During this month of December, money is not easy to find here in Kasungu. Most people would rather invest the little they have in farming rather than spending it on frivolous gifts for Christmas with many families in Kasungu earning less than $2 a day you can see they do not have much to spare.     This is not the case with our Village Saving and Loan Association groups as they have joined forces to increase their personal savings. Mrs. Tryness Phiri, a 63 year...
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During this month of December, money is not easy to find here in Kasungu. Most people would rather invest the little they have in farming rather than spending it on frivolous gifts for Christmas with many families in Kasungu earning less than $2 a day you can see they do not have much to spare.     This is not the case with our Village Saving and Loan Association groups as they have joined forces to increase their personal savings. Mrs. Tryness Phiri, a 63 year...
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In recent months Join My Village has introduced an exciting new initiative – exchange visits for our Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA). These are visits that take place among VSLA members under Join My Village as one way of increasing confidence of participating members that what they are doing is worth showcasing. During the visits, members from different groups meet each other, share their experiences, stories and lessons learned, and also share a meal! VSLA members are given the opportunity to discuss challenges they...
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At 65 years old, Elizabeth Mangani has been a farmer her whole life but, despite hard work 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, she has always been very poor and only just makes enough to feed her family. As a result, she had nothing to show as a progress in her life to her fellow villagers and had little respect in her community. Thankfully, her life took a different course when she joined the Tiseyere Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) group which...
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As many of you will know by now from reading my blogs or visiting our website the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) component of Join My Village is an important one.  Part of the VSLA concept is the identification of Village Agents (VAs) within the VSLA group members. Not only are Village Agents appointed to help train new groups in the VSLA methodology but also to continue helping newly formed VSLA groups, providing an important element of sustainability in the Join My Village program...
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