Village Savings and Loan Group Turns James’s Life Around
James, a farmer and the director of the school in his village, says that the ag training and support he has received from the program changed his family’s story from one of desperation to hope. Trained in information technology, he found it very difficult to earn enough money in the city to support his wife and three girls. He took a big risk by moving back to his village to take up farming. His first exposure to what the program had to offer was joining fellow farmers in starting a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA). “This,” he says, “was the beginning of the turnaround for my family.”
James and his group received training in conservation agriculture techniques, growing vegetables, and Farming as a Family Business. This year, he and his family planted one acre of groundnuts (peanuts) to sell, and two acres of cassava to eat. What they earned from the groundnuts allowed them to buy a cow, and the milk adds protein to their diet. With their VSLA savings they bought five bags of cement and built another room onto their home. “I plan to borrow money from the VSLA to complete the work,” says James.
James’s story is representative of the general success of the program in his village. His VSLA is doing so well that it made a contribution to the school he was instrumental in starting. James was able to buy a blackboard, chalk and textbooks and even pay the teachers with the funds.
Caption: Village schoolchildren benefited from a donation by James’s savings group
Uganda Teso Program
Led by World Renew and local partner PAG-KIDO
96 communities, 11,624 households, and 51,944 individuals