My name is Lucia Masamaga. I am 66 years old, married since 1964 and blessed with 7 children. I only attended school through grade one but with adult education classes have learned to read and write. I now enjoy reading, especially reading at home. I have been a resident of the Kisangwa community since 1974. Before the self-help group program was introduced to our village, my income came from farming and selling firewood. I did not have enough money to engage in additional income generating activities. I found it difficult to make some improvements to my house because most of my money went to feed my family.

I only attended school through grade one but with adult education classes have learned to read and write. I now enjoy reading, especially reading at home. I have been a resident of the Kisangwa community since 1974.

Before the self-help group program was introduced to our village, my income came from farming and selling firewood. I did not have enough money to engage in additional income generating activities. I found it difficult to make some improvements to my house because most of my money went to feed my family.

When the African Inland Church of Tanzania and World Renew came and trained us for savings and lending groups in 2015, I immediately joined the UPENDO group as one of its founding members. We normally have a group meeting every Thursday and the cost of each share per individual in the group is 1000 Tanzanian Shillings (Tshs.) or about $.45US. Today, my own total share in that group is now worth more than Tshs. 200,000 ($91)!

Before joining this group, I had no opportunity to get any financial aid from anyone. But now that I am a member of UPENDO, I am benefiting much since I can easily take loans and exchange development ideas with my fellow group members. The first loan I took was for Tshs. 70,000 ($32) in May of 2016. I used the money to cultivate a one-acre farm of cassava. After harvesting, I managed to repay the entire loan and had extra money afterwards. I am now repaying a second loan that I took to pay for medication for my brother. This was an emergency where I needed the money quickly and was able to get it from UPENDO.

My opinion regarding this group is that the group should continue to move forward. UPENDO has worked well as a community. We are able to easily resolve conflicts and we help each other have access to money when we need it. My hope is to finish building my house. With UPENDO, I can now do this.”

This story gathered by

Paul Kaufman

Program Consultant
World Renew Tanzania