If you save more than Sh20 a day, stop here

What would you do with Sh20? Probably not much. To 46-year-old Teresa Atieno Ajwang, however, this coin is her life-line. It pays her rent, her six children’s school fees and settles the hospital bill should a member of her family fall sick.

How is this possible? You ask.

Teresa belongs to a group of 10 women who live in Githurai, a low-cost estate on the outskirts of the city centre. Each of these women, all casual labourers, has been putting aside Sh20 each day, for the past two years, which they save for a rainy day.

It is from this valuable pool that they dip in case a member needs urgent financial assistance.

A few months ago, for instance, one of them was admitted to Kiambu District Hospital. The women used this fund to pay for her medication and hospital bill, which came to about Sh5,000.

To these women, such an amount is a big deal, bearing in mind that some make as little as Sh25 daily.

“I have no idea how I would have paid that bill because I did not have that kind of money… I don’t know what I would do without these women,” says Lucy Awour, who washes clothes for a living.

Akwamo Women’s Group begun in 2008. Initially, they operated like any other merry-go-round, where members would receive money in turns.

But they soon realised that the money was not making an impact in their lives — they still went to bed on empty stomachs, sometimes.

“We realised that all of us were struggling to feed our families, so we decided to start buying each other food instead,” explains Teresa, the group’s chairlady. She operates a hair salon just outside the rented room she calls home.

Before, each of them relied on the so-called ‘uchumi ya kadogo,’ where one buys necessities such as cooking fat, tea leaves and sugar in the tiny quantities. But in the long run, they realised that this was actually more expensive, so they each decided to start contributing Sh200 every week, which they would then pool to buy foodstuff such as maize meal and cooking fat in bulk.

“Each of us gets a bale of maize meal and a box of cooking fat in turns, this way, we only have to worry about getting money to buy vegetables for that day’s meal,” explains Cathrine Atavi, the group’s assistant chairlady. She sells roast maize and washes clothes.

Should a member’s supply of unga or cooking fat run out midway, she is allowed to borrow from one who has some to spare, which she then returns when she receives her ration.

Initially, they would meet at each member’s home in turns, but some of their husbands were not receptive to the idea, and forbade them from holding meetings in their houses.

“They dismissed our group, and said we were a bad influence on each other, but now they appreciate what we’ve been able to achieve,” explains Catherine.

Now the group holds its weekly Sunday meetings at Catherine’s house.

Like any other organised group, they have a chairlady, her assistant, secretary and treasurer. Age, tribe and marital status are disregarded – the oldest is 46, the youngest 24. Some are single parents; others are married, while a few are single. All are drawn from various communities.

Their long-term plans include starting an income-generating business for each of them.

“None of us want to wash other people’s clothes or sell maize by the roadside all our lives, we, too, want to live decently like other Kenyans,” explains Catherine.

Akwamo Women’s Group is just one of the many upcoming ones in the country bringing together Kenyans who fall within the low income bracket. They are proof that, indeed, kidogo kidogo hujaza kibaba, or as the Peruvian proverb says, little by little one walks far.

Take Wega Hope Group, for instance, is a group made up of 24 individuals who were displaced from their homes in Burnt Forest, Rift Valley, during the last general elections.

Every individual in this group once lived in their own home. Now the former landowners rent low-cost houses in Nderi, Zambezi, Kiambu District. They say had it not been for this group, most of them would still be living on handouts.

Mary Wambui’s story might as well be every other member’s story. Her family, which lived in Kamuyu Village in Burnt Forest, left behind 15 acres of land and a home that comfortably housed the family of nine children.

“We lost everything,” says the 23-year-old.

Initially, the group relied on handouts from strangers because they did not salvage anything from their homes, which were burnt down during the clashes.

Now, she and her family, who have settled in Nderi area, Zambezi, Kiambu District, perform menial jobs such as tilling shambas and washing clothes to eke out a living.

It has certainly been a difficult transition for this young woman and her fellow group members, but they have vowed never to borrow or go hungry again, and thanks to their group, they and their children can afford a decent meal every day.

Each member contributes Sh30 every week, and the pooled amount is then used to buy food for members who have nothing to eat or have no money to pay rent.

They also hold emergency meetings to raise money in case a one of them, or a family member needs urgent medical help and has no money to go to hospital, or if their children have been kicked out of school.

“Casual labour is uncertain, so it is possible to go without work for a whole week,” explains the group’s chairman, David Maina, pointing out that in such instances, the money from this kitty comes in handy.

Besides assisting each other, they also visit one another’s parents regularly, bearing gifts such as foodstuff and money.

Maina, explains that most of them are old, therefore, starting over is near impossible. The group also helps looks after orphaned children in the community that embraced them, and should a neighbour lose a loved one, they also contribute towards burial expenses.

“Alone, you can only do little, but together, you can achieve so much more,” says Maina.

Another group taking advantage of the limitless potential of pooled resources is Wirutiri Women’s group in Gitaru sub-location, Kiambu District.

The registered group is composed of 22 women who contribute Sh70 every month.

The money is used to buy members food in bulk, which comes in handy when their children come home for school holidays.

They also buy one another household stuff such as sufurias, cups and plates.

“Our needs are different, so we help one another buy what we lack,” explains Mary Njoroge, the group’s chairlady.

A few months ago, the group started another contribution of Sh100 a week, which they bank. They lend the money to members who then repay with an interest of 10 percent.

“We realised that besides food and utensils, some of us were having a difficult time paying school fees for our children, so we decided to set up a separate account for these big needs,” Mary explains.