welcome to swayimane

sawubona!

today was my first day on the field. the drive to swayimane took about an hour from maritzburg and despite the (very) limited space, i could not have asked for a better arrangement than to be sitting alongside audrey and daphne. audrey is zimele’s manager of social development and brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience. daphne is a KZN native and plays a pivotal role as zimele’s self-help/savings group (SHG) program coordinator. i am so blessed to be in their hands and i come to them with a wide open heart and mind.

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a vital part of zimele’s strategy for the rural communities of kwazulu-natal is the microsavings program. the first phase of the micro savings program is the launch and growth of self help savings groups (SHG). the SHGs can grow up to 10-20 women. over the past 2 yrs, zimele has created over 40 SHGs, impacting more than 5000 people as a result – and by saving just R2 ($0.24) per week, they have collected a savings power of over R124,000. as part of the self help savings group training, zimele provides business training to such entrepreneurs to assist them with the launch and growth of such businesses.

many participants in these self help savings groups start various individual or group micro businesses such as spazas (roadside stands), tuck (small grocery) stores, community gardens, catering businesses, and beauty salons. others may enroll their children in schools, plant crops or repair homes. with SHGs, cluster groups are then formed, where 1-2 representatives from up to 6-8 SHGs gather to discuss the needs of the wider community, address specific challenges, and provide support and accountability.
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on the way to swayimane, we drove through mostly rural areas – passing by vast stretches of privately owned sugar cane/maize farms, spectacular views of mountainous terrain and green fields, and scattered accents of thatched roofs from village homes and informal settlements.

we made a pitstop at the wartburg market.

the marketplace is full of energy and hosts a wide range of businesses, ranging from pay-per-use cell phone services, fruits and vegetable stands, made-to-go foods, to second-hand garment sales. the market is also where women meet to pick up their pension payments.

the community at wartburg was fairly dense and seemed to attract mostly local laborers and migrant workers, while most of the shops and businesses were run by women – a trend seen in many microfinance communities. the reason for this is that women’s status (both in their homes and in their communities) is elevated when they are responsible for managing loans and savings. the ability to generate and control their own income can further empower poor women and have a significant impact on their families’ quality of life. therefore, it is no surprise that zimele follows this principle through their SHG development work.

our main task today was to visit a few SHG meetings to monitor their progress. monitoring is an important part of the success of SHG, and is encouraged at least once a month. the first meeting that was being prepared was for a unique training session that involved 8 other NGOs from other areas of South Africa – namely, the east cape, limpopo and kwazulu-natal. a catering service run by a group of 6-7 women provided a delicious meal that would provide the perfect stitch for banding the visiting groups together over song, prayer and dance. the catering service was in itself a mark of success, as it provided additional income for those women. zimele, an emerging leader in self reliance programs in the KZN area, has agreed to host these types of gatherings that involve other NGOs in swayimane as a training ground for their community facilitators – to address challenges and adopt best practices for managing SHGs.

in between waiting periods, we visited a nearby business owner who ran a spaza (roadside stand) selling phone service and food items to local taxi drivers, young children and elderly women.

the next SHG we visited was a relatively new operation, and was not more than 3 weeks old.
we met with a few of their members and were told that one of their primary businesses of selling
potatoes was put on hold, due to the off season – while another member was busy selling avocados.
as an important step in the process, there was a diligent woman who managed the savings book for keeping track of daily savings for each member of the group. although the bookkeeping task was neat and well-kept, there were certain areas (such as keeping a running total) that could have been easily improved. this is a good example of where Zimele would assist by providing assistance through ‘program modules’ to help comply to formal guidelines for managing savings accounts. it was a strong and encouraging start for this new SHG.

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we spent the remainder of the day visiting other groups and following similar procedure. along the way, we shared many funny stories, laughter, visions of hope and progress, were greeted by smiles from the community, witnessed struggles and sickness, played soccer with the children, got stuck in a mud ditch, and then danced for a few minutes upon getting out

what an incredible day. i am exhausted by the heat and traveling, but am more overwhelmed and amazed by how much I have been able to see and learn so far.