Socio-economic empowerment through the ‘Village Savings and Loans Association’ (VSLA) scheme in Kilifi South Constituency, Kilifi County - i.e "Transforming the Dependency Syndrome in the Disability World" by PWDs' self involvement and participation.
The ‘Village Savings and Loaning Association’ (VSLA) program is the local version of the well-known ‘Saving and Credit Cooperative’ (SACCO) Scheme. The VSLA program was introduced to the Disability Community to enable all Persons with Disability to learn and embrace the ‘Community Trickle Up’ (CTU) tactics meant to grow small incomes made by individual PWDs themselves. Members regularly contribute the agreed amounts of money into a common pool and from there each member accesses credit at a later date, when the need to expand one's project/business arises.
The VSLA members register with an agreed fee and save weekly or monthly, as per the Common Interest Groups (CIG) agreed premium, with the majority of VSLA’s insisting on a weekly basis input of Kshs100 per person. Such savings are done routinely and regularly up to the end of the year when the saving process is halted, a calculation is made, then divided amongst all Share Holders to celebrate end of year festivities or for reinvestment the following new year. Each January, the pool is emptied and all members begin anew.
Most Persons with Disabilities are living below the poverty level, with some of them earning less than Kshs100 per day. Such people find it difficult to save Ksh 1 per person, per day.
In this circumstance, a Level 2 hospital was looking for a lasting solution to the VSLA/SACCO practices where individual accounts were not withdrawn to be left completely empty and instead always retained a minimum amount.
‘Disability, Persons with Disabilities, Development, Poverty and the Neighbourhood’ (DPDDP) members always kept a minimum amount in their SACCO Loans Pool Fund to retain savings throughout the following year and to assure every share holder receives a dividend from the previous years, at the end of that current year. This new practice has become the standard with PWDs' incomes growing keeping their hopes rekindled and their projects are progressive.
An example of this is at one VSLA/SACCO Scheme, that was started from 58 group members, who in their initial year of 2015 each saved Ksh 7 weekly, they closed the year with Kshs 18,840.
In 2016 each saving Kshs 10 per person weekly, they closed the year with Kshs 26,880.
In 2017 each saving Kshs 20 per person weekly, they closed the year with Kshs 43,760.
In 2018 each saving Kshs 50 per person weekly, they closed the year with Kshs 134,400.
In 2019 each saving Kshs 50 per person weekly, they closed the year with Kshs 427,880.
In 2020, defying the COVID19 pandemic, they closed the year with Kshs 692,025.
Finally in 2021 they closed the year with Kshs 996,905 all while still saving Kshs 50 per person per week. Surely, this is a BIG success story!
Conclusion - SACCO and Micro Enterprise Experience
1. This is an economic tool which, if properly used can spurn up PWDs' incomes and therefore their lifestyles - to improve their education levels, their job opportunity expectations and therefore to enhance the realisation of their lifetime dream of attaining socio economic and political self reliance in their lives.
2. The Disability Development Consortium (DiDeCo) proposes to train all the Common Interest Groups (CIGs) in the 5 Wards throughout Kilifi South Constituency to learn and practise the SACCO tactics in their CIGs so as to reap highly as can be seen in point number 3.
3. The proposed training will be done in 2 phases per ward at a total budget of Kshs 564,000. A written proposal will be written and posted to DWA to assist us in fundraising.
4. If funds will be made available, training workshops are planned to start in 2022.
Micro loans have proved to be an important factor in ResponsABLE assistance's Fursa initiative.
https://www.responsableassistance.org/current-projects/
Meaning opportunity in Swahili Fursa supports disabled people and their families to create sustainable enterprises rather relying on charity.
Ownership of the loans is with the Fursa group and so far, in the Kibwezi region, there are 9 Fursa groups with 121 individual members.
We are continually learning and plan to launch our Fursa Time programme in 2023 with Disabled People's Organisations further afield.
In May 2021, the SACCO Loans Pool was boosted by Kshs100,000 from the National Council of the Persons with Disabilities - out of which fourteen persons and two projects were loaned between Ksh3,900 and 26,070 to repay gradually at a 10% interest rate.
As the loaned DCIG members repay their outstanding loans, the ones who missed credit initially, gradually will receive loans, and their projects and businesses will flourish.
This scheme seems practical and communally acceptable, and so DiDeCo proposes to train all Disability Common Interest Groups (DCIGs) in the Sub County to attain the knowledge to practice and to enable every PWD to get out of the deep-rooted poverty, which is widespread among the Disability Community here.