Mary Aciga’s Story with CRESS
Huge thanks for drugs received at the clinic
Joyce selling pancakes, G/nut paste and tomatoes in Bulomoni camp
Emmanuel Savings Group, Bulomoni
This lady is 29 years old and married with three children. She lives in Imvepi refugee camp – Arua district. She said, she ran a restaurant business in South Sudan before the war broke out.
“I lost everything to the war”
While in the camp, she had nobody to offer her money for business. When she heard about the new group being set up, she thought they were going to be given a free fund to start business. However when she visited the group she found out she was going to be given advice on how to save and use the little funds she and others had through being part of a savings group.
How has the Savings Group Helped?
She said the saving program has benefited her and the family in the following ways:
- She was able to learn ways of generating money to be saved in the group.
- Through the help of the group, she was able to borrow money from the group and invested the 80,000/= [£9] for Pancakes, tomatoes and groundnut-paste business.
- She is now able to buy food for the family.
- She is now making about 150,000/= [£33] profit in her business per week.
- According to her she is now able to afford buying clothes.
Plans for the Future
“I plan to open a restaurant next year and construct a semi-permanent house made out of iron sheet and burnt bricks”
This is so she can stop living in a grass thwacked house which requires much maintenance to keep it habitable.
Community base facilitators receiving their bicycles at Mijale church of Uganda.
How CRESS Facilitates Savings Groups
Each saving group is given a start-up kit. Each kit includes savings box, padlocks and log books for a group of 20
There is a local trained savings group facilitator who visits to teach, encourage and advise the groups. Each facilitator looks after three groups and are unpaid. To enable these facilitators CRESS has been able to donate bicycles to them so that it is easier to get between groups.
Thanks to everyone who supported our Christmas appeal for bicycles and savings kits. There is much demand in Uganda to expand this idea and with over 268 small businesses started in 2019 you can tell why!
