ETHIOPIA: ”Life changing”. Occasionally you hear or read that phrase only to find it being used to describe something that, to put it charitably, isn’t. From a new car model to a low interest rate on a credit card, the thing being hyped is undoubtedly good. But life changing?
During our August, 2010 visit with partners in Ethiopia, we had the very great privilege of not only hearing about something that actually is life changing, but hearing directly from some of those whose lives had been changed.
I had been skeptical going into that visit. I had read a great deal about small groups formed to foster savings and credit among the poorest of the poor, and read some of the positive field reports that purported significant positive results for these groups. But I resisted the urge to buy into the story for a number of reasons, not the least being that I knew that the natural tendency of missionaries and NGO’s is to put a perhaps generously positive spin on their results. If they didn’t, sadly, they wouldn’t be in business very long.
This is not to criticize the outstanding work that these people and organizations do, nor diminish their sincerity, commitment or heart for the people they serve. It is simply a recognition that in maintaining their support, a positive story is more useful than a story of more modest gain, let alone failure. Not many donors these days care to continue supporting efforts that do not produce positive, measureable results in a reasonable time frame.
What we experienced in Awassa can only be described as life changing. In the southern part of the country, the Kale Hiwot Church has been active for over two years in facilitating the formation of small groups they call “Self Help Groups”. The original concept for SHGs, as implemented in Ethiopia, was developed by Tearfund. The formation of groups such as these is sweeping across the majority world under a variety of names, but they all share certain characteristics and goals/objectives in common.
First, and perhaps most shockingly to the western “let us help you” mindset, they reject outside money or supervision. It is true that the formation of a SHG in a new region requires some outside support in the way of training and coaching. But once established, they operate exclusively using their own resources.
Second, a significant function of a SHG is to provide a safe environment for its members to save their own money. To the westerner, this may sound odd. But remember that the members of such a group lack any experience in managing even tiny amounts of money, and can be easy targets from the less scrupulous in their communities offering to “help” them do that.
Third, once a group’s savings pool grows a bit, the group can make small loans to its members. These loans can be for periodic personal needs (such as annual school expenses), but are more commonly used to expand a member’s “business”. A member of one of the groups we visited reported that she had borrowed (and successfully repaid) several times from her group to expand her petty resale business. Having started with selling a box of products on the street, she was now set to create a second store. And she was not an isolated or “feature” case, but one of many who had experienced the liberation and optimism of being able to build up their own enterprises. Each member of the groups we visited testified that they were materially better off for having experienced their group’s supportive, disciplined approach to saving.
“How about repaying those loans?” you may ask. One of the profound strengths of a SHG is the bond its members share. It may not be as strong as the bond of family, but it is very close. And the resultant shared commitment to each other creates what has been termed “social capital” – a kind of intimately personal collateral that makes failing to repay a loan unthinkable except in the most extreme of situations. As a consequence, repayment rates of 100% (with interest) are common. However, it is possible that some, especially new members may not be completely committed to the group. One of the groups described to us a situation with one such member. Their solution was to take turns standing in front of the women’s home, encouraging here and challenging her each time she passed, until she finally agreed to pay back what she owed the group – and with interest! Today she is a fully committed member.
This idea of “social capital” goes beyond loans. One group member described to us how she was hit by a car, hospitalized, and during her recovery unable to work for quite some time. During her extended recovery, the other members of her group each chipped in to cover her weekly savings contribution so that her savings continued to grow during her convalescence. Imagine, for a moment, if this little vignette described the commonplace in the world we live in.
But the material benefits of these groups pale in comparison to their social and spiritual benefits. In Islamic settings in particular, it is of course common that women (the primary participants in such groups) live a culturally subservient and often times isolated existence. We heard member after member testify of their new sense of self-worth and confidence that had developed as a byproduct of their experience in their group. One woman, when asked how her involvement in the group had affected her relationship with her husband, said “Before I was only a wife. Before he kept me and supported me and my children. Now, I am a partner with my husband. Now he genuinely loves and respects me.”
Life changing, indeed.
I’m no longer a skeptic. As a result of this and earlier visits, our ministry has rededicated itself to supporting the formation of these groups in unserved areas.
Many of us spend our lives yearning to see God’s Kingdom established in His creation. Well, maybe a small part of it already has been – in southern Ethiopia.
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Posted by Douglas J Martin
