Volunteers turn savings groups into successful enterprises
“I assist them to use the money wisely and think business” Susan Chimpikizo
Susan Chimpikizo is famous in Traditional Authority Chanthunya’s territory in Balaka District, southeast of Malawi capital, Lilongwe.
She is one of over 300 community-based trainers trained by the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare.
Susan works with 12 groups. Every week, she visits two to four groups to train them in Savings and Loans Group methodology, including savings procedures, governance and leadership, loan disbursement and management, record keeping and documentation.
“I assist them to use the money wisely and think business. I’m their bridge. I take their issues to community development assistants and links them to government services,” she says.
Susan, one of the volunteers under the Social Protection for Gender Empowerment and Resilience (SP-GEAR) programme, entrench a culture of saving and income generating activities in the Savings and Loans Groups that mainly carter for Social Cash Transfer Programme beneficiaries.
The SP-GEAR programme, implemented by the Government of Malawi through UNICEF with funding from European Union and Government of Ireland, aims to enhance the resilience and livelihoods of women and girls from vulnerable households through economic empowerment activities.
One of the Savings and Loans Groups that Susan supports is Tiyanjane in Sami Village in Balaka district, Southern Malawi. It was formed in January 2024 and comprises 22 women and two men. Collectively, they have accumulated MK1 303 000 ($745) from selling shares and soap, weekly savings, and interest on loans.
Every week, each member contributes MK5,000 ($2.9) per share. Some borrow for business growth and others to overcome unforeseen hardship, including prevailing hunger caused by drought following the El Nino weather pattern across southern Africa.
“Our area is prone to drought, but we can afford food and other basic needs with the loans,” says Tiyanjane Savings and Loans Group Chairperson Katrina Brighton, who sells maize to grow her savings.
She thanks the Community Based Trainers for teaching the group how to run the Savings and Loans Group and business enterprises.
“These groups were non-existent here because we didn’t know how they change lives. Now, we are doing businesses, sending children to school and acquiring goods we could only envy,” says Katarina.
Members say they are improving their housing, paying school fees for children, and acquiring livestock, poultry, kitchen utensils and furniture.
“I had no house, but I built one after borrowing MK100 000 ($58) which I used to make 3500 bricks. I also bought a goat, which provides manure for my barren maize fields,” says Faba Chitengwa.
She envisions crop harvests rising as the goats reproduce.
“By the time my two children go to secondary school, the goats will have multiplied. I will sell some to pay fees for my children,” says Faba, shushing a baby on her back.
These stories inspire Susan to hit the road, helping her community save and grow their money.
The Community Based Trainer says: “People who had nothing to show are getting things they could only dream of and those who thought it’s a waste of time wish they could join the groups.”
According to District Community Development Officer McDonald Nyaka, 10,070 households receive social cash transfers in Balaka district.
“The SLGs and our community-based trainers have instilled a culture of saving among the most vulnerable households. People who were living hand-to-mouth are accumulating savings and doing business,” says the government official.
