Popular Posts
-
A few days ago, we visited our first school in Uganda! As an education major, this greatly excited me. It was raining in the morning and a b...
-
Students and Faculty from Drake will be returning to Kampala in May, 2010! The faculty are excited to return to Uganda and see our friends ...
-
The Drake University faculty and student participants in the 7 th annual Sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa study abroad program depart... -
Traveling to the Ndere Center, we were able to learn traditional music, dance, and drama in Uganda. We learned about the three different typ...
-
Everyone is finishing final exams and busy packing for our departure to Uganda in one week. The professors are looking forward to seeing al...
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Microfinance - Reach Out
This morning we learned about the organization Reach Out by visiting the Mbuya Parish HIV/AIDS Initiative site. Since its launch in 2001, it has grown to comprise of four main sites that have cared for over 11,000 people. We discussed how they test people for HIV and if their results come back positive, they provide medical treatment and care through ways such as antiretroviral therapy or mother-to-mother community supporters. This organization also helps clients through village savings and loan associations (abbreviated as VSLA). These groups instill saving cultures, increase empowerment, provide small loans for group members, and reduce dependence by starting up/ameliorating existing income-generating activities. Groups contain 15-30 members that are self-selected. There are currently 402 groups across Uganda; today we split up into three groups to visit three of them. My group visited one called “Friends Forever.” The members specialized in making jewelry and pooled the money they each earn in a box. Some groups also have linkages with banks to store their money. Reach Out teaches effective practices to deal with money to ensure sustainability. 90% of group members are female, which can create a cultural shift by promoting independence, especially when it comes to dealing with a household’s money. Do you think this disparity between gender involvement in these groups affects the sustainability of the program? If yes, how so?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great summarization Hannah, considering our micro finance lesson included an exposure to the complexity of HIV care, as well as VSLAs.
ReplyDeleteTo my understanding, the gender disparity increases the sustainability of the groups. For example, the group that I visited is led by a woman and their group includes only one man. In the past, their group leader was a man and they made less progress, and when they have had men in the group they would steal their shares and not participate in equitable ways. Corruptive behavior trends of men result in the gender disparity of VSLAs, and upholding caution with male members is vital for the sustainability of the groups.
I think if you look at overall sustainability and the UN sustainable development goals having the gender disparity is a positive thing. One of the SDGs is gender equality, and the opportunity for women to join and run the VSLAs is a good first step in achieving equality between the genders. Right now men dominate the business world, so these small groups of women saving up to further their own businesses and lives starts to create a more even playing field in business between the genders. I think it's a really good thing that these groups are run by women power.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your summary about the day at Reach Out and how they are supporting businesses. To answer your questions, I do not think that the gender gap is a bad thing. Since the program is still operating well and businesses are making a profit, the gap does not affect the sustainability of the program. Also one of the presenters said that though the businesses are 90% run by women, over the next few years, men will start to become more involved with the program. There is the opportunity for men to run businesses, however women are using this chance to create a business since many have to stay at home to care for their family and their house.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Hannah! I thought this was a super cool visit that does great things here in Uganda. This is a very interesting question that you have presented! At first when finding out about the gender disparity I thought, hmmm, this is not very socially inclusive if some of the groups are just targeted to women or only include women, which would not be truly sustainable if it is missing that key pillar. However, the group we visited consisted of 36 women and 1 man and we asked where all the men were. They said that the men would steal all of their money that was pooled together and spend it on alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc. They would not return this money or repay any of the loans granted to them. Clearly this does not represent all men because they still have one man, but for all the other ones, they kicked them out because they were doing irresponsible things like this. With this in mind, if a man does things like this to the whole group, it doesn't seem sustainable because he is just wasting all the money, so really it might be more sustainable without him, since the women are able to start businesses and bring themselves out of poverty.
ReplyDeleteGood summary, Hannah. I do not think that the gender disparity affects the sustainability in this situation. I think this because men are not excluded from the groups. Men are typically the bread winners in Ugandan families so they are making their own money and this is a way for their wives to have their own money too, which gives more power to the women. There is also gender inequality elsewhere in Uganda, as we have seen at City Secondary school through the GPA mark ups for the girls and the traditional cultural practice of women kneeing while greeting men, as told to me by a MUBS student. You could say the dominance of women in these groups somewhat "balances the scale." Most of the women that my group spoke were widows so Reach Out is the way they continue to sustain themselves and their children without their spouse. Reach Out seems to have a very good program that gives women hope. The ladies I spoke to are setting an extra amount of money aside each month in hopes to buy a piece of land in Northern Uganda. Their children will have better schooling for a lower price, the air is fresher, they will come together to have their own farm, and they will escape the slums.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great perspective on the visit! I loved that the groups really stood for empowerment. It was educating everyone, especially women, on how to be financially independent and responsible. That is increasingly more important as there has been an increase in companies that promote betting on sporting games. The women have gained this independence because the men could take all the money and go blow it on a game. For that reason I agree with Kaley's comment about the gender disparity being something that allows more people to succeed and broaden the playing field.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Great post! I thought that the fact that Reach Out focussed on women made it better, as they are often left out and excluded, so when an organization specializes in their needs, it really helps in terms of sustainability. If there weren't organizations that emphasized and prioritized women's needs then they would never be addressed and that would not be good for the social inclusion sector of sustainability.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post Hannah! I am truly impressed by microfinance and everything they have done for the citizens of Uganda. The way they give people such independence and hope during times of such hardship is truly phenomenal. In regard to you question about the disparity to gender quality I completely think that it does. The men think that helping each other out and being smart is a joke and end up stealing the money a lot from their spouse or the group and then spend it all because they do not appreciate how it is created and come upon. Until men will realize that these systems work and are viable, this process will not be sustainable because the men will disrupt the balance and social inclusion aspect of the SDG venn diagram.
ReplyDeleteI think it makes perfect sense to have this organization be 90% female. From what I have seen, this is a misogynistic country that doesn't provide as many opportunities for women as it does for men. Fewer girls go to school to get an education, and women are left with the responsibility of raising children, finding and making food, and staying at home. Because of this, women are less likely to be able to create a successful business. Many of the women we talked to explained how the men would just take their money to buy alcohol or other random things, and so they were just wasting the money that the women worked so hard to obtain. Another factor is that all of the women we talked to, except for one, were widows. So to me, it makes perfect sense for them to all unite as women and pool their money. This creates a sense of community and purpose, and empowers women to drive the economy. I think that Uganda is making strides to end gender inequality, and Reach Out is one organization that is dealing with this issue directly. So, basically, I do not think it is wrong that the groups are mostly female.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post Hannah! I found the VSLAs to be very inspiring in the sense that the groups save money for the interest of the entire community, without the sense of entitlement or selfishness that is usually an issue in group savings in the U.S.. I know the group that I visited really pushed for all the children to get a good education and their main goal is to save enough money to move all of the community out of the slums. I think that it is a sustainable system in respect to it being based on independence and self-service, which allows them to be successful without government assistance. When it comes to your question about the gender disparity, I think that this is an interesting point because most of the women in my group were single mothers, so forming this collaboration is how they have been able to provide a life for themselves. I wouldn't say that this disparity is hindering the sustainability because it seems to be promoting women independence and empowerment, which leads to gender equality.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, Hannah! I enjoyed visiting the VSLAs, I thought they were powerful community groups that promoted economic development and created an incentive to save money. In that way, these self-selected organizations are very sustainable. You pose an interesting question, but I don't think the difference in gender involvement will have any negative impact on the sustainability of the groups. When talking to most of the women in the group, it seemed that in the past men could not be trusted to be valuable group members, or would steal money from the group. I believe these are the reasons that most VSLAs have maintained such a high percentage of womens' membership. In the VSLA we visited, there was only one male and the women said it was because they trusted him a lot. I believe this difference between genders is actually more sustainable given the history of male involvement in VSLAs, because in order for men to participate in the future they will need to earn the trust of their community. This in turn will foster higher morals and reduce instances of theft from VSLAs. In addition, these groups empower women, which promotes the Sustainable Development Goal of Gender Equality. Overall, I think VSLAs are stable and sustainable economic development vehicles that have the potential to shape the future of local and small market economies.
ReplyDelete