Zimele in Zulu, means to ‘stand on your own 2 feet’. This name was chosen because it captures the essence of what we are about, our vision, and our mission. What do I mean by that? Let me explain.

If you go to the rural and shanty towns in South Africa, you will find families where the father is often absent, grandmothers are raising families of 7, because the parents died from AIDS related causes (an estimated 40% of Kwazulu Natal has HIV AIDS), or what is most heart breaking, orphan headed households.

These families often live on less than $ 2 - 3 a day, which mostly comes from government grants. This isn’t close to the amount a family needs to survive, much less send their children to school. While some people, particularly the young youth want to work, finding opportunities are few and far between. And soon most come to accept their condition and are content collecting government handouts. What you have is essentially a welfare state. This is a lot of what we saw when we first got to South Africa, when we walked around Swayimane, went on home visits with Gogo Mildred, or talked to the children at the high school. It was emotional to see and made our hearts break.

On Wednesday of our volunteer team's first week in South Africa, we went with Rosetta, the head of Zimele South Africa and a few of the Zimele staff to visit a savings group, called Vukuzame, which in Zulu means ‘Arise’. It is a group of 16 women in that have been together for 1 year. They were meeting in one of the homes of a group member.

The women started the meeting by singing and praying. Then the chairperson kicked off the meeting. One by one each member of the group came and dropped 2 Rands into a pile in the center… their weekly contribution, the equivalent of 25 - 30 cents. Then several members dropped larger bills of 50 or 100 Rands into the pile… these women were repaying their individual loans which they borrowed the previous month. All of this was meticulously recorded by a young woman, the group bookkeeper. Finally one woman dropped off a much larger stack of bills, money that the women borrowed together as a group and were repaying. The bookkeeper counted all of the money and announced that there was 3,400 South African Rands (about $500)!

As we talked to the women, we found out that they had borrowed to money to fund and support the growth of their individual economic ventures and businesses. The women proudly told us of their businesses which involved selling chickens, sweet potatoes, beans, or fruits. One woman bought bars of soap and cut them up into smaller more affordable portions to sell to her neighbors.

The group loan that was returned was used by several members of the group to start a group business, where they bought and sold eggs.

What is even more amazing is that this money didn’t come from the outside. Each week the women would meet and faithfully contribute 2 Rands apiece. The women are encouraged to borrow loans to invest in economic and money generating ventures and pay the loans back with interest. The Zimele staff trains and closely mentors the group over the course of the first year on the savings group methodology which includes accounting lessons, group dynamics, and business training.

As custom with the culture, at the end of the meeting, the women presented us with a feast of homemade fried chicken, madume (sort of like a potato), and fruit juice, sourced from their individual businesses. I ignored Pastor Peter’s warning about not eating the food, particularly the chicken in Swayimane, and dug in.

As I was sitting there eating my fried chicken. I kept thinking two things. First, this chicken was REALLY good! And second, this image is in such sharp contrast to the welfare image I witnessed just a few hours before. This room was filled with women full of hope and pride, women who were ‘standing on their own two feet’, women of Zimele. And this transformation happened in a 1 year!

This story I just shared isn’t unique, Zimele has over 45 savings group with about 500 – 600 members, mostly women. These groups have given out over 1,100 loans to date, loans to start businesses such as a community farms, store fronts, catering businesses, and event barber shops. Loans that transform lives.

When I think about what we through Zimele have accomplished through these savings groups this past year, and dream about what will accomplish in the years to comes, I am filled with hope because I can see a much different South Africa, a much different Africa.