More Cash, Less Garbage

By Kai T. Hill and Sebastian Niyungeko

A broad smile is plastered on Marguerite Nyandwi's face as she reflects on her latest financial gains.

What she knows today about communal saving in her Burundian town could have saved her many long and humiliating years of digging through garbage piles for items to sell.

A day's work may have produced a few small finds, such as an empty bottle. But what she got in return didn't amount to nearly enough to feed her family.

With limited access to education and landownership due to her Batwa ethnic lineage, Marguerite was facing a double-edged sword. Batwas, known to be the oldest inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa, are also one of the most marginalized. Sifting through trash was one of the few options residents had.

"In addition to the humiliation which accompanied this kind of work, I managed with great difficulty to have only one thin meal a day for my children. I was very unhappy," says Marguerite.

There had to be a better way, she mused. And thankfully, there was.

Stepping Out of Poverty

Catholic Relief Services has been helping poor families around the world improve their lives through microfinance since 1988. One microfinance method, the Savings and Internal Lending Community (SILC), was introduced in Burundi nearly two years ago in two districts outside of the capital of Bujumbura.

One day Marguerite heard that a group of women in her community had formed a savings and lending group.

"When I heard about the groups doing savings and giving credit, I was attracted because I thought that this could allow me to also have access to credit," she says. "It was at this time that I thought about making a group for the Batwa women with whom I shared the same conditions."

CRS provides training on savings and lending techniques to partner staff and "field agents" who best know these communities and scout for participants.

"SILC mostly targets women because they are the most vulnerable," says Sebastian Niyungeko, the project manager with CRS Burundi.

"The dwellers of the suburbs are very poor people. In fact, most of them are the ones who fled the countryside during the civil war but couldn't afford to live in town," he says. "They had no access to financial services and they will never meet the conditions to get credit from a bank."

Credit Where It's Due

Savings groups consist of 10 to 25 members, who may convene in any open space, even under a tree, to pool their savings and disburse loans. Five of the members head the group and organize the meetings. Minimum savings amounts, commonly around 50 cents, are based on what the poorest member of the group can afford. The groups also set aside contingency funds to help with the burden of unexpected disasters or medical needs. Once the groups are up and running, field agents monitor the process for 10 to 12 months until the group masters the technique and becomes autonomous, explains Niyungeko.

As of March 2008, he says, there were 133 SILC groups organized by CRS partners in Burundi. This year, the project will reach poorer countryside areas.

For many women, microfinance means they can put food on their tables and provide their children a chance at a decent education.

Marguerite found quick success from her saving activities. In only a few weeks, she was able to secure a small amount of credit. She used the money to start a business, reselling various necessities at the market. With more income, she no longer goes to the trash dump, and can provide her family with three meals a day. She's now looking forward to renting land for rice farming.

"I intend to make a profit of [about $35] after I have paid back my debt. If things continue to go forward the way I wish, I could even build myself a small house within the next year."

Kai T. Hill is an associate web producer for CRS. She works at the Baltimore headquarters.

Sebastian Niyungeko is a project manager for CRS Burundi