To economically empower households, 2,445 caregivers were mobilized and participated in the savings groups. 563 beneficiaries accessed loans which they used to invest in other business enterprises like retail shops, stalls etc. which has enabled them meet their household basic needs.
During the quarter, 115 SILC groups have been able to make cumulative savings of UGX 161,520,000 out of which UGX 74,667,000 has been accessed through loan. A total of 115 groups received financial literacy skills training and other adds on services to help them make better financial decisions.
A case in point is “Apio Justine of Yesu Amara saving group Mwena- Kalangala district, who borrowed UGX470,000 to reinvest in her business which had been robbed, she owns a stall that deals in groceries including tomatoes, onions, green paper, cabbages, tea spices, pumpkins among others and she now earns profits of between UGX10,000 to UGX20,000 daily. This has enabled Justine to provide basic needs to her family.”
Also, Namukasa Maria a grandmother of 71 years, (a peasant) with 07 grandchildren one of them on ART at TASO Masaka, is a member of Ssubi saving group Kabonera-Masaka city, she borrows from the group to pay school fees and taking care of her grandchildren. “I’m an old woman, my children died of HIV and left me with 07 grandchildren whom I’m taking care of; to pay school fees, feeding, treatment and other basic needs, if it wasn’t the KCHS program I wouldn’t have been able to afford all these responsibilities, thanks to MDMS KCHS for the SILC initiative” Namukasa appreciated.
MDMS has used these saving groups to layer other services like HIV, GBV, client rights and financial management. Nalumu Asumputa of Kabonera is one of the 08 KCHS direct beneficiaries who were mobilized and trained in financial literacy. After the training, Nalumu mobilized her fellow beneficiaries and formed a group “Ssubi saving group” with other 19 members, it’s now in its second cycle of saving.
In the 1st cycle, they shared out UGX 4,000,000/=, the group is now in its 2nd cycle which started in March and so far, UGX 1,000,000/= has been saved with UGX 100,000/= in social fund. The group is already registered with the district for sustainability and to benefit from other Government programs, it was also linked to NARO and received 50 banana suckers and 50kg of NARO bean 3 and 01 member benefited from PDM.
Asumputa asserts that financial literacy sessions helped her to differentiate between needs and wants, understand seasonal calendar and these motivated her to join a saving group to be able to address future financial shocks.