Josephine in front of the small shop she was able to open with the support of THRIVEGulu and her group.
Josephine is a member of Ribe Aye Teko – Unity is Strength. This is her second year in the VSLA group.
She attended school in Gulu until S4 (secondary school), but then her family could no longer afford to pay her school fees and she had to drop out. She then started cleaning people’s houses in order to earn her living. After she got married, she and her husband would work together with others in the village to plant beans, millet, and groundnuts to sell.
Her husband learned from friends about THRIVEGulu’s VSLA group that meets close to where they live. He joined the group, and then convinced Josephine to join as well. Now she and her husband are saving together. “Today my husband and I are challenging one another in saving. Which made it competitive among us. My family lives in harmony because there is peace and love in my home.”
Each year they plan together what they will do with their savings. One year they planted Mahogony trees to sell for timber. The next year they used the savings to start a small business. THRIVEGulu provided support and training to the group in business and life skills which enabled her to start her business. She also used what she received from the seed grant THRIVEGulu provided to the group to start her business. She now runs a small shop which sells staples like bread, sugar, soap, and stationary.
“I love to be in the group because whenever I need money I would borrow from groups saving to add on my business. These days I feel somehow released from poverty.”
This year, Josephine and her husband are planning to build a 6-room self-contained house. They have already bought iron sheets and bags of cement which they have stored in the hut they live in now, ready to begin building.
“I see the sun rising toward my life. I was helpless before THRIVEGulu brought us together to be in our group. THRIVEGulu made my future brighter.”
