No one left behind
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- Published on Saturday, October 18, 2014
By Sue Klassen
This past week was Co-op Week; I hope some of you were able to stop by your local co-op or credit union and possibly get some cake and coffee. In celebration of this week, I would like to share my involvement with fellow co-operators from around the world.
You may remember a year or so ago I took part in a credit union coaching mission with Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA). I travelled to Mongolia with a team of eight other credit union professionals to work alongside our Mongolian partners. In honor of Co-op week, I would like to follow up on my experiences.
This past winter I had the privilege to participate in the program once again. This time I went to Africa with a team of 22 from all levels of credit union operations and three of which are with the Irish League of Credit Unions. We were divided up to work in three countries, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. I was a member of Team Uganda.
Since my return I have been asked a lot of questions, the most common: 鈥淲hich of the two trips did I prefer?鈥� My answer? There is no answer. Each experience, while having the same purpose, was unique unto itself.
Both share an overwhelming enthusiasm for the co-operative movement. Both came about out of necessity through extreme poverty. And both are babies in the credit union system, by our experience in North America. That is where CCA and Canadian coaches come in. CCA is dedicated to ending poverty around the world through co-operative action. Our mission as coaches is to provide leadership and technical support to credit unions in our host countries. Most recently, Uganda.
My experiences in Africa took me a little further back on the evolutionary scale as credit unions go. I worked alongside my Canadian partner, Graham Boulding of Vancity in Victoria. We worked in conjunction with the Ugandan Co-operative Alliance and two SACCOs (Savings and Credit Co-operatives), SAO Zirobwe (rural) and Wakiso Self Help (urban). Both were born out of a need to care for war and HIV orphans. Communities banded together to grow cash crops to raise the funds needed to provide such care. Farmers organized committees to plan cropping. They pooled outputs to create more marketability.
Are you seeing a trend? Sounding familiar?
Out of this came the need for credit and paying for inputs after harvest. Savings and loan groups were formed, which in turn became the SACCO. The original methodology was group loans whereby members guaranteed each other鈥檚 loan. Each borrower contributes 20 per cent of the loan as compulsory savings. Imagine that. Anybody remember similar situations here in Canada way back?
To build their savings, the group meets each month and each member is required to pay 10,000 Ugandan Shillings ($4 Canadian at the time of my visit). Those who cannot meet the compulsory requirement, whether it be their savings or perhaps a loan payment, are covered by the other members with the understanding that their turn to repay will come. This way 鈥渘o one is left behind,鈥� the theme of our visit. There is strength and security when members approach their SACCO with requests for assistance.
Due to distance and transportation, SACCO staff make house calls, on motor bikes, to collect proceeds of savings and loan payments which are disbursed as directed by the members on behalf of the group. It is a wonder to witness, and an honor and a privilege to take part in this level of co-operation and the way it is working to lift people out of poverty.
I want to commend and congratulate my fellow credit union and co-operative members in Westman and across Canada. Just by your membership you have taken the first step not only in your own communities, but around the world. Next time you attend your local credit union or co-op, ask them how contributions are working through your membership. Keep this conversation going and in doing so, create an awareness of the projects ongoing between CCA and our global partners. Did I mention that the 鈥淪AO鈥� in SAO Zirobwe SACCO stands for Sharing an Opportunity?
In collaboration with Canadian International Development Agency, this and other missions are organized by CCA and funded through donations and fundraising efforts of the Co-operative Development Foundation. For more information, or if you would like me to visit and talk to your membership or organization, I can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
