Making bags and saving money: MEND’s monthly VSLA meeting

Last week, we were able to sit in on one of MEND’s monthly Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) meetings.  VSLA is an initiative where members meet weekly to save and loan money together.  Each savings cycle lasts for 6-8 months.  The MEND seamstresses are in the midst of their third savings cycle, which will end in February 2012, when all of the savings will be returned to individual group members, along with each member’s percentage of the group interest.

The MEND VSLA group has a history of outstanding savings, and last week, they were able to save a total of 390,000 Ugandan Shillings (about $150)!  In addition to the money saved, many of the women took out loans for supplementary income generating activities (IGAs) such as selling charcoal.

Over the past two savings cycles, with the money the MEND seamstresses have saved and loaned in addition to their regular income, some have been able to acquire plots of land, construct semi-permanent houses, and invest in livestock.