Going out with a Bang

It is go time! Wight days left in Uganda, but only one day to the big showcase of Marusacco's new brand! Tomorrow I will head out to Mafubira bright and early - public transport willing - and we will set up our market. The plan is kind of to wing it, as the last market was held as a dual program with people speaking etc. It was open to the public, but the focus was definitely on reaching out to the members. So we are changing it up a bit. We have put up posters, and hired radio advertisements to bring in more community members to the market. Hopefully more people will make the event more profitable and make it something the members want to continue in the future.

Members will also be proudly wearing their new polo shorts - the most tangible result of the branding process! Members not in the program have been asking for shirts as well, and that is exactly the reaction I was hoping for to drive the continuation of this program.

They will get their chance Monday. The final activity of my workplan is to execute an Ownership Empowerment Seminar to introduce Marusacco's new brand formally, and expand our pilot program. Actually my job for the day is to give the welcome and introduction in the beginning, then sit back and enjoy. We invited all 250 members of the Sacco, but I feel like 150 may come. Either way this will be an awesome weekend, I love seeing results! So I'm off to Marusacco to distribute more shirts!!

Which Came First the Hen or the Egg?

Inspired and conflicting conversations can be so interesting, yet often leave me at the end of a group discussion feeling like we all still walk away with our own opinions and without any enlightenment or consensus. Saturday FSD hosted a Micro Enterprise Financing in Uganda talk with presentations from GESI interns from Northwestern University and a paper presentation by a Mr. Fred Muwaya, a professor from Busoga University.

The group discussion that followed consisted mostly of remarks, concerns and comments from Busoga University students with a few FSD intern comments here and there with a question, clarification, or observation. My favorite clarification was the GESI intern who claimed that Uganda should not look to America's saving culture as an example, considering how America does not have a culture for saving... To which, our moderator commented, "So they aren't better than us... " I thought it was so hilarious.

Anyways, the conversation topic focused around closing the gap between microfinance institutions and the micro enterprises they offer services too. Enter the circular philosophical question; which comes first savings or financing? The hen or the egg? Several people claimed the financing comes first, in order to receive capital to begin saving regularly.

I disagree. From my experiences, (and according to many banks and MFI policies) members need to achieve a certain level of savings before taking out loans. At Marusacco, members can take loans up to three times that of their savings. In addition for providing the MFI with capital to access loans at a better rate, I think it trains members in long term business planning strategies. They need to learn how to assess risks and set goals for future growth. But I also do not claim that that is the only or right answer.

Cultural changes take time, and need to be decided by the people of said cultural community. Similarly, I do not think that asking short term American interns how we can address these challenges is very efficient or sustainable. Someone needs to lead the change - and a sustainable change for Uganda will come from Ugandans who accept responsibility, refuse corruption, and welcome the challenges and costs in pursuit of long term prosperity.

So wait why am I here again? Well, that is a philosophical train of jumbled thoughts for another blog.

Wait - I Actually Have to Work Too?

Amid the excitement of being in a foreign country, have no fear: implementing my project for the SACCO is underway!

All the interns in our program have to create a workplan to address a problem in their organization and community. When I first got to my SACCO, I began my needs assessment/asset mapping of the organization, during which I would identify the problem that my work plan would address.

What I found is that my SACCO can't make loans sometimes because it has very little working capital; and the members have very little savings culture. They not only distrust the SACCO, but they also think that a person has to be rich to save effectively. Lack of working capital is really harming the SACCO, and forcing them to take out a loan from another lending organization to stay afloat. Most of the time, the loan repayment to that organization exceeds their operational costs - and my "little bank" hasn't made a profit the entire year.

My work plan is hopefully going to kill two birds with one stone: giving the SACCO more working capital and building savings culture for the members. We are going to make simple wooden boxes with padlocks and slits in the top. These boxes will be distributed to a pilot group of members, groups, and schools. Members will deposit their savings in the boxes, and at the end of every week, the loan officer will come with a key to the households and collect the savings. Before members can get the boxes, we will have two training sessions to educate the participants on savings importance and other financial literacy skills. If the pilot program takes off, the SACCO should have savings deposits of at least USH 6 million at the end of the month.

There are definitely some kinks in the program that we need to work out - mainly being the costs of the boxes. We need 325 boxes; my supervisor and FSD supervisor feel that any number lower won't be profitable. We can't have the members buy their own boxes; since this is a pilot program, the members won't be willing to pay to try it out. Another kink is simply the poor savings culture here in Uganda. People simply won't trust that their money is safe with our organization.

Finally, it's definitely been an experience working in an African office. We have to contact the 300 individuals, 10 schools, and 5 organizations before next Saturday when we have our training. Trying to get my SACCO mobilized has been like pulling teeth; but my hopes are high that we'll develop a sense of urgency soon!

Sorry for the business-y blog post: more fun later on!

LIFOA (Life is Full of Acronyms)

Two days in to work and I already get my first holiday? I hope everyone had a joyous Martyrs Day on Friday.

Leading up to this luxurious three day weekend I began a needs assessment at ORUDE, burying myself in reading material in order to understand the organisation's mission and prior projects. ORUDE has recognized that they would like me to help with some needs in Mafubira. Mafubira is a community which is home to ORUDE's (are you ready for this) MARUSACCO, their most developed SUSALECO. MARUSACCO consists of five VSLG, further divided into FABAs. The SACCOS ORUDE starts and supports work to empower women in rural areas who don't have access to loans from MFI's because of their high risk potential. ORUDE's current Strategic Plan of ERUSCA lays the guidelines of where they want MARUSACCO to be in three years, entering independence from ORUDE, and upon my visit to the community tomorrow I will continue developing a SWOT to see where I can contribute!

My training feels scattered, from stats classes to folkloric studies of what creates a community, to three long days of community development training. I am straining to compound my knowledge in able to create a sustainable impact. My work plan should be set by Wednesday, and I am feeling the immensity of what profound changes can result if I work hard and smart.

I have found the limits and bounds of my project, in my eleven (now ten) week departure and a $200 grant. I want to push those limits, and I just feel tomorrow can't arrive soon enough so I can meet these groups so I can start thinking big (and realistically) for a SMART goal.

To avoid a total muzungu move, I have not taken as many pictures as I would have liked to be able to share, but I do hope to describe in great detail what I have seen and experienced with my host family and throughout this lovely little town, but all these acronyms have worn me out. So that is a blog for another day.

Acronym Key:

MARUSACCO - Mafubira Rural Saving and Credit Co-operative (Limited)

SUSALECO - Sub-county Savings and Lending Co-operative

SACCO - Savings and Credit Cooperative

VSLG - Villiage Saving and Lending Groups

FABA - Farming as a Business Advocates

MFI - Micro finance Institute

ERUSCA - Enhancing Rural Women's Savings and Credit Access

SWOT - Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats

SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely

Four Days To Go!

Between getting all the papers I need, stockpiling the necessities such as medicine, and buying appropriate clothes, the fact that I would be leaving for the other side of the world in four days has snuck up on me.

My name is Mallory, and I will be a junior at the Kelley School of Business. I can't believe it was just three months ago that I received my offer from the Kelley Institute for Social Impact (KISI) to intern with the Foundation for Sustainable Development. Along with Laura, I will be in Jinja, Uganda - the second largest town in the country and gorgeously situated at the source of the Nile river on Lake Victoria.

I'll be working at a microfinance institution called Nakanyoni Good Shepherd Cooperative Saving and Credit Society, which lends small amounts of money to people in the community and provides training and support for them to start their own businesses. This amazing organization also provides child support, HIV/AIDS counseling to their members, and savings services to their clients. Nakanyoni's small loans and business training will create business in the local community, and alleviate poverty by generating income for the family and employing community members. As an International Business major, I'm especially excited for this opportunity to gain business experience working in Africa.

Since school has been out, it's been really

interesting to try and make the transition to living in Africa. All of my clothes have to be below the knee, which means lots of trips to Goodwill to find appropriate dresses for work. Before we left IU for the summer, Laura and I also bought fashionable headbands, since weather is hot and humid. A fair trade find too - very appropriate! (Mallory, left. Laura, right.)

As we get closer to leaving for Africa, I wanted to thank KISI for the opportunity to go overseas, and the Trockman Microfinance Initiative for providing me with a travel grant to help with my internship expenses.

The next blog post will be from Uganda!