Women ending poverty: WORTH notes from the field

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