Mary* in Tanzania was dreaming of a house for herself and her family, and thanks to her participation in a Village Savings and Credit group established by World Renew’s partner the Mennonite Church, it looks like her dream is a reality!
Mary* in Tanzania was dreaming of a house for herself and her family, and thanks to her participation in a Village Savings and Credit group established by World Renew’s partner the Mennonite Church, it looks like her dream is a reality!
Just two years ago Mary was living in the right side of a chicken coop with her husband and two children. 200 laying hens comfortably occupied the left side. The income generated by the chickens and her husband's construction work was not enough to create the savings needed to build a home apart from the chicken coop.
After going through some training with the other members of her Village Savings and Credit group, Mary learned some methods for saving money. Margaret Njuguna, World Renew Country Consultant in Tanzania, reports, “Within one year, Mary was able to take a loan from the group. She used the loan to buy cement bricks for their future house. She repaid the loan in six months and took another one and bought more bricks. At this time, her husband joined in with his earnings. He was able to match the bricks. In a few months Mary’s dream and that of her family started becoming a reality!”
Mary plans to work hard, to increase the number of hens so that she has more eggs to sell, and to increase her savings in the group so that she can take higher loans.
As a result Mary has moved into her new home with her husband and two children, though they await windows and doors. Now others in the community dream of building better houses for themselves and their families!
To read more about how World Renew is working to achieve the third United Nations Millennium Development Goal, “to promote gender equality and empower women,” check out Ida Kaastra Mutoigo’s recent blog post!
Communities are at the heart of World Renew’s programs around the world.
At the heart of these communities are families like Mary’s. These families are of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes both parents are there. Sometimes only one. Sometimes the children are raised by the older siblings, or by a grandparent, or by aunts and uncles.
For the next three months we will be telling our community development stories through the lens of family, and also shining a light on our Free a Family program, which is a way you can regularly support World Renew’s work addressing poverty and injustice in a region of your choice.
*Mary is not her real name