Single mothers saving, moving forward in unity

Members of Diyi Cwiny saving schemes at one of their savings meet in Gulu. The scheme avails loans to members for business ventures. Photo by Alice Adikin.

GULU.

In Bardege Division in Gulu Town, mothers have found a way to avoid the risks that come with borrowing money from micro finances to support their families. They come together, encourage each other to save and eventually borrow from their own savings to make more money through business ventures.

Being a single mother one has to go through the hassle of providing for the entire family without any helping hand. In Gulu, this has landed many a mother in trouble with when they sometimes default on their loan payments. Some have as a result had their property confiscated and several others forced into hiding to avoid being imprisoned.
Margret Achaye, a single mother of five is the chairperson of the saving scheme called Diyi Cwiny, which literally translated means “comfort”. Achaye says their saving scheme that started six years ago in 2010 was aimed at mainly finding solutions to problems that come with borrowing money from financial institutions.
The idea to start up the scheme arose from seeing one of the mothers in her home area in Bardege division in Gulu, lose property to the micro finance where she had borrowed money for school fees. “I was on my way to the market when I saw her. I proceeded and explained to other mothers at the market what had happened. We ended up discussing how we could help each other to avoid such incidences,” recounts Achaya.
That very evening, the women came up with the the idea to for a single mothers’ savings scheme. “After we agreed on calling it DIYI CWINYI, we also agreed to save Shs2,000 - Shs5, 000 weekly and we kicked off.”

Realising fruits
She says after saving for over six months they began mobilising other jobless single mothers to join and borrow from the scheme. They encouraged, counseled them and gave them non interest start up loans payable within a month. The women started doing several businesses.
Currently, the number of members has grown from the original seven to 25, each dealing in different businesses such as market vending, grain dealers, saloon business, shop attendants, restaurant business, charcoal selling, and drug shops among others.
Achaye is the only one in the scheme employed as a civil servant, therefore earning a government salary. She says before implementing this project, she would borrow school fees from micro finances and pay it back with difficulty. “It was quite stressing. It got to a point where I was forced to teach my children to lie about my whereabouts. I would be forced to take cover when the loan recovery periods approached and I did not have anything at hand,” she narrates.
“From the saving scheme, I have been able to connect tap water in my compound which I now sell to raise some money to run the home. My salary is saved for heavy duties such as school fees and I don’t have to go to the micro finances anymore.”

Sorry, women only
The membership is still open to any hard working single or married mother who would wish to join them as long they are trustworthy. They say some men have approached them to be enrolled into the scheme but they refused for fear of being cheated.
As women and single mothers they can all identity with each other’s problems and none of them can betray the other because they first agreed and swore to be sincere with each other before depositing any amount.
Lucy Aparo, a market vender who serves as the scheme’s treasurer, says because now every member has been empowered and they are all working, they decided to begin giving loans but only to group members, payable with 10 per cent interest. The plan is to share the profits equally among themselves at the end of their financial year in December.

How it is operated
According to Aparo, as the project progressed, the accounts were divided into a savings, loans and welfare accounts, each with a book for records keeping.
In the welfare account, every person is expected to save Shs1,000 a week used for disaster preparedness, visitations for their children and to buy refreshments during their end of financial year parties. “Every end of year, we hold a party and invite our friends and family as we discuss new ideas for the progress of our projects,” explains Aparo.
“We have become an inspiration for other women in our communities who are also beginning to come up with different projects,” testifies Aparo.
The chairperson of the scheme, Achaye, says although their project is not yet registered, they alerted the area Local Council and the leadership is aware of their operations. Otherwise, there are plans to register it as a micro finance institute and put it under open market for women to buy shares.

Being a single mother one has to go through the hassle of providing for the entire family without any helping hand. In Gulu, this has landed many a mother in trouble with when they sometimes default on their loan payments. Some have as a result had their property confiscated and several others forced into hiding to avoid being imprisoned.
Margret Achaye, a single mother of five is the chairperson of the saving scheme called Diyi Cwiny, which literally translated means “comfort”. Achaye says their saving scheme that started six years ago in 2010 was aimed at mainly finding solutions to problems that come with borrowing money from financial institutions.
The idea to start up the scheme arose from seeing one of the mothers in her home area in Bardege division in Gulu, lose property to the micro finance where she had borrowed money for school fees. “I was on my way to the market when I saw her. I proceeded and explained to other mothers at the market what had happened. We ended up discussing how we could help each other to avoid such incidences,” recounts Achaya.
That very evening, the women came up with the the idea to for a single mothers’ savings scheme. “After we agreed on calling it DIYI CWINYI, we also agreed to save Shs2,000 - Shs5, 000 weekly and we kicked off.”

Realising fruits
She says after saving for over six months they began mobilising other jobless single mothers to join and borrow from the scheme. They encouraged, counseled them and gave them non interest start up loans payable within a month. The women started doing several businesses.
Currently, the number of members has grown from the original seven to 25, each dealing in different businesses such as market vending, grain dealers, saloon business, shop attendants, restaurant business, charcoal selling, and drug shops among others.
Achaye is the only one in the scheme employed as a civil servant, therefore earning a government salary. She says before implementing this project, she would borrow school fees from micro finances and pay it back with difficulty. “It was quite stressing. It got to a point where I was forced to teach my children to lie about my whereabouts. I would be forced to take cover when the loan recovery periods approached and I did not have anything at hand,” she narrates.
“From the saving scheme, I have been able to connect tap water in my compound which I now sell to raise some money to run the home. My salary is saved for heavy duties such as school fees and I don’t have to go to the micro finances anymore.”

Sorry, women only
The membership is still open to any hard working single or married mother who would wish to join them as long they are trustworthy. They say some men have approached them to be enrolled into the scheme but they refused for fear of being cheated.
As women and single mothers they can all identity with each other’s problems and none of them can betray the other because they first agreed and swore to be sincere with each other before depositing any amount.
Lucy Aparo, a market vender who serves as the scheme’s treasurer, says because now every member has been empowered and they are all working, they decided to begin giving loans but only to group members, payable with 10 per cent interest. The plan is to share the profits equally among themselves at the end of their financial year in December.

How it is operated
According to Aparo, as the project progressed, the accounts were divided into a savings, loans and welfare accounts, each with a book for records keeping.
In the welfare account, every person is expected to save Shs1,000 a week used for disaster preparedness, visitations for their children and to buy refreshments during their end of financial year parties. “Every end of year, we hold a party and invite our friends and family as we discuss new ideas for the progress of our projects,” explains Aparo.
“We have become an inspiration for other women in our communities who are also beginning to come up with different projects,” testifies Aparo.
The chairperson of the scheme, Achaye, says although their project is not yet registered, they alerted the area Local Council and the leadership is aware of their operations. Otherwise, there are plans to register it as a micro finance institute and put it under open market for women to buy shares.

Beneficiaries

Lucy Aparo, a market vender:
Aparo testifies that through saving scheme her stalk at Kanyogoga modern market increased pays her house rent and school fees for her children with ease, she is happy and stress-free.

Lilian Auma, restaurant owner:
A single mother of two, Auma says at first she used to survive doing odd jobs for a little money to support her family. When she joined the scheme, it became her turning point. She was given a loan that she used to buy a few items to start up a restaurant around the market which is growing.
“I couldn’t believe that one day I would also create jobs and employ people. I thought I would remain an employee all my life but here I am,” says Auma.