A Community Working Together with their Local Leaders and Salama SHIELD Foundation to Achieve a Common Goal.
The people of Kamengo village together with the local leaders of the area have become a model village for working together to achieve a common goal. It is unusual for people in a village to come together to achieve a common goal. In most cases and during these times, it is hard to find a community working together as there is always rivalry where everyone goes about their busines without thinking about others. Salama SHIELD Foundation under its philosophy of ‘mbuntu’ – I am who are am because of others”, and through its micro-finance program has been educating communities where it operates about the good of working together as a community and in unity for the development of their families and communities.
Eight seven (87) households from Kamengo village in Lyantonde district were at a dilemma faced with eviction from the land they had lived on for many years yet many were peasant farmers living on less than one dollar a day and with no collateral to secure a loan from financial institutions to pay off the landlord and bank to avoid eviction from their land. Some of the women in these households were widows, and single parents who had never been to a bank, nor had any idea of getting a loan from any institution. Some had this to say; “I was afraid to go to the bank because I never knew how to read and write yet there are many forms to fill for the loan application. I feared the loan process by the bank where you had to first open an account and save a certain amount of money for a certain period of time before accessing a loan. It was hard for me since I had no money to save and open up an account. I was also scared of the high interest rates which the banks are charging for loans.’’
Faced with eviction, and with no hope of paying off the landlords, the people of Kamengo realized that they were aiming at one common goal of securing their land. They decided to work together as a team than each working on their own to pay off the land lard as some rich individuals had done. They approached their LC I Chairperson for guidance who also approached the LC III Chairperson. The LCIII chairperson was able to approach the landlords and bank to negotiate for a settlement where it was agreed on how the community members would pay bank. Having decided to work together, they selected a committee of five members that also included the LC III Chairperson and the Kamengo LC I Chairperson. The committee was to mediate between the bank and the community about the payment of the loan to the bank. That committee was also responsible for ensuring that each community member’s piece of land was measured with the help of the district land surveyor and to set the amount to be paid by each member for her or his land.
The community members of Kamengo village appreciate the support from Salama SHIELD Foundation, which had enabled them to secure their land and gain ownership over their land. They also mentioned the good training received from Salama SHIELD in financial and business management, group dynamics and working as a community with a purpose, which enabled them to borrow money, use it well, pay back without any difficult., being hard working and responsible towards each other.
Being a group model, the members from Kamengo shared their testimonies of working together for a common goal, “we have became friends with each other and started caring for each other. We have supported each other and helped when necessary say when a member failed to pay in time, others would come to her rescue to ensure that we all complete payment in time so as to get new loans, complete payment to the bank and landlords to get our land title. We have also learnt that when we join hands together, we can achieve more as we have done through Salama SHIELD. We have also learnt that through working with our local leaders like the LC I Chairperson and LC III Chairpersons, other local government officials and NGOs in our respective areas, when we are working as one community with one voice, we will be assisted to improve on the quality of our lives.”
The LC I Chairperson also stated, “The people in the village have learnt a lot from this problem. They have learnt to work together as a team for a common goal. They have also learnt to cooperate with each other and within their families. The clients would receive loans from SSF and agreed to pay it all the to the land committee without using a single shilling for their own needs. This was done to ensure that they raise the required money in one lumpsum to pay it to the bank and landlords.”
They also recommended that “SSF should continue supporting other vulnerable communities with micro-loans initiatives since there are many vulnerable communities having similar problems, with no collateral to secure loans from financial institutions and faced with eviction from the land they have been surviving on for many years.” They also recommended that “SSF should work with other NGOs to introduce the land advocate teams to fight for people who are chased away from their land especially by the rich people, which has become a common practice these days especially in our rural settings.”
By working as one community with a purpose, they were able to approach and leverage funding from Salama SHIELD Foundation to realize and make their dream come true. The people of Kamengo village have indeed become a model village where the community members work together with their local leaders and with a community-based organization (Salama SHIELD Foundation) to effect change, to sustain their families, communities, and have hope for the future.
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