The SCA in Lower Shire
Hope for a better tomorrow

Floods have hit Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts in Malawi many times, resulting in loss of people’s lives and property, as well as causing serious food insecurity. These two districts are in the Shire Valley, at the south end of Malawi. These floods have contributed to famine in the area, and also the declaration of Malawi as a state of national disaster. However, while many people seek ways to mitigate the impacts of these calamities, , members of various savings and credit associations (SCA) in the region are living with hope for a better tomorrow.

Through SCAs, people are able to build up capital for sustainable businesses, build strong houses that withstand floods, buy food for future use, and create social communities for dependence and cooperatives . The SCA meetings also give people time to pray, worship God and grow in spirit.  

Fainess Kaudzu, a mother of two, Priscilla and Olama, is a member of Tikondane savings group at Kakoma Church of Central Africa Presbytery (CCAP) in Chikwawa. She joined the savings group in November 2015 in order to boost her tailoring business, which she conducts at home. She has a sewing machine and tailors as means of earning money to support her family. Her husband, Wilson Kaudzu, is a teacher at Kakoma Community Day Secondary School, and together they provide for the needs of their family.

Fainess Kaudzu and her family at their home in Kakoma, Chikwawa

Tikondane savings group is comprised of 8 women who meet at Kakoma CCAP every Saturday. The members borrow money from the pool of group savings and repay with interest within a few weeks. The members use these loans to boost their small scale businesses. Fainess Kaudzu takes small loans to buy materials for her business. “I buy pieces of cloth and make clothes that I sell at a profit,” says Kaudzu. “My husband and I are now able to provide for all needs for our two children, and also help with community development initiatives such as contributions for roads rehabilitation and addition of classrooms at Kakoma Primary School.”

Kaudzu has future plans of building a modern house in her home village in Zomba District. She says this dream will soon come true through her participation in the savings group. The group plans to invest its accumulated savings in pig farming in order to increase productivity of the group’s savings. “As a group, if we do a big business, which we can do because we have a reliable source of capital, we will be able to generate more profit. More profit will mean larger share out in the end ,” says Kaudzu with a wide smile. “Pigs are easy to raise as they feed on almost everything, and markets are found easily with good prices  to enable selling at good profits”. Kaudzu further says that pig farming would be a symbol of women empowerment in the region, and serve as a model for others to follow.

Fainess Kaudzu is an Inspirator who has broken the barrier of traditional belief that tailoring is work for men

Kaudzu also commends that her savings group has become fountain of hope for its members and will be an example to the whole community. “I like our savings group because, apart from savings, we also get a chance to hear and share the Word of God,” she says.

Savings and Credit Associations of HOPE International and its partners are uniquely distinguished because of the spiritual integration in their operations, providing its clients and members with both physical and spiritual support while they take giant steps out of perpetual poverty.

“Now we have hope for a brighter tomorrow, knowing that every step we take, we take with God on our side,” concluded Kaudzu.