully.

I have not taken a loan from my group yet, but I'm proud that other women of my group have taken loans to run their small businesses and get more income to support their family.

Because of WORTH I feel that I have a strong personality and can speak well in public.  My neighbors and other villagers admire me because I'm active in supporting others in my community. I have a good reputation. Because of my experience in the WORTH women's group and my work in the community, other villagers encouraged me to run as a candidate for the Commune Council election in 2007. I had great success and was elected as a Commune Councilor for my own commune. I think that I will face many problems with my present position because I'm a member of the opposition party, but I am committed to helping my group and community have a better future."

~Ms. Pat Savy, Strey Reak Teak WORTH Group Treasurer, Roteang village, Phum Thom commune, Kien Svay district, Kandal province.

Stories collected by Sakphea Hor, WORTH Program Manager and Thavy Meas, WORTH Program Officer

 

Zambia: My "Wow Moment"

" There is never really a dull moment when working with WORTH groups.  Every group visit is a highlight. The activities women do are nothing out of the ordinary. It is the usual banking, reading and discussion of social issues that happens at every meeting.  But it is the manner in which they do these things which is exceptional and extraordinary.

Their characters have evolved so much since they first became WORTH members. Where they were once timid, they are now courageous.  Where they once perceived themselves as weak, they have now realized that they are strong.

Because of this self discovery they now do things with a confidence that is truly amazing.  A good example of this is the way they conduct a banking session. Whereas when they were starting out it used to be haphazard, now they are orderly, precise and procedural- as if it were a real bank.  I just watch and say Wow!

The transformation that WORTH women have undergone, this transformation I have seen with my very own eyes as a Zambian woman, has had a very defining impact on me.  Seeing women being able to do things that they never thought possible and doing these things exceptionally for that matter has made me grow in self confidence.  I say to myself, If these women in less fortunate circumstances than me can move mountains, what more I, who is better placed then them?”

Their courage, a courage to get up and work towards changing their destiny, has made me grow in ways they could never even imagine.

A big salute to all the women in the WORTH program world wide.  To all WORTH women who have an opportunity to read this, thanks for making me courageous.  I love you all and keep on keeping on!"

-Chiluba Mumba
Assistant Coordinator in PCI/Pact WORTH program
Chongwe, Zambia

For more information about WORTH, please visit our website at: http://www.worthwomen.org