Saving groups are quietly lifting thousands of families out of poverty. You can help create more.
It’s hard to believe the extent of transformation taking place in rural East Africa.
Groups of men and women are coming together to help build roads and bridges, lobbying local governments to install water sources… and are even sponsoring orphans to attend school!
A few years ago this would have seemed impossible.
But thanks to savings groups everything has changed.
Will you help us start more?
Esther's Story
A few years ago, Esther’s family suffered from painful hunger. Living in one of the driest areas of Tanzania, she tells us that rain fluctuations has made it even harder to farm.
Like so many families in rural East Africa, Esther relies on rain-fed farming for her daily livelihood. With no ability to save, when disaster or disruption happens they lose everything.
To cope, families start to skip meals in an effort to make the food last longer. Mothers, will often forgo meals several days so that the children can have more. In desperation, they start to sell valuable assets such as farming tools, cookware, or even the sheets of metal off their roofs! All at discount prices just to earn a bit of cash.
Men will often leave their families in search of work. Employers know they’re vulnerable—and exploit them. Some never return. And while the men are gone the women take care of both the farm and the home. Sometimes, in desperation, they start commercial sex work. Anything to feed their family.
You see, poverty is far more than physical or material. It’s traumatic. It’s emotional. It’s social. And above all else— it’s spiritual.
God hates poverty because it tells people a lie. It tells them that they are worthless. But we know that isn’t true. We know that God has made all people in his image and that they have eternal value.
That’s why what is happening in East Africa is so exciting. Not only are physical needs being met—but hope is being found.
You can be a part of it.
Thanks to donors like you, Esther had the opportunity to join a village savings group. These powerful yet simple groups provide a place where families can start saving and slowly grow their income. Eventually, they are able to qualify for a loan which is often used to expand their land to grow more crops, start new microbusinesses, or help in times of emergency—like in the situations above.
That’s what Esther did. Using the group, she took out a loan and started a new business. She was able to pay back the full amount in 3 months. Now, when times are tough, her and her family aren’t pushed to the brink like before.
But this isn’t even the most impressive part.
Once there are a few groups in an area they often start working together to create wide-scale change. By pooling some of their funds together, the groups start transforming their community.
How village savings groups are coming together to transform their communities.
Village saving groups are coming together to create wide-scale change! Here are just a few ways savings groups have transformed one village in Ethiopia:
- planted multi-purposes grasses to control erosion nearby
- connected two villages with roads and a bridge
- mobilised and petitioned the local government to install clean water access
- in partnership with the church, helped two vulnerable people who was homeless by building them a simple house and helping find stable work
- sponsor 3 local children to attend school
Help transform the lives of more families like Esther's
In partnership with the local church, a savings group only costs $1,000 to set-up. This includes a savings group kit and a year’s worth of mentoring and training in financial literacy.
Your gift today will help families grow their savings and place them on a path out of poverty. The groups aren’t only financially transformative, but socially as well. And before and after every meeting many groups pray.
