Naatum women group is in Mukogodo west ward,Laikipia North sub-county. It was started back in 2010 as a merry-go-round to help women build houses for each other ,support their small businesses and take their children to school.They have been doing Aloe farming to produce products like soaps and shampoos and also Bee-keeping but it has proven unsustainable due to lack of market.
IMPACT has supported them to get sub-grants since it started to help with their farming,they are also beneficiaries of solar lamps to help their children read at night.This year we introduced a new concept to them "Village Saving and Lending Association"which has proven more sustainable.Within 30 weeks the 32 women have managed to raise ksh 221,000 which basically comes from their small businesses like selling charcoal.Everyone saves a certain percentage of money every week and take loans which come with interest,from their comments this has been of great help to them.
Noonkishu Sarioyo;member no.8 says "i took ksh.2000 to take back my children who were send out of school due to school fees,i took a second loan to take one of my children to the hospital when he fell sick"
Mary Kambush;member no.2 on the other hand says She took a loan to buy a young he goat which she will feed and sell later at a higher price and she also restocked her small business at home
Another member 'Mrs Nootulan'took a loan to help her daughter who got a child with maternal care.
The VSLA has proven to be very successful and of great help to the women in the community.This week they did a share out and most of them are planning to boost their businesses and some even start new businesses in preparation for next year.
Mrs Jackline Kenge ,member no.16 says She plans to start a chicken rearing business
This women say VSLA is a fantastic approach because they used to depend entirely on their husbands even to buy salt was a challenge,sometimes they even used to borrow money from people