Meet Milly, our new field volunteer

“Having never been to Africa, my instantaneous reaction was how green it is! My second reaction is how keen everyone is to talk to the ‘mzungu’. It is one thing to learn about Africa in an academic context, but to experience the Ugandan culture and interact with the people brings meaning to the work that you are trying to do. Having driven to remote villages to sit with the women outside their mud huts, it is easy to become invested.

The awesome thing about the VSLA model being implemented, is that it is clear that it works, and that it offers a direct solution to poverty in rural areas. It both addresses the problematic of financial accessibility for women but also funnel’s the interest of such loans back into the community as opposed to profiting a bank.

To see that the women involved have voluntarily committed themselves, despite their time consuming roles as a mother amongst other things, is extremely motivating. Witnessing groups of women take ownership over these VSLAs, feels invaluable to be a part of an organisation and a process that is contributing to female empowerment in Uganda.Moreover, that communities want to continue their VSLA independently demonstrates that they feel the positive impact.”