The Self Help Group Approach

Bamporeze, our partner organisation, advocates the self-help group (SHG) approach - a method of development proven to promote self-sustainability, empower vulnerable community members and encourage financial independence. It was an idea that captivated us as a team during a general introduction to Bamporeze's work, leaving us desirous to learn more and eager to support the formation and expansion of SHGs in Rulindo.

Put simply, an SHG is a collective of people who provide mutual support to each other - for anything from mental wellbeing to economic security. It is the latter that forms the focus for Bamporeze's SHGs, but not exclusively so. There are a multiplicity of benefits that derive from bringing the residents of Rulindo together in these collectives: a sense of community empowerment, the potential for new business networks, new skills acquired from book keeping, meeting administration and group leadership, to name a few. Moreover, SHGs are a highly sustainable form of community development: once the groups have been created and their members trained they are left to run themselves, unreliant on outsiders for financial support or guidance.

Bamporeze has adopted the SHG approach in Rulindo to increase the socio-economic capacity of those living in extreme rural poverty, bringing these people together to form a homogenous collective aware of their rights. It can be an extremely effective method of development but only when carried out in the right way, to specific guidelines and exacting standards, something which soon became apparent during our initial training and later fieldwork.

Angelique visiting host homes to identify those who could benefit from a Self Help Group Approach

Our first task was to conduct home visits in our two target villages, Rusagara and Nyamugali. The purpose of this was twofold: to assess the eligibility of residents for SHG membership and to raise awareness of the SHG concept within the two communities. It soon became apparent that the first of these objectives was somewhat redundant - 'the poorest of the poor' (our target as stated by Bamporeze) could be found in almost all of the homes we visited. None of the houses had electricity or running water, and many consisted of only one or two small rooms - a stark contrast from the host homes we have been living in, and an abrupt realisation of the extreme poverty prevalent in rural Rulindo. So our task instead became one of awareness raising, informing community members and collecting the contact details of those interested.

We managed to visit seventy-seven homes between us - a feat given the hilly terrain and scorching sun. This was not without its difficulties. On reaching a home it was not uncommon to find it empty, or at least uninhabited by any women with children, the criteria for membership stated by Bamporeze. Language was also an issue for UK volunteers - many of the people we visited were illiterate, let alone able to speak English. But despite these issues we succeeded in almost reaching our team target of eighty homes, an achievement that was to reveal its success in the first SHG meeting the following week.

Bamporeze helping those who want to join a SHG with wealth ranking and social mapping exercises

Now that we had a large pool of interested community members, we needed to divide them into smaller groups of 15-20 people based on location and socio-economic status - the former to ensure ease of meeting and the latter to promote trust and unity within the groups. A representative from Bamporeze led this process, first establishing the geography of the community using a method called social mapping. The women, baring stickers with their name and number of children, were asked to make a village 'map' by standing next to their neighbours. Next was the trickier task of dividing the community by wealth. This time the women stood in a long line while the Bamporeze representative read aloud various criteria against which they could differentiate their economic wellbeing, starting with cow ownership (which applied to all women) and ending with car ownership (which applied to only one woman). The women who satisfied the stated criteria at each stage would step forward, gradually stratifying them into divisible socio-economic groups.

While successful in the end, with the formation of seven new SHGs, this first meeting was challenging. An impressive turnout of over 140 women exceeded our expectations, but also presented difficulties in organising and coordinating such a large meeting. We also found that the women were reluctant to divide themselves on the basis of financial wellbeing, perhaps fearful that admitting to possessing wealth may disqualify them from Bamporeze's SHG model. But in overcoming these difficulties we managed to exceed our target for SHG formation and we all left this first meeting feeling positive for those to follow.

Our first SHG that International Service was a part of forming

Since the first meeting we have held several more to consolidate the newly established SHGs. The basic principles of each SHG have been established, explaining that members must sit in an inclusive circle, that everyone must actively participate, and that leadership should change on a weekly rotational basis. Each group has elected two secretaries to be trained by Bamporeze staff and has chosen a name, often embodying the principles of trust, unity and togetherness. Crucially, members have also decided on the weekly amount they will each contribute to the group saving pot, usually around 100RWF (equivalent to 10p) due to the low economic status of the targeted communities. Once ground rules had been agreed upon (for example penalties for late payment or failure to turn up to a meeting) and regular meeting times arranged, the groups were ready to run themselves.

With a little support from future cohorts, we hope that these new SHGs will financially empower the women of Rusagara and Nyamugali, equipping them with the means to save, to borrow and to generate wealth. The alleviation of poverty will bring greater rights security to the women of Rulindo, ultimately strengthening the community as a whole for generations to come.