The Power of Ten: How women are pulling and pooling together

PLAY

The Power of Ten: How women are pulling and pooling together

PLAY

The Power of Ten: How women are pulling and pooling together

(Jisaidie Women Group member prepare for a meeting. Their Chairperson Lynn calls meeting to order. It is on a Wednesday, the day members meet to collect and distribute funds among beneficiaries.)

LYNN: Hello everyone! Today is an important day for us. Our business shall resume shortly after prayers and pleasantries.

CHRIS: (Chris is the secretary. pointing at a volunteer): Yes, Maureen will pray for us.

MAUREEN: Oh God we humbly come before you this bright morning thanking you for the gift of life. We would like to be helped by you in our deliberations. Jesus help our children, our husbands, our cattle, and our shambas. In Jesus name we pray.( All say amen).

(The meeting has been attended by 20 members. 17 of them are women while 3 are men. Women dominate the leadership potions.)

LYNN: Order! order!

MERCY and JULIET :( the two peep into their phones and hi five. Other members laugh at their excitement. Soon the meeting is called to order.)

LYNN: Quickly Mr. Secretary will take the minutes. So let us give our agenda in the order of priority.

MERCY: Pombe. (Chris notes down the agenda).

BENSON: Defaults.

JULIET: Exchange program stroke exposure tours.

…………………………….Commercial Break 1……………………

(Pacing up and down in an empty boardroom. Mary arranges the chairs for the executive directors of Jamii bank to hold meeting shortly. The manager arrives as Mary finishes her work.)

JOY: I am afraid Mary we will not use the boardroom today. We have consulted and decided that today we will go to train Jisaidie Women Group on table banking.

MARY: (feeling disappointed) It’s okay. Let me finish up and lock the boardroom. I will be at the office kitchen just in case you need me.

(Joy, David and Dan are the managers of the bank. They are strapping themselves up to go to the field where they will meet the beneficiaries of their project. They are driven by Susan.)

JOY (as she buckles up) : Being a successful woman is a curse.

DAN: What do you mean?

JOY: Come on stop acting out. You know what you men do…….

DAVID: I find dealing with lady bosses very hectic. They become drank with power and I never like to cross their line.

SUSAN: Today don’t be stormy like jana. Si you guys brainstorm on how you are going to help those women we are meeting. Three topics I never touch even with a ten foot pole: relationships, religion and politics. Everyone seems to have an opinion.

(They arrive at the site. Women group members led by their chairperson welcome the visitors with song and dance.)

(The Chairlady and her team ululate and whistle as they shake hand and shoulders to welcome the bankers).

(Soon the celebrations settle and the group rearranges chairs to accommodate the bankers.)

LYNN: Team, welcome our visitors with applause. Today we are really blessed. Without much ado, let me introduce them to you then we will continue.

The lady in a red blouse is their boss. She is called Joy and is our mentor. She will greet you and say more about herself after which she will introduce her team. (Does so)

LYNN: As you can see madam boss, our group has majority shareholder as women. It works for cash from donors who fund our projects then we buy assets. Now we have assisted members educate their sons and daughters, take their relatives who are unwell to hospital and even make sanitary pads from banana leaves which supplement our incomes.

DAVID: Banana what? I thought those are for wrapping tobacco!

(Joy overrules David.)

JOY: David, we are in serious business. Pay attention to the tips. If you drink all your money and spoil the rest to mistresses people here got a life. And a great one at that. ( David is embarrassed)

DAVID: Go on young lady. Of course I was not serious.

(The secretary Chris chips in)

CHRIS: Madam Manager, thing is we identified a problem were our daughters and some of our members here could not afford to buy commercial sanitary pads. With indigenous knowledge from that mama there (pointing) she taught us how it is done and the rest is history.

JOY: Awesome!

…………………………….Commercial Break 2………………

JOY: What were you saying Chris?

CHRIS: Now we use the apprenticeship for producing pads for subsistence and sale. Additionally we have saved in a Sacco about Sh.600, 000 which we loan out to our members.

JOY: How does the table banking work?

CHRIS: The account we opened with you we use it to deposit the collected funds. Luckily your company does not charge exorbitant rates. Our policy is that if you borrow Sh. 100 you return it with a 10 per cent interest. We call it the power of ten and it works. The profit is ploughed back after the table system completes one cycle then we start borrowing all over again.

LYNN: Tell her too about how our husbands’ and children’s’ lives have changed.

CHRIS: Juliet and Mercy have classic case studies they will narrate after we go for tea break.

LYNN: Sure. Let’s go for the snacks. 15 minutes and we come back.

…………………………..Commercial Break 3…………

(After 15 minutes. Mercy and Juliet are ready to speak.)

LYNN: Let me take this golden opportunity to invite Mercy to tell her story.

MERCY: Hello people; I am not the kidding type. This is real. True story. Before I joined Jisaidie Women Group nilikuwa nakosa pesa ya unga. My teenage son used to beg for money to take her girlfriend out but his father had nothing since he is jobless. Being a farmer I relied on rearing goats and by then they were very few. I have since increased my herd of goats from two to thirty thanks to this project. (Applause and standing ovation).

As I expand my farming business I want to tell you that be focused and don’t squander opportunities. Especially if you have people of goodwill like the ones gathered here today.

LYNN: Thank you Mercy. I hope you have touched someone with your inspiring story.

JULIET: I no longer hide my savings under the pillow. Pillow is for comfort not a safe. I would tell my husband that he handles the pillow with care since it may lose some of my coins stuffed inside (crowd laughs).

Anyway, we had romantic nights but our money was idle. Let me tell you. If when you sleep your money is also sleeping you will never be rich. As you sleep your money is your watchman. It should be working somewhere. Mine is in the revolving funds at this chama. In future don’t be surprised if I go for stocks. Expecting the unexpected makes the expected to be unexpected and spoils the surprise. For me I tell you, don’t expect the expected. Free your imagination. Dream! Thank you.