“Women of WORTH” in East Africa

WORTH is an innovative microfinance and women's empowerment program through which women generate savings, teach themselves to read and write, and gain access to training and loans for growing small businesses-simply by building on their own resources and self-worth. Through WORTH women in rural areas where there are no financial services form "savings and loan groups" of 15-25 members. The women meet on a weekly basis to deposit savings, to practice literacy and numeracy skills, and to participate in workshops on issues from business to HIV/AIDS to human trafficking. As the collective savings fund grows women in the group begin to take out loans to support income-generating activities. The rest of the group gains by earning interest on these loans. The Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) first started WORTH in Kenya in collaboration with Pact International and has since expanded to Tanzania and Uganda with support from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It has already helped more than 15,000 women start savings groups, and thousands more women and youth have since created groups on their own. In Tanzania and Uganda SAWSO also initiated WORTH programs designed to support Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) by generating income for female-headed households who care for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. Here is the story of one caregiver who has discovered renewed worth.

Alexanderena N.

A strong and very proud woman, Alexanderena is eager to share her positive experiences and successes with the WORTH program. With 60 years of life experience, she has a lot to reflect upon. Her eyes light up when she talks, and it is obvious that this program has made a huge difference in her life.

At the beginning of the interview she proudly writes her long name on a piece of paper without hesitation - quite a feat for a woman with little education and only four months of literacy training. When asked about her favorite things in WORTH, Alexanderena says that she appreciates having regular meetings. Her son died from HIV/AIDS, and his wife fled town, leaving Alexanderena with custody of all eight of their children. As a grandmother caring for orphans, she values the support of other "women of WORTH" during literacy and banking days. Meetings are something she looks forward to and remind her that she isn't alone with her significant family and financial responsibilities. She runs a basic canteen in her village to offset her household expenses and she frequently gets business advice from other women in her group.

Her time with other WORTH women also reminds her of her own strength, and her capability to change her life. After joining WORTH, Alexanderena immediately realized the power of the program. She was encouraged enough to contact her absentee daughter-in-law and convinced her to return to their village and join WORTH too. The children's mother and Alexanderena work together on their literacy skills and encourage one another to keep saving. They have found a way between each other to provide for the children's basic needs, school fees, and school supplies. The school-aged children are now all able to go back to school and the women feel confident that when the time comes, they will be able to help all eight attend both primary and secondary school. The experience has also strengthened Alexanderena's relationship with her husband, who boasts about how they are able to care for so many grandchildren, keep savings in the bank, and even expand their canteen business with loans from the group.

Changing the Lives of Vulnerable Children
The beauty and effectiveness of this unique program is that empowering women does more than just increase their incomes; it helps the women's groups develop a new sense of "worth" that changes the way they see themselves and what they can do for their communities. In addition to caring for vulnerable children in their own households many of the WORTH groups have established OVC Funds in their groups that provide funding for school fees and uniforms, food and even medical care to the most vulnerable children in their communities. Using the entrepreneurial skills they have gained, most of the women run a group business specifically designed to generate money to support the OVC Fund. To date, hundreds of WORTH groups have started OVC Funds and helped nearly 17,000 vulnerable children in East Africa. For rural women who used to struggle just to make ends meet this is remarkable display of resilience and enterprise, and like Alexanderena, the women will be the first to tell how proud they are to have become women of WORTH in their communities.