Weka Akiba: Seeing Transformation in Tanzania

by Jessica Markwood, Director of Women’s Entrepreneurship Programs

September 13, 2023

“Weka akiba!”

“Boresha maisha!”

Jessica Markwood, Flint’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator, gathered with 20 members of the Amani Group inside a brightly colored Tanzanian church as they do every month.

The group’s chairman, a thin man in a tan polo, climbed onto a chair and proclaimed again with his arms widespread, “Weka abika!”

The small crowd responded with fervor, “Boresha maisha!”

Keep saving, improve your life.

The chant continued as members of the savings group prepared their passbooks and gathered together the money they had saved this month. The money would be secured in a lockbox until the next meeting. 

Over and over they chanted, reminding each other of the power of every shilling saved. For over a year now, the group has regularly gathered together to save money, extend loans, and dream of the businesses that could transform their lives.

Reflecting on the last year of saving, the chairman said, “We are able to do the things we want to do…We’re able to send our kids to school with the supplies that they need. We can help with emergencies or health needs. We have relief!”

Going around the room, members shared stories about how the savings-and-loan group had improved their lives. They enrolled their children in better schools, replaced thatched roofs with metal ones, launched new businesses, and drilled wells for clean water in their communities.

When the group meeting closed, we squeezed into bajajis and traveled off-road to see a sesame farm the group had collectively purchased. In the field, hundreds of sesame plants reached eagerly towards the sky. 

In the coming months, the entire harvest will be sold through a new government program highly interested in sesame. The profits from the harvest will allow the group to expand its membership, grow their individual businesses, and help its members access livelihood needs that were previously out of reach. 

“Weka abika, boresha maisha,” they chanted.

Keep saving, improve your life.

Flint’s partner ODS, Open Door for Development Solutions, is working with hundreds in southern Tanzania to replicate what the Amani Group has done. The new groups come together, save small amounts of money, extend small loans to one another, and learn about mindset and business skills. With each meeting, they realize more and more that a different story is possible for them. ODS Program Directors, Lameck and Hafidhi, took Jessica out to meet with some of these remarkable people. 

Participants from the groups shared the stories they believed before. But these would-be entrepreneurs discovered a new story through O.D.S. and Flint Global.

SIMWANYIRA

Simwanyira believed she couldn’t start again after her first business failed.

In Flint’s mindset course, Simwanyira learned she was capable of trying again.

Now she is raising hundreds of healthy chickens and sending her children to school.

NASRA

Nasra believed she couldn’t manage a business because she didn’t know how to read.

In Flint’s business training, Nasra discovered she could manage her finances in new ways.

Now she runs a produce stand and helped another woman to launch a business.

ABASI

Abasi believed that he couldn’t start a business because he didn’t have very much money.

Abasi realized he could start small with seeds from old tomatoes.

Now he is harvesting from 700 tomato plants, processing the tomatoes into sauce he can sell in the off-season, and saving profits to drill a well on his farm.

TAWIA WIDOWS GROUP

The Tawia widows group believed that they had nothing to offer because they were poor women.

After the Tawia widows group completed their first training they immediately started saving money and launched a group business selling batik fabric.

They have a new story to tell, or sing rather.

"Taifa inatutegemea, watoto wanatutegema, wenyewe tunajitegemea, sisi ni wajane."

The nation is depending on us, the children are depending on us, we are depending on ourselves, we are widows.

Through Flint and ODS training, people in southern Tanzania are trading stories of helplessness and hopelessness for new stories of agency and flourishing. Communities are transforming through small savings, hard work, and consistent encouragement. Women are creating employment opportunities. Rural farmers are bringing clean water to their villages. Widows are stepping forward to shape the nation.

Little by little, a new story is being told in southern Tanzania: a story about how thriving is possible, even in the places you least expect. Flint and ODS are so grateful to be part of these new narratives and to witness how a small spark can ignite great change in the lives of our neighbors around the world.

Weka akiba, boresha maisha. Keep saving, improve your life.