I am Veronicah Wangari Muraya from Kenya. My work is to form, train and monitor groups of people in a program called SILC (savings and internal lending communities). The groups consist of 70% women and 30% men, a maximum of 20 people in each group. In a report by the United Nations, it was discovered that savings and loan groups in Kenya help women to succeed in farming, small business and also paying of school fees to children. SILC is an improved version of these groups in that the process has improved to proper record keeping, transparent accountability and a constitution. Groups assemble for meeting weekly or after two weeks. The savings make loan funds that revolves within creating a small interest of 10% per month as agreed and captured in a constitution. The groups have the liberty to elect a management committee and form rules for easy governance. By the end of the year, a share out is done using a formula and all the lump sum cash is distributed to members and they start a new cycle. SILC has proven to be helpful especially to women because they are able to achieve many goals like owning properties, initiating income generating activities, improving lifestyles and becoming financially stable.
I count myself lucky to have trained with TFT (2018 -2019). The training changed my way of thinking and seeing things. I started appreciating myself and my family and I developed resilience. Political economy opened my eyes to see the evils that were caused by corruption and I decided to start with myself to stop it and follow the right procedures in my day to day living- it has been peaceful for real. I encourage groups to follow straight paths especially while securing tenders with the government. I also learnt we had the ability to utilize our resources without waiting for grants from developed countries and we have started farming and irrigation to make sure every household have organic food.
I was trained facilitation skills and how to make a workshop design. This has helped so much in saving facilitation time, harvesting knowledge from participants, root causes of the problems and finding solutions. I have been able also to clearly identify my intentions and organize ideas then reflect on what worked well, what didn’t work and how to do it better another time.
Having worked with the communities for a couple of years, I, realized that people have different behaviors and characteristics. These have taught me a lot and helped me in mirroring my deeds. I embrace the fact that everyone has a different way of thinking and all ideas count.
Listening survey has been very useful. I have learnt there are so much meaningful ideas in listening and nobody is empty. By listening and dialogue in groups, I am able to plan and achieve useful projects. I also have a mentor who journeys with me and he is very instrumental in my progress.
I would like to share a story of one group among many who have benefited from my work. It’s called St. George’s women SILC. The group members have improved there farming skills to modern though using minimum pesticides. “Through workshops we have learnt and improved our Families lifestyles through saving and borrowing cash from our group.”
“Some time back I borrowed from a certain microfinance and our cows were auctioned because I was unable to pay the high interest that was incurred. This program has brought a lot of relief to me and my family and for the past six years, I have learnt to manage my money and help my husband pay school fees not mentioning other small activities that I sort alone. This has earned me dignity and respect,” says Salina, a member of the group.
Beatrice says, “Having been in the formal sector for over thirty years, I have never experienced so much wisdom and knowledge compared to when I joined SILC. Our private service provider (psp) is always well equipped with knowledge and zeal to push women to prosperity.”
Scholastica, group treasurer, “I am very happy for the opportunity to work with very empowered women in leadership and personal growth. We are twenty – five sisters willing to change our surrounding and impact the upcoming generation with equal rights and respect to all genders. We are teaching our boys that cooking, cleaning and washing are basic life skills and not gender roles. We’ve seen that empowered women are a blessing to the family and community.”
