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Published: September 5th 2009
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Moloweni!
I just got back from a fantastic few days in the Eastern Cape. I am absolutely in love with it down there. It is beyond beautiful, and we stayed with the kindest people! I am going to describe the group that I went with and my involvement real quick and then I will get on with the trip!
I went down with the group SaveAct which is the group that I will be doing my research through. SaveAct is a NGO (non-government organization) that has grants from donors like the Ford Foundation to run pilot models of savings and credit in South Africa. That is a pretty basic idea of what they do, but the pilot project that I am working with is called LEAP or Local Economic Action Partnership for Socially and Economically Excluded Groups in Alfred Nzo Municipality. So SAVEAct has taken on partners in the Eastern Cape and together they have helped to support groups of men and women who want to be a part of a savings and credit group. The partner that I will be working with is Massangane which helps people who have HIV/AIDS. They do testing, counseling, transportation to the
Calf on the farm
Right after this we saw another calf who was still wet from being born and was just taking his first few shaky steps! hospital and before the government started Anti-retroviral treatment rollout, Massangane provided ART as well. Together SaveAct and Massangane train groups of people who begin a yearlong savings and credit group and then report on if this model is making a difference in people’s lives. The groups meet monthly and each person contributes money. Out of this pot of money each woman can then take loans and pay them back at a set interest rate. It teaches the women to save as well as giving them access to money at what is still a high interest rate but in a much better situation than the informal moneylenders. At the end of the year the women get a share out comparable to what they put in and then the interest the money gained is split equally. They also have a Social Fund. Each woman contributes a small sum monthly to the Social Fund that is used only in cases of crisis such as if a group member has a death in her immediate family and is unable to pay for the burial. So my focus is to show that this Savings and Credit Group (SCG) is beneficial to people who are living
with HIV and AIDS and to do this I am going to look at food security. The idea is that people with HIV/AIDS need more food and better nutrition regardless if they are on treatment or not. So I will be do interviews of people who are both sick and in the SCG and asking them about their perceived food changes since starting the group, I will also be comparing their current food situation with the current food situation of people living with HIV/AIDS in the same area who are not involved in a SCG. Along with that I will be doing an overview of the program since it is relatively new in South Africa and look at the challenges and benefits of the program from both the eyes of the people who run the program as well as the SCG members. Okay my goal was to make the description short, but I guess that didn’t work, hopefully that all makes sense!
I went down to the SaveAct offices in Matatiele with the person who runs SAVEAct as well as the new woman in charge of their monitoring and evaluating process. It is only a few hour South and
is a beautiful drive. I will not go back down there through the route that we did since I will not be in a huge LandRover with all terrain tires as we were! We stayed with a family member of the man who runs the program on their huge farm. It was so much fun, the couple was in their 70s and more energetic than most 20yr olds I know. We had a great time driving around the farm, spending time with the family as well as eating what must be described as the best meals I have ever eaten. This woman sells her cookbooks to benefit the local hospice and I was lucky enough to come home with a couple recipes. Not only was her meals amazing but she makes everything herself, I loved her homemade yogurt, and her ice cream was amazing! So when we weren’t at the Andersons farm eating and drinking amazing food we were out in the community hard at work. We had multiple meetings with partners both at the SAVEAct offices in Matatiele as well as in the Massangane offices in the community of Xoxazane. I also got to go to a SCG meeting
and see how the women worked. I was thoroughly impressed by their cooperation, record keeping and how all the money was counted out loud by two people. The meeting lasted two hours and much of that was spent recounting money to make sure each time loans were repaid, new loans were issued, or savings were contributed that the money was correct. They also have their money box which goes home with one woman and in order for it to be opened three other women have to bring their keys to take each lock off. The women told me things like how much better their nutrition is, (very beneficial for the validity of my thesis!) how they used their money to rebuild their house, or pay school fees for their children. They definitely had a sense of pride and empowerment about them, one woman told me in particular that before she joined the group her husband handled all their money and she viewed money as troublesome and a burden where as now she feels independent and sees the positive side of money.
I learned so much this week and I am hoping to stay involved in SAVEAct during their next
phase of increased livelihood skills training and classes for those who want to not only save but also take bigger loans to start a business. I love getting to do something that I have studied for, and it really made me feel good that while at all of these meetings I was treated as an equal to those who have 20 years experience on me. When we got back from the Eastern Cape they even asked if I would be able to do some statistical analysis for them! While I am really busy working on my thesis and I already have a part time job as a research assistant, I couldn’t resist! So right now I am working really hard and being somewhat of a hermit but it’s only for a short time and the results are so rewarding! The other part time job I have is for the head of the dept of population studies. I am going to help her on the research she is doing on the process of linking sexual and reproductive health services with HIV/AIDS services. Okay so all of the photos I have are of the landscape in Cedarville/Matatiele and of the cows on
the farm. Ethically I wasn’t ready to take photos of the women at the meeting, but later on in my project I will. I forgot to mention I am also going to training in October for some new participatory learning and action tools that we will be implementing down in the Eastern Cape. After we get trained by a group out of California we will go back down and help the community apply these techniques. The first is to give cameras to people in the community so they can document their reality and what they think is important. Often a question is asked of the people and they try to answer it using their photos. This is something I am volunteering to do and I am so happy that SAVEAct is letting me go to all the trainings and get experience!
I hope everyone is well. I cant believe I have been gone over seven months! By the way Moloweni means hello to all in Xhosa. They speak Xhosa and Setho down in Matatiele so I am working on my X clicks which seem to be the hardest for me! I miss you all!
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sandi
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WOW!!!!
WOW kayse ..that looks like the most amazing place you have been yet...Like I said if I could just click my heels together three times I'd be there in a heart beat. Looks like incredible riding. Thanks for sharing pics Love mom