How Climate Change Affects Women

This blog post was written by Rachel Beale, our Fundraising & Communications Assistant.

Herd of cattle in South Sudan.

Many members in Kenya are experiencing the worst drought the region has seen in 40 years. Others, however, are living through heavy rainfall and extreme flooding. Such unprecedented droughts and flooding have contributed to the loss of livelihoods, food insecurity and malnutrition, and social insecurity of thousands of members across the programmes. The devastating impacts of climate change and such erratic weather are hard to prepare for, and even harder to recover from. 

Even worse, climate change disproportionately affects women. But why does this happen?

In many lower income countries, agriculture is the largest employment sector for women- but in many of the areas where we work, women are not allowed to own the land due to traditional cultural beliefs.When a climate shock disrupts or destroys an agricultural business women are left without an income, without savings or assets to fall back on, and have to find a livelihood elsewhere. 

Women are often the primary caregivers for their children, and sometimes their wider family, so spend more time and energy procuring food, water and shelter. Therefore, during a drought, for example, women may have even more responsibility and pressure to provide for their family in increasingly difficult circumstances. 

Climate shocks threaten the safety of women, increasing the risk of sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking. Women may have to walk further to source food and water, or be forced into sexual exploitation in exchange for goods or services.

In communities where women’s voices are not heard or respected, they may be neglected during the response to a crisis, excluded from decision-making processes, and their needs may not be prioritised. 

78% of Five Talents partner programme members are women, so supporting members to become resilient against climate shocks and crises is a high priority. Business skills training encourages members to plan ahead, diversify their income streams, and purchase climate-proofing equipment (such as rainwater tanks), or climate resilient crops. As Savings Groups are community-led, women are encouraged to take up leadership roles and claim their voice. During a crisis, this means women can be part of the decision-making process, help coordinate responses, and make sure they are given the support they need. Savings Groups enable members to support each other as a fellowship and address crises together. 

We also recognise that women have so much to offer when it comes to combating the impacts of climate change - it is our job to ensure that women are able to put themselves in the best position possible to do so.

Agatha: Building Confidence

This blog post was written by Rachel Beale, our Fundraising & Communications Assistant.

Cover of our 2022 Impact Report: Vision.

With your support our partners were able to transform hundreds of communities last year. Next week we will be releasing our 2022 Impact Report: Vision. Please keep an eye out for the digital version on our website and share it with a friend when it goes live! For now, we’d like to introduce you to one Savings Group member who is featured in the report, Agatha, from Tanzania.

Agatha is 42, married and has 5 children.

“Before joining [my Group] I had to depend on my husband for my family’s financial needs. I tried to establish a business many times but was never able to because of my lack of capital.”

After training in their Savings Group, many members, like Agatha, develop a new vision for their business, their family and even their own future. Sometimes Savings Group members have already started a business when they join, but they do not always have the tools they need to address the challenges their business faces.

Illiteracy, a lack of business skills and access to loans were some key challenges for business owners that communities identified when speaking to our partners. Consequently, when businesses failed as a result of these challenges, the owners were less able to provide for their own families. Our partners train Savings Groups so that they do have the vital tools they need to address those key challenges and can then create businesses that generate lasting impact. Gaining access to capital in her Group enabled Agatha to transform her life.

“When I joined the programme I was finally able to save and then borrow money. I started my business of selling ground nuts, seeds and spices. This changed my life. I manage to pay school fees for my children and I am helping people in my village.

Because I am now a business woman, I am taken more seriously in meetings and can contribute to discussions and decision-making. This has improved my self-worth. I have saved 150,000tzs (£52) and I know my business has a future because my Group is helping me to expand it.”

Access to financial services, skills training and support from her Group have enabled Agatha to turn her vision of becoming a successful business owner into reality.

Learn more about our partners and Savings Group members in our 2022 Impact Report: Vision, coming soon.

Meet Mombasa: Our Newest Programme

Meet Mombasa: Our Newest Programme

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager.

On Thursday, 16 March 2023, we hosted a virtual lunch with Lauzi Mwachiru, the Programme Coordinator of our newest programme in Mombasa, Kenya! We have partnered with the Mombasa Community Development Trust, a local organisation managed through the Mombasa Diocese in the Anglican Church of Kenya. Lauzi and her team were appointed in late 2022, but have already made great progress forming and training Groups!

During our lunch time event we learned more about Lauzi, the passionate head of the programme! She introduced the communities she and her team will support and what life is like in Mombasa Diocese. Lauzi and her team even produced a short video which was shared during the event, where we were able to hear directly from some of the new programme members. Learn more about Mombasa, Lauzi and the new programme in the video below.

Seven Actions for Women’s Rights

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager, and Rachel Beale, our Communications & Fundraising Assistant.

Savings Group training in South Sudan.

Through joining Five Talents' Savings Groups women become empowered to be their own advocates. They begin to speak up about the injustices that they see, become leaders within their Groups, and become more equal and valued at home and within their communities. But how can you be a better advocate for women both abroad and here in the UK? Here are seven key actions you can take. 

1. Be mindful of your own biases so you can be better equipped to address them! We all have biases around race, gender and sexuality. In our programmes, we often begin with participatory exercises to enable women and men to explore how they spend their time differently and how they are valued. You can take this quiz to see where your own biases lie in gender. When you know where you hold bias you are better able to change and grow.

2. Choose to support women owned businesses - especially small local ones! Savings Group members are small, local entrepreneurs with thriving businesses. By supporting women owned businesses you help to build their income and their financial independence and autonomy, so they are better able to be agents of their own change.

3. Give your time to volunteer & fundraise for women’s organisations both locally and abroad. These organisations may provide education and health services for women or support for domestic abuse survivors. Volunteering your time, skills or fundraising capabilities to these organisations means they can provide even more services and support to women - sometimes within your own community. You can fundraise by doing a sponsored run, having a car boot sale or selling baked goods. Utilise your own talents and skills to find the best way to fundraise.

4. Don’t ignore ignorant or hateful speech. When someone says something problematic they need to know. Be bold and call them out so they can address their own biases and problematic language too. We’ve recognised that the power or voice we each have varies according to the specific situation. Where someone is less able to use their own voice, we have a responsibility to stand with them.

5. Share more stories of women, written or told by women, in their own voices (and of course ONLY with their consent). Women already have voices, but they aren’t always listened to. To be an advocate, help those voices be listened to by sharing those stories with others.

6. We need systemic change so be politically engaged year round too. You can join marches or protests, support campaigns, write to your MPs or start a petition. Women’s rights aren’t only important on International Women’s Day, they are important every single day.

7. Stay informed! Keep up to date on the latest news and information around women’s rights and injustices that women across the world could be facing. Here is one article to get you started.

Thousands of women in Savings Groups supported by our partners begin with small steps and multiply their talents and the impacts for their communities infinitely. For each of us too, taking small, everyday actions can have a huge impact on improving the lives of women everywhere, ensuring their voices are heard, and creating space for them to become agents of their own change. 

Meet a Microfinance Member: Mirembe from Uganda

This blog post was written by Grace Cooney, our Fundraising & Communications Assistant.

Mirembe at her business.

Mirembe is a widow with 5 children who lives in Karamoja, Uganda. When her husband died, she was left to take care of her children herself without sufficient resources. Before joining a Savings Group, she struggled to put food on the table and meet her family's needs. Previously, in order to generate food and income, she performed agricultural labor, fetching forest products such as firewood, logs, and reeds for sale. This hard work drained her both physically and psychologically. 

Her life changed when one of her friends encouraged her to join a Savings Group. When she was first asked to join, Mirembe gave excuses such as not having enough money for weekly savings. However, her friend insisted that she would benefit from social support systems, life skills, and the words of God which were shared in the Group. Her friend also mentioned that the capital built by saving together with the other members would help Mirembe qualify for a loan. After her friend’s encouragement, Mirembe decided to join the Group. 

“When I applied for the first loan, nearly half of the members stood surety and [the loan] was approved without much delays. I used part of that money to buy maize seed to expand my acreage from 1 to 3 acres. The other part helped me pay for the tractor with some small balance for weeding and food at home. God blessed this and I was able to harvest 19 bags of maize from the 3 acres. After the harvest, I waited for the perfect time during the lean season to sell the surplus. The waiting was finally rewarded as I was able to sell my maize with some good profit margin.” 

Five years on, Mirembe has expanded her business ventures from selling produce to running a piggery unit and grain grinding mill. She is also among the top savers in her Group. Her success was admired by other members in her Group who decided to elect her as the Groups’ Chairperson. She has also gained respect in the wider community being elected as a councilor, representing her Parish in the sub-county council. At home, she has improved nutrition and was able to construct a permanent house for her family. Now, Mirembe is better able to pay for school fees and materials, so all of her children are able to attend school. 

Not only is Mirembe an inspiration and role model to those in her Group and community, but she is also a proud and confident mother. Her words of encouragement to other people who face similar situations is to never give up and join a nearby Savings Groups.

Continuing our Antiracism Journey

This blog post was written by Rachel Lindley, our Chief Executive Officer.

Savings Group meeting in South Sudan.

Annually we report back on what Five Talents continues to do to be anti-racist and shift power to partners. We know that this is an ongoing journey rather than a race with a clear start and end point.

We’ve previously shared what we’ve been reading, listening to and learning. We’ve conducted a language audit which we now revisit annually - and, importantly, hold one another accountable to. While recruiting three new members of staff over the last year we tried to eliminate biases as much as possible by, for example, blind short-listing. We continue to use Memoranda of Understanding (our Grant Agreements) with partners which commit both Five Talents and the partner to the same standards, and we send quarterly grants to partners as soon as we have reviewed their finance reports. Previously, we did not release funding until all of the narrative and other quarterly reports we requested were 100% finalised. Sometimes this could mean partners had to wait a long time for funding whilst we resolved queries on a member story they submitted, for example. Those delays were unnecessary and exacerbated the power imbalance between us. 

We’ve also held three ‘learning sessions’ over the past 12 months; in March, our Board and staff split into small groups to reflect on readings on decolonising fundraising, programmes and governance, then came back together to discuss how they applied to Five Talents. In September, we joined the BOND ‘Power in Development’ Conference, particularly engaging with sessions on ‘Becoming locally led’ and ‘Who should be telling a community’s story?’ All of our photography trips this year have been led by our partners. Finally, we revisited and updated our anti-racism action plan in December, aiming to identify two or three priority actions for 2023 but finally determining that many small actions may be equally important.

As this year began, we held a facilitated discussion across the whole Five Talents organisation (colleagues and Board members from Kenya and the USA joined virtually) to explore the shift towards decolonising fundraising. Some funders in the international development community now seek to fund locally-led civil society organisations directly - rather than through registered charities like Five Talents in the US or UK. We asked what this might mean for Five Talents and our partners in the future? There was much food for thought; we will revisit the discussion again later this year. 

We’re grateful that the Savings Groups and Church partners at the core of Five Talents’ work are inherently locally owned & managed. At the same time we’re committed to ongoing learning and reflection, and to keep challenging ourselves and our norms. As ever, we encourage you to engage with the debates and hold us accountable too. 

Kind & Open Communities in Karamoja

This blog was written by siblings: Alastair, Michael and Izzie, to share their experiences of a Five Talents Supporter Trip.

Visiting a Group in Karamoja, Uganda.

A month before we set off, we had a call with our group leaders, Kris and May, who invited us to reflect on our expectations for the trip. We discussed our excitement to see the country (it was our first time visiting East Africa) and our interest in learning more about how Five Talents is helping communities in need.

In November 2022, we joined a supporter visit to Karamoja to meet members of the Five Talents partnership programme and see the impact of this work in Uganda’s poorest region. We three travelled out as a family with our Mum (which we soon realised was a hit with the family-orientated members!).

After arriving in Entebbe, we flew into Moroto (the regional capital of Karamoja) on a 12-seater plane with Mission Aviation Fellowship. We took off from Kajjansi (near the country’s capital of Kampala) in the lush southern part of the country and landed among arid plains stretching out to the horizon.

On arrival we were taken to pay our respects to the Bishop who explained some of the successes and unique challenges the programme had experienced in Karamoja. The programme, currently in its 6th year, is now supporting over 50 groups in the region through its indomitable manager, Anne.

Yet there are also significant challenges: armed cattle rustling has created insecurity in certain areas; the literacy rate is estimated at 25% across Karamoja, and at just 4% in the sub-region of Amudat; the rains have recently been unpredictable; markets were closed for a long time during the COVID-19 pandemic; and, as we were soon to discover, poor road infrastructure leads to long and uncomfortable journeys.

Reflections
During our time in Karamoja, we were privileged to hear some of the incredible stories of Savings Group members and how the programme had positively impacted their lives.

In Amudat, a region where gender inequality is particularly noticeable, we heard stories of Savings Groups empowering women by enabling them to set up their own businesses and have greater influence in family and community decisions. Rae, who was a member of the Amudat Group, spoke powerfully about how the programme had given women in the community a voice and that they now felt confident to speak publicly in the presence of men.

A member of the St John’s Literacy and Savings Group, Yonah, spoke of the life changing skills and financial support that the Adult Literacy training and Savings Group had provided for him. He described how he had previously been a cattle raider, but that the Group enabled him to leave that life behind, and he now teaches others literacy skills in his community.

The individuals we met explained how, through the training and savings groups provided by Karamoja Community Development Trust (KCDT) and Five Talents, they have felt greater independence and financial security. The Groups also spoke of the positive impact on their communities and highlighted that the programme had supported greater trust within communities. We were particularly moved by the support and genuine care that was visible within the Groups we met.

Savings Group in Karamoja, Uganda.

As our trip drew to a close, we were left astonished by the kindness and tenacity with which Anne [KCDT Programme Manager] supported the Groups under her care, by the joyous pride the Groups took in their monumental achievements, and by their incredible generosity - we received so many gifts from each Group we visited that we had a real struggle to fit them all into our baggage allowance on the way home!

The Groups’ kindness and openness in welcoming us and their strength when confronted with a multitude of challenges, will stay with us as a longlasting memory of the trip. We were so warmly welcomed, that the Groups even chose to give us Karamojong names:

Alastair was named Lomilo which means winnowing. Michael and Izzie, as twins, were given the same name, as twins in Karamoja are often considered to be one person. We were named Lokiru & Nakiru, respectively, both words mean rain.

All our expectations for the trip were met, but what struck us most was meeting and hearing from the individuals who have benefited from the programme.

A Vision for Five Talents

This blog post was written by Sue Johns, chairwoman of the Five Talents International Board.

Savings Group members in South Sudan.

In preparing to write this blog, I have just read through the last three and realised what a perilous thing it is to look ahead and 'predict' what the year ahead will bring! Never was that more true than the beginning of 2020, none of us had any idea about what was about to paralyse the world. Yet again, who would have imagined that the war in Ukraine would have such a damaging impact on sub Saharan Africa. I certainly had no idea that Ukraine was the 'bread basket' of the world, providing quality staple grain and sunflower oil to so many. Our world is complex and the threads that bind our commerce together are as intricate as any tapestry.

As we, at Five Talents, start a fresh year and look ahead eagerly at all we want to achieve it is hard to contemplate the stumbling blocks that are more than likely to be strewn on our path. However, that doesn't stop us planning for the future with determination to deliver. I am truly grateful that my lifelong faith has given me the gift of optimism; that sense that with God alongside us we can achieve the miraculous. My journey with Five Talents has done nothing to dispel that, quite the opposite it has confirmed my belief that God is with us every step of the way, helping clear some of those stumbling blocks but also showering our ministry with abundant gifts.

As we have worked to become one global Five Talents family something has happened, that you might not have noticed because it has been slowly incrementally over the last few years. We have ceased to be a big small charity and instead become a small big one! Collectively we have grown our income year-on-year to a point when, with God's blessing, we are now planning a serious expansion. Within five years we aim to be serving DOUBLE the number of people through Five Talents programmes, not only in our existing countries but also in at least one new country too.  

We have spent a long time, some within the family may say too long, discerning where we are being called. We have a comprehensive Strategic Framework which underpins the Implementation Plan that our CEOs have drawn up.  We are primed and ready to grow! We have even considered where we want to be as an organisation in ten years time; that is a huge challenge but one we are 'up for'. (If you are interested to hear more please do ask.)

Absolutely none of this will be possible without the dedication of four key groups of people. First and foremost are our partners and Savings Groups members, who work so hard every day to teach and learn new skills, save and lend money, start new businesses and change their communities from the inside out. Next is you, the reader. You are the heartbeat of our ministry, you 'Give, Pray and Tell' and without those three key elements we would be seriously adrift. The third group is our incredible global staff team; they are the lifeblood that nourishes all we do. The final group is the Board members who are ultimately charged with making decisions. Of course, the heart of our mission is Almighty God and His Son's gospel imperative to care for the poor.

I invite you to celebrate our vision for the next five years and join us in delivering it - I am confident we will achieve it!  I also invite you to look out for special announcements throughout the year as we approach the 25th anniversary of our mission (we were founded by a resolution of the Lambeth Conference in 1998). Finally, I invite you to grow with us as we all take time this year to reflect on this piece of wisdom from Cardinal John Henry Newman "To live is to change, and to change often is to become more perfect."  I doubt we will manage perfection this side of heaven but that shouldn't stop us trying. Five Talents is changing but we will always retain our focus on building and nurturing relationships, with you, among our staff and trustees but preeminently with those we seek to serve.

Communities Driving Development in DR Congo

This blog post was written by Gordon Seabright, a member of our Board of Trustees and supporter of Five Talents.

Savings Group meeting in Aru, DR Congo.

In late October I travelled with Rachel, the CEO of Five Talents, to visit Literacy & Savings Groups in Aru, a town in the far northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Five Talents began supporting programmes there in 2018, in partnership with our friends The Mothers’ Union and the Diocese of Aru, and now over 177 local groups have helped 2,400 people (the vast majority of Group members are women) to build their businesses and support their families and communities.

Rachel and I were keen to see how the programme was going, and what support might be helpful to increase their numbers and the impact they’re having.

Getting to Aru is an adventure in itself. To reach eastern DRC you travel through Uganda, and the border marks a set of dramatic changes; no tarmac roads, no electricity, sporadic water, and trickiest for me, no English speakers! My first impressions of DRC were the lushness of the green vegetation and the bumpiness of the red clay roads, and also the lack of wisdom of any visitor taking a photo of the border post (that would be me, using my schoolboy French to talk my way out of being arrested within ten minutes of entering the country).

The problems faced by DRC are well known yet largely unreported in the UK. Militia warfare, lack of infrastructure, theft of natural resources, Ebola outbreaks and climate change all make life profoundly challenging, and as visitors we could only admire the resilience of those who are building businesses in Aru. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of the welcomes we received, first from the Archbishop and his team at the cathedral in the town, and then from villagers who included us in their Literacy and Savings Groups.  

DR Congo only features in the British media, if at all, as a place of conflict. There’s a lot more to it, though. It was clear that enthusiastic visitors from far away were extremely welcome, and if ever there was a place where the community is driving its own development, this is it.  We provided entertainment in our own ways, Rachel through graceful speeches of thanks in fluent French and Kiswahili, and me through the comic value of my attempts to speak French, much to the joy/horror of my new friend Canon Nzua. Rachel’s reward was to be presented with the gift of a rather confused chicken, which then accompanied us on an extraordinarily bumpy but very beautiful drive back to the town and our hotel, which bore the highly appropriate name “God Alone Knows”.

Five Talents in DR Congo is working with a remarkable group of people, from Archbishop Titre Ande, Maneka Grace, Canon Nzua and Irene Nyambura organising programmes at the centre in Aru to the trainers, leaders, savers and entrepreneurs in villages around the province. It was a great privilege to spend time with them, and although travel to and around DR Congo wasn’t always easy, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a visit to anyone keen to see just how much of an impact money raised in the UK can have on the lives of people living in a region that deserves a fair chance to thrive.

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If you would like to learn more about visiting a programme please click here or contact us. We’ll be taking trips to Kenya in February 2023 and Tanzania in May 2023 and would love for you to join us.

A Year On: Big Transformations in Burundi

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager.

Floretta speaks in front of her Group.

This year is the 12th year that Five Talents will participate in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, and thanks to you, last year was the biggest total raised for Five Talents ever! The Challenge is a match funding campaign where every donation to participating charities is doubled. It is a huge boost to our end of year fundraising, and means we can start the new year with a new project ready to go in January. We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of all our supporters in the campaign. Last year through the Big Give Christmas Appeal your giving raised a staggering £108,616 to expand the programme in Burundi!

Currently, there are 9,936 Savings Group members in Burundi, over 2,000 more members than there were last year. This growth is thanks to your generosity. We’d like to introduce you to a member of the programme in Burundi, Floretta.

“I’m a widow. When my husband died, it felt like the world had ended for me. When I got any money from the family, I would drink because I was so depressed. I became a drunkard. That's when I was asked to join the Group - I was surprised to be asked.

At first I didn’t want to join because I was worried that I only had enough money to drink, but wouldn’t have any money to save. But more of my neighbours came to me and suggested that I join the Group. They really encouraged me. So, I did.  

We started the Group, and started saving together. I decided it was better to save, and I gave up drinking so that I could save more.

I had a business selling avocados, bananas and peanuts. After a year, I took out a loan and bought a goat and chickens. The goats multiplied and my income grew. After a year we shared-out [our savings and interest]. At that time, my house was broken, and the roof was leaking. So from my share-out I was able to repair my home. I also sold goats, so that I could buy iron sheets for a proper roof and shelter. Now my home is very good. I thank God for that. I also thank God that I gave up drinking.  

I would like to give support to help others going through what I did. I also have a dream to have a bigger shop to improve my income.”

With support from her Savings Group, Floretta was empowered to transform her life and her home. Thank you for being so generous to our Big Give Christmas Appeal, your support means our partners can reach even more women & men like Floretta. If you’d like to learn more about this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge please click here.

Listening to unheard voices

Listening to unheard voices

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager.

Last year we hosted our first-ever virtual book club with Rowan Williams. We enjoyed it so much we planned our second book club event with three different readings & guest speakers! Over the summer we read Phoebe, Afterlives, and an essay from, Tomorrow Is Too Late. Our guest speakers Paula Gooder, Dr. Ida Hadjivayanis and Emmanuel Niyoyabikoze joined us to discuss the writings which centre on climate, colonialism, refugees, feminism and Christianity. Watch the event below!

How the cost of living crisis affects Savings Groups

This blog post was written by Rachel Lindley, our CEO, and Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager.

Beans being sold in a market in Aru, DR Congo.

Across the UK there is a cost of living crisis - many people are worried about paying for their heating and groceries over the coming winter. The cost of living crisis here has been both caused and exacerbated by COVID, Brexit, rising fuel and energy costs and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But these issues aren’t exclusive to the UK and have had impacts the world over.

Last week many in the UK watched in horror as the ‘mini budget’ saw the pound plummet to record lows. While we respect that this is a difficult reality for many people in the UK, this too has impacts the world over. Five Talents was doubly gripped by what this meant for our partners and Savings Group members.

Our partners and members have already faced a challenging year - they have endured droughts and floods which have been some of the worst on record. Their petrol and food prices have skyrocketed, some doubling in a matter of months. 

Drought often creates food scarcity and shortages as cattle and crops suffer, which drives food prices up. But the invasion of Ukraine has also driven costs up even higher as it created further shortages. Fortunately, Savings Group members have their savings to fall back on. But we have to wonder: what happens for communities where there is no Savings Group and there is no safety net of savings? That’s why we’re determined to reach more communities in the coming months, so that more families will be able to build their resilience to the ongoing crises.

But the falling pound has made our work harder. Of course our partners produce their budgets in their own currencies, but when Five Talents signs grant agreements with them, we always agree on the amounts of funding we will be sending in pounds. We do this to better manage our fundraising efforts, and typically the conversion does work in our partners’ favour. However, the grants we’re sending this month buy far fewer Kenyan shillings or Burundian francs than they did a few weeks ago. Our partners are facing a double challenge - their grants are worth less but their costs have gone up.  

We had budgeted to send around £200,000 to our partners around the world in this final Quarter of the year. We are now seeking to raise 10% more, an extra £20,000, so that we can ‘top up’ the grants to our partners and offset, to some extent, the double impact of rising costs and falling (real terms) income. 

Having a safety net of savings, a safe place to access financial resources and training, and a community support network are absolutely essential in communities enduring this crisis and the next. We know Savings Groups are part of the solution. With your support, our partners will continue reaching more families throughout this global crisis.

If you feel able to help us with our ‘top up’ goal please visit fivetalents.org.uk/donate.

Ukraine six months on: a followup event with Tim Cross

Ukraine six months on: a followup event with Tim Cross

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Communications & Events Manager.

Earlier this year, Retired Major General Tim Cross CBE joined us for lunch to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the knock on effects it would have globally. Many of you found it fascinating and helpful; the only negative feedback we had was that a half-hour with Tim wasn't enough. Fortunately, Tim agreed to a followup event!

Six months since the first event, impacts of the war on Five Talents' partners and Savings Groups members are severe. For example, our partners in DR Congo tell us 1 litre of fuel now costs 6-7,000 UGX where before it was 3,500 UGX, and in western Kenya, the price of maize has gone from under 4,000 KES per 90kg in January to almost 7,000 KES in July.

We spent 45 minutes with Tim on 28 September 2022 discussing the situation in Ukraine and his view on what to expect next. You can view the event in the video below.

How literacy leads to civic engagement

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

Literacy lesson in Burundi.

Many of us take for granted all that reading, writing and counting enable us to do. For the communities our partners support, this is not the case. Paying school fees can be a significant challenge and many adult Savings Group members have been unable to complete formal education because their families had to prioritise using their incomes to meet family needs. For women too, cultures of early marriage excluded them from finishing their schooling.

Because of this, many of our partners start adult literacy & numeracy participatory training for Groups before saving and loaning begins. After participants complete the training and receive their certificates then Groups move on to save, loan, and invest together.

But what are the impacts of becoming literate and numerate?

Some are very practical: being able to read your child’s school report card; ensuring you give (and are given) correct change in the market; being able to administer the right amount of medication for yourself or a family member… the list goes on and on!

But more recently we heard from our partners in Kenya a huge benefit of the literacy training: being able to vote in the presidential election last month without assistance.

Our Programme Coordinator in Marsabit, Kenya, said, “We thank God for relatively peaceful day of election so far. Had just cast my votes and do hope our basic literacy graduates who were learning civic education will be able to exercise this very important right confidentially and successfully because of the literacy we offered.”

Before participating in the literacy & numeracy trainings, members could only cast their votes with assistance from someone else. Now that they are able to read and write for themselves they can cast their own ballot with confidence, and without informing anyone else of their choice.

The ability to write a simple tick mark in the appropriate place equips communities to be listened to in a way they were not heard before. We are incredibly grateful that, with your support, women and men in excluded communities can now use their voices and exercise their rights. .

“Those who knew me in the past came and asked me to tell them who I will vote for so that they could do it on my behalf. But because it was confidential, I kept quiet and walked straight to the vote place. They were amazed to see that I am now literate and can do it myself. I felt so proud of me! I am so grateful for this programme which enabled me to fulfil my civil rights.” - Group member in Burundi

Meet a Microfinance Member: Marcia from Tanzania

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

Marcia in front of her new home.

Marcia lives in Morogoro, Tanzania, with her husband and two young sons. For years, Marcia and her husband had difficulty providing enough for their boys, but then Marcia’s mother told her about the Savings Group she was a member of. Her mother explained more about the Group and shared that it was a safe place to save, access loans, and learn new skills. Marcia had dreamed of starting a business, but until then she didn’t know how.

“Being part of a Savings Group gave me hope that I could fulfil my dream.” Marcia says.

Marcia started small. She took a loan from her Group for £13 to buy maize. She sold it during the harvest season a few months later for £23. Marcia continued saving her profits, repaid her loan with interest and continued small-scale trading.

“At first it was difficult to make repayments, but through training and experience I learnt to manage my finances.”

As her savings and business know-how grew, she allowed herself to dream bigger. With a loan of £190 (from her Savings Group) and some of her accumulated savings Marcia decided to start a mobile money business.

“Being in a Savings Group is like taking four to five paces at a time. Your ability is to take one pace at a time, but your Group members support you with the other four paces; hence you reach where you want to go within unexpected time.”

Marcia’s business thrived and her profits grew - but that wasn’t all. As Marcia’s profits grew, so did her savings and her ability to apply for larger loans from her Savings Group. Marcia dared to dream even bigger!

Last year, as well as investing in her business, Marcia was able to buy a plot of land and begin construction of a new family home. Together with her husband and support from her Savings Group, Marcia is better able to provide for her children and is building a stronger, more resilient future for them all - just as she has always dreamed.

Beautiful Burundi

This blog post was written by May Mak, our Senior Grants & Programmes Officer.

In the last week of June I joined a Five Talents trip to Burundi. This was the first time the Five Talents team had been to visit a programme since the COVID pandemic stopped travel in 2020 and it was my first time visiting Burundi.

First Impressions

As we drove from the airport to the hotel, all pre-trip anxieties melted away and my heart began to sing. I have previously lived in neighbouring Rwanda and was greeted with a comforting familiarity: lush green hills, deep red earth, an expanse of blue skies; and wide-eyed curiosity accompanied by cries of ‘muzungu’ (a term referring to all foreigners - usually ‘white’ visitors). Despite the hustle and bustle and what I knew about the history of Burundi, an inexplicable peace filled me.

Country Context

Burundi is a land-locked country of over twelve million people covering an area of 27,839 square kilometres (that’s less than 12% of the size of the UK!). It is ranked 185/189 on the UN Human Development Index, making it one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged countries in the world. This is seen in high rates of food insecurity, malnutrition, vulnerability to climate-related shocks (eg. drought/floods), poor to limited access to basic services such as healthcare and education - and consequently, a high prevalence of infectious diseases, widespread illiteracy and unemployment.

But this is Burundi on paper - not the Burundi I came to know.

Meeting Members

When we arrived to visit the first Savings Group, we were met with a wash of colour, jubilation, singing and dancing. It felt like the entire village had come out to meet us.

Savings Group greeting us as visitors in Burundi.

We, the visitors, were invited to observe a Savings Group meeting take place. Completely led by the community themselves, it was awe-inspiring to see how they’d developed strategies to enable transparency and build trust. A book-keeping table had been drawn up on a chalkboard for all to see, each member identified by a number; the Group’s chairwoman recorded the same information into the Group’s ledger; while the treasurer collected the savings as each member was called to the front to declare and deposit the amount they were saving that week. For full disclosure, the treasurer held up the money collected before placing it in the ‘savings’ basket before him. At the end of proceedings, all three records (the chalkboard, Group’s ledger and actual money collected) were reconciled and compared to check that they aligned. This process of roll call and money handling was then repeated for each of the other financial activities of the Group: loan repayments, loan requests and making contributions towards the Group’s ‘social fund’.

Then, one-by-one, members stepped forward to share how being part of the Savings Group had changed their lives. My heart, once again, began to sing.

Images of a Savings Group meeting in Burundi.

“What I learnt [from Savings Group training], I did, but I didn’t just keep it to myself, I shared it with others. In this Savings Group, we all have talents and we have chosen not to bury them. We have used our talents and are living on the benefits as a result.”

“In my life, I’d never even touched 50,000 Burundian Francs at once before - then I received that and much more when I borrowed a loan from my Group. My husband now respects and values me.”  

“My family can live because of the bike I bought through my Savings Group. I use it as a taxi. From the money I earn from my bicycle taxi, I can provide for my family AND save to prepare for the future too. I have also been able to buy a goat from the share-out interest and money I have saved. If I can buy a goat, why not a cow? Now I can have bigger dreams!”

Thereafter, every Group we visited, we heard story-upon-story of transformation and empowerment. Each testimony was shared with joy and thanksgiving - first to God, then the community facilitator who trained the Group, followed by the Mothers’ Union (our in-country partners) for training the facilitator and finally to Five Talents for enabling the programme to take place. Rachel, Five Talents CEO, likened the programme to a table - each of the legs (the members, the facilitator, MU Burundi, Five Talents & supporters) holding up the table top (the programme) and glued together by God. 

Final Reflections

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” 

Proverbs 16:9

Throughout the trip, this verse came to me. Despite unexpected hurdles that took our plans off course (eg. punctured tyre, fuel shortages and sickness), grace and peace followed and the eventual path we were led along far exceeded any expectations we had. The members we met further echoed this as they spoke of God’s hand upon their hopes (or plans). Time and time again, members told us that through the programme - a blessing from God as they referred to it - their plans came into fruition in ways beyond their imagination. This trip reminded to expect the unexpected and rejoice in that unknown.

An even bigger Tour de Talents

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

Last year, you joined us on an unforgettable virtual lockdown journey: the 2021 Tour de Talents. The virtual route of 2,848 miles visited all of our programmes in eastern Africa so that you could ‘meet’ Savings Group members whilst generous sponsors offered to donate for every mile covered over the challenge week. 

We were overwhelmed as together, you quickly passed each benchmark until just 3 days into our 7 day journey, we reached the finish line! After extending the challenge (twice!) we finally wrapped up the week having travelled 7,040 miles and raised over £11,000. We asked ourselves: but what will we do next?

Knowing our wonderful supporters would rise to the challenge,we dreamed up our 2022 challenge: 30 days, 30,000 miles, £30,000 raised – in support of the 30,000 members our partners supported last year. It was ambitious, exciting and maybe just a little bit daunting. But we knew absolutely every mile added up, and together, just like Savings Group members, our combined efforts would push us across the finish line.

“Being in a Savings Group is like taking four to five paces at a time. Your ability is to take one pace at a time, but your Group members support you with the other four paces; hence you reach where you want to go within unexpected time.” - Marcia, Savings Group member

Our generous sponsors (Volante, The Albert Van den Bergh Charitable Trust, The Anchor Match Fund, The Vardy Foundation, and two individual givers) came together to build our £30,000 pot and off the Tour de Talents team went!

We hosted a series of extra challenges to keep everyone motivated too! Tour de Talents participants logged miles from the UK and Scotland, Morocco, the USA, Burundi and more! The challenge’s youngest participant was 20 months old, while one of the oldest participants was 81. We loved seeing your sunrise and wildlife photos, and were overjoyed to receive messages from friends of Five Talents who were becoming more active after chemotherapy thanks to the challenge, or who now row daily thanks to the habits they built during the Tour de Talents.

Possibly one of our favourite moments during the challenge was when Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School had students and parents walk together on their school field – with 192 participants they logged 192 miles for the Tour de Talents during their morning break!

In the end, we travelled 33,714.9 miles and raised £33,715 together. The final total will enable our partners to reach 1,348 new Savings Group members. But there’s only one question; where do we go from here?

A special message from Rachel Lindley, our CEO.

Five mini updates from Five Talents

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

We often give updates in our e-newsletter or monthly snapshot videos. But we wanted to mention five things we were excited about recently that may not have been shared anywhere else.

Editha in Tanzania.

1. Meeting Editha
Editha is a Savings Group member in Tanzania. When she created her small business, she did so with her community in mind. Editha and other members of her village had to walk long distances to fetch water from marshes and carry the heavy load back on foot. So, she took a loan to have a waterpoint and tap installed at her house. Not only is access to safe, clean water a huge benefit for her family - it helps her community too. Editha’s tap is one of the only ones in her village. She charges a small amount for other members of the community to come fill buckets too. Now, Editha’s profits support her family, and her safe access to clean water supports her community too.

2. A whole bunch of new friends
The 2022 Tour de Talents isn’t over just yet. We still have 2 days to go - but we are incredibly proud of the immense strides everyone has made to bring us to the 30,000 mile mark. We’ve had 337 people sign up to take part in the 2022 Tour de Talents; more participants than we have ever had at a single event before. It is great reconnecting with members of the Five Talents family, and adding a whole bunch of new family members too! Team Tour de Talents can achieve so much together - just like Savings Group members.

3. A new Programme Coordinator
The new programme in Mombasa, Kenya, is still taking form. We are incredibly excited the Board in Mombasa have selected a Programme Coordinator: Lauzi! Lauzi is 27 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Statistics from Kenyatta University. We’re so excited to welcome her to the Five Talents family and see what wonderful things she will accomplish in Mombasa. 

Maneka, Programme Coordinator in Aru, with the new car.

4. A new car
Our team in DR Congo are now able to travel more safely to and from Savings Groups! We recently secured funding so the programme team there could purchase a car. Here is Maneka, the Programme Coordinator, with the new car! The terrain our partners travel is very difficult, and we are so grateful that Maneka will be safer on the roads in this vehicle.

5. We’re resuming visits to our programmes again (with safety precautions in place for the communities we’re visiting!)
We are very fortunate that Zoom and other technology keeps us connected to one another & our partners, and our approach means we don't need to visit - all the training, monitoring etc is led by our partners who live in the communities themselves. But partnership relationships are often best nurtured through face to face conversations and interactions, and it is inspiring and encouraging both for us and for our partners and Savings Group members to meet in person again. The joyful welcome we received in Burundi (photos below) recently says it all!

We have a few spaces left on our Uganda trip next year, and are also planning trips to Kenya and Tanzania in February and May 2023. Let us know if you're interested in joining us at info@fivetalents.org.uk.

Welcome song from village in Burundi.

Welcome song from village in Burundi.

What is the global food crisis?

This blog post was written by Rachel Lindley, our CEO, and Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer.

Tomatoes sold by a member in Baringo, Kenya.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, many of you may be reading news articles about the global food crisis and how it is impacting the cost of living and supply chains in the UK. What you may not be seeing featured so prominently, however, is the impact of the war in Ukraine on hunger in East Africa and how the war, paired with an intense drought, is forcing even more families to go hungry in the places where our partners work.

Drought is not uncommon where our partners work and often causes intense difficulties. Without access to water, crops fail, livestock die, and communities have difficulty feeding their families, but with ongoing climate change the seasonal rains have become even more sporadic and unpredictable. As the invasion in Ukraine developed, driving fuel and food costs even higher, at the same time parts of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are facing a severe drought - one of the worst in 40 years. Together, these two factors (both beyond communities’ own power to control) compound the crisis millions are experiencing.

Our partners in Marsabit, northern Kenya, reported recently that their communities were really suffering due to the prolonged drought. Their words echo what we read in emergency briefings from other International NGOs; UNICEF assesses malnutrition to be at 23% in Marsabit (well above the 15% threshold used for triggering emergency response). Elema and Joseph, the Programme Coordinators in Marsabit, said everyone had prayed for rain as women and children were going hungry. As Obi Anyadike, Senior Editor of New Humanitarian for Africa, says: “Women are bearing the brunt of the crisis – they are the last to eat in each household, and the first to be displaced.”) The rain has come, and Elema and Joseph tell us that families are doing better. But the situation is precarious.

It’s not just Marsabit; our partners in Burundi and Tanzania are reporting severe fuel and supply shortages; meaning that communities there too will face added difficulties buying food, medicine and other essentials for their families. In South Sudan, the most dangerous period is usually July-August, the traditional ‘lean season,’ and in a country where 70% of the population is already dependent on food aid, experts are forecasting famine in some of the most vulnerable areas and calling for emergency funding.

In Marsabit, northern Kenya, the UN estimates there are 4.2 million people in need of emergency aid at a cost of $180,7 million, of which just $27m has been pledged by the international community. Last year, the UK cut humanitarian funding by 51% – and as communities around the world face compounding difficulties, there is insufficient aid available.

Five Talents does not provide emergency relief; there are others with more expertise in that when, tragically, it is needed. Instead, our focus is on building communities’ resilience before the next crisis, through Savings Groups. For example, members take loans from their groups to invest in rainwater harvesting tanks, or to start non-agricultural businesses which do not rely on the rains. Each group also contributes to an emergency fund so they can help each other out if their savings are not enough.

While Savings Groups are not an answer to everything, and the scale of Five Talents’ work is tiny compared with the number of vulnerable communities globally, we know Savings Groups do create an incredible safety net for times of crises and support communities as they build and rebuild their resilience.

Meet a Microfinance Member: Akifa from South Sudan

This blog post was written by Megan Henderson, our Senior Communications & Events Officer, with information gathered by Anne Figge from our Global Programmes Team.

Akifa with her employees.

Akifa is a widow and mother of three children living in South Sudan. When she first joined her Savings Groups the members each contributed 100 SSP ($0.30) per week to the savings pot. In the beginning it was incredibly difficult and 100 SSP felt like a huge amount to Akifa and the other members, but as they started business skills training they began identifying resources and opportunities within their community.

A year later Akifa and her group were surprised when they shared out the savings pot and each member received 9,000 SSP (nearly $30). This was a huge change for them given where they started! Consequently, theGroup decided to increase the savings from 100 SSP per week to 1,000 SSP per month! Akifa was able to take a loan for 5,000 SSP, and she bought things for making and selling groundnut paste and mandazi (local donuts)—which she sold under the tree. Using her savings and the business skills training from our partner, World Concern, she added other food items to her business, like porridge, and tea. Akifa’s life was changing. She began to believe that her dream of starting a restaurant could be a reality - but then tragedy struck.

“My Group is the one who came running and went into my burning house with me to rescue my things. They also provided me with an emergency loan which helped me to rebuild my house and start over.”

Akifa cooking in her restaurant.

Out of all the benefits of her Savings Group, Akifa shares that the relationship and love that the members have for one another is the most life changing aspect of being part of a Savings Group. After her home burned down, she was able to rebuild and keep moving forward with support from her Group.

Now, a year from her initial loan of 5,000 SSP, and following the house fire, Akifa was able to borrow 10,000 SSP from her Savings Group. She has used it to build a simple, woven grass structure to house her restaurant. She has a basic stove where she cooks rice, beans, soup, local spinach and maize porridge. Akifa makes a profit of 1,500 SSP ($3.50) each day! Now, she employs a night guard and two women who help her cook and manage the restaurant.

The profits Akifa makes at her restaurant are enabling her to pay school fees for her three children. Now, if her children are sick, Akifa can take them to the hospital. Her business and Savings Group have brought her peace of mind because she is now better able to care for her children.