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Notes from the Field
Women Advancing Women in the Warm Heart of Africa ─ "If I Refuse to Help Because I Am Overloaded, We Will Not Get Ahead"
I watched a woman named Rhoshida harvest her groundnuts – you might recognize them as peanuts – as the sun sank behind mountains south of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. It was a beautiful scene for a couple of reasons. First, the setting was spectacular. More importantly, there before me was a woman who was harvesting the fruits of her labor, part of a plentiful growing season that would feed her family throughout the year. Rhoshida is a member of one of the eight women's village saving and loan (VSL) groups I met in Tindi village. She was eager to explain how VSL has improved her life, including allowing her to buy fertilizer to increase her yields of groundnuts, corn, beans and tobacco. Her home is a testament to her success; she has new plates and utensils, a radio and a full jar of salt. In a small, rural village in Malawi, these are marks of real progress.
She believes so strongly in the VSL system, she agreed to be trained by CARE to be a "community agent". With this training, she can help start additional VSL groups, answer questions for existing groups and help resolve any conflicts that may arise. Rhoshida has plenty of work to keep her busy and her own VSL to partake in, so I was curious about why she wanted to take on more responsibility by becoming a community agent. She explained that someone had to teach her how to do VSL, and she has had many benefits. "If I refused to help because I am overloaded, then we won’t get ahead," Rhoshida said. That spirit of women helping one another advance is maybe the most spectacular thing I've seen yet in Malawi. The above post is photographer Phil Borges' second entry from his trip to Malawi. Phil traveled for two weeks in May to Malawi with colleague filmmaker/photographer Smith Patrick to learn about how women's village savings and loan associations impact families and communities. It was Phil's seventh trip with CARE.
Send This | Categories: CARE, Empowerment, Microfinance, Village Savings and Loan, Women
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