So after all, I am here in Uganda to learn about microfinance and help some very poor people better their livelihood, right? At times, I have to remind myself of that. It’s so easy to get carried away by all the fun places to go, the new people I meet, or the cultural differences I’m learning on a daily basis. Or at times, because there’s been so much stimulation and learning that has taken place, I want to disengage from everything around me and just relax. But I have to remind myself that I’m here for a purpose (which encompasses much more than my work with Masaka Elders, but that’s a big piece of it).
So I’ll try to summarize what the last few weeks of ‘work’ have been like. I’ve been moving out to the field usually once or twice a week with two of my co-workers, Bashir and Vincent. These two guys are younger, 26 and 27, and very cool guys to hang out with. They have a lot of respect for me, since I’m somehow an expert in microfinance. They have so many questions about life in the States, so it’s fun to talk with them and share stories. But anyways, back to work …
Going out to the field has been a great way to meet many of the clients that don’t necessarily have the time or capacity to come into the office on a regular basis. Hence the need for going out to the field, to visit clients, check up on projects, and collect money. In the office, I already have a few accomplishments under my belt, which is nice to see a little progress. I adapted the loan application form they use to require more information from a prospective borrower. The old form simply had one line for “purpose for the loan,” where the clients would simply write “agriculture” or “construction” or “expanding my business.” With these types of answers, there’s no way to know what the clients will actually use the money for. So all I did (it’s really pretty simple, but somehow revolutionary) was require that the borrower explain in detail how they were planning on using the funds. It’s almost like forcing them to write a mini business plan. If they want a loan for agriculture, what exactly are they going to use the money for (buying seeds, fertilizer, land, etc.)? Or if they want to expand their business, what steps are they going to take, and how will that benefit them? It’s really the small, simple changes that I’m hoping will have an impact down the road.
As far as a tangible result of my work so far, yesterday is about as close as I’ve come so far. Masaka Elders held its 2010 Annual General Meeting. Because a SACCO is owned by its members, the law requires it to hold an annual meeting to discuss changes, report progress, and include members in decisions for the future. Basically, it is democracy in action, in a place where true democracy is far from the norm. But because Masaka Elders has over 1800 members, it is unrealistic to invite all of them. So they invite delegates who represent the members from a certain area. They actually use these delegates often, as each delegate pair (a man and a woman) are responsible for 50 members in their area. These delegates help the staff to encourage members to save their money and repay loans on time. There are about 90 delegates in all, but there were some members that were invited to the meeting, so there were almost 200 people there in total.
I had been preparing some educational materials about savings and loans to give to the delegates, for them to pass on to the members in their communities. I also wrote up some information about their role as delegates, how they were helping the institution and how we wanted to reward them. (One of the next projects I’ll be working on will be to implement an incentive system for the delegates - who are just volunteers - to motivate them to reach certain performance standards.) So in preparation for the meeting, I had these materials translated into Luganda so the delegates would be able to read and understand it all (only some of them speak English). So at the meeting yesterday, I presented some of the more important pieces of this information, knowing that simply my being there speaking to them would have an impact (The institution is basically given instant credibility just because I am here working with them. Oh, the power of skin color). It was actually pretty fun. I’ve never had someone translate what I’ve said in front of a big crowd before, so that was an interesting experience. I would say a couple sentences, then look around to see peoples’ reactions when the manager explained it in Luganda.
I was told that everybody really enjoyed what I had to say, that they learned a lot, and that they appreciated me speaking to them. Which is expected to hear such a positive response. But I hope that these delegates will actually take the responsibility to educate the members in their area about the benefits of responsible savings and loans. The good thing is that I’m still here for more than two months, so I will hopefully have time to do more education, and to assess if what I’ve done has actually made a difference.
Anyways, that’s a bit about my work with Masaka Elders so far. I could continue to write and write, but I know that some of you are probably already bored. If you really are curious about more details of my work here, feel free to shoot me an email, and I’d be glad to answer any questions you have.
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