Sorry I don’t have an update prepared, but I did think I would put up a little informational post explaining what these “savings groups” I keep talking about actually are. Here is the response I gave to the above question when asked it by my Aunt.

Q. What are savings groups?

A.Savings groups are basically a tool for helping people that are in very unstable environments and/or extremely poor environments to be able to access lump sums of money. These lump sums are often the difference between life and death, education or ignorance, and eating vs. starvation for people that have very little income. It’s hard for very poor people to save money, so even when they have a decent (relatively) income they find that they can’t survive. There are several types of savings groups. One is called a Rosca. The way this works is that you have a group of people who meet every week and bring a set amount of money to put into the pot. Each week, one of the group members gets to take the whole pot and use it for whatever they might need it for. Medical expenses, school fees, business capital….whatever. They keep meeting until everyone has had their turn getting the pot. Another common form of savings group is called the Asca. These are the kind I’m studying here. They are groups that meet and save and put a set amount into the pot each week. The difference is, though, that they don’t give out the pot each week. Instead they save it and group members can take loans out from the pot. The group decides whether or not to give the loan and as well the interest rate they will charge. They don’t have to have collateral, usually, but the social pressure and the fact that they have been putting money into this group will almost always ensure that they repay their loan. At the end of a set period of time they take the money that is in the pot, which is the savings + the interest and give it back equally to each member. In this method, they can even earn interest (though small) on their savings. The cool thing about savings groups is that they target the poorest of the poor (you can have a savings group anywhere with any amount of money) and they don’t require outside capital or oversight. They are very empowering, and for the local church they can be a serious tool for preaching the gospel to their community members. Here in Rwanda at the group meetings they pray for each other, have an emergency fund for the group members, and do reconciliation activities for continued post-genocide reconciliation. Really cool stuff. The stories of how these groups have ministered here will make a believer out of anyone, I’m quite certain.