Storm the Mighty visits One Mango Tree

Cross-posted from Storm the Mighty, by Brad and Nici Daniels

One Mango Tree. A “social entrepreneurship” aiming to provide opportunity and rehabilitation for women who were victimized by the LRA. The LRA or “Lord’s Resistance Army” is a group of rebels and are responsible for Africa’s longest running armed conflict. Led by Joseph Kony, the group has terrorized East Africa causing over 2 million people to be displaced from their homes and live in military guarded refugee camps.

“One Mango Tree uses a fair trade model to provide income generating opportunities for women in impoverished and conflict-ridden areas of the globe.”

We were so excited to arrive in Gulu, Uganda to see first hand the work of One Mango Tree and these amazing women! They were so sweet and so welcoming… and did I mention talented? You can order some of their products here at their online shop.

These two lovely Mzungus (white folk) are Jenn and Kaela! We stayed with Jenn, her husband Kaben and Kaela while we were in Gulu and did not want to leave them at the end of the week! Miss you guys ;)

One Mango Tree also provides a financial class for the women to teach them to budget, save and manage their money.

And here they are… the ladies of One Mango Tree! When you make a purchase, you’ll be given a tag with the name of the woman that made that item and you can find her photo on the website!

Keep your eyes out for these new fall bags from One Mango!

The proof is in the matooke

Cross-posted from OMT Founder Halle Butvin's personal blog, Locus Amoenus

Dinner at Prisca's has become a routine for One Mango Tree visitors and interns. The first time you go, she'll cook for you - after that, it's time to pitch in. International Women's Day is a national holiday in Uganda, so we accepted the invitation to lunch at Prisca's, knowing full well that we'd be put to work as soon as we arrived. We headed straight into the family kitchen tukul, the last evidence of the traditional grass-thatched housing on Prisca's property.

inside Prisca's kitchen

Kaela got to work cutting matooke, while Martina and I provided moral support. Cutting matooke is a much harder job than it seems, as the tough green bananas don't peel like the familiar yellow ones, and they ooze a sticky sap.

Prisca & Kaela peel matooke for lunch

Before we arrived, Prisca had already made her now-famous fried chicken, dodo with simsim (greens with ground sesame paste), and sweet potatoes. With the boiled matooke, we had a ladies-only feast. We filed out of the kitchen and into the two-room brick house where Prisca's family currently lives.

watching Al-Jazeera, drinking refrigerated sodas

The living room got a fresh coat of robin's-egg-blue paint over the holidays, and Charles (Prisca's husband) connected the house to the Gulu electric lines. We watched Al-Jazeera on their little TV, and Prisca commented on Qaddafi and what she thought might happen with the conflict in Libya. The new chest refrigerator hummed in the corner, and Prisca presented us with a selection of cold sodas.

success doesn't come to you... you go to it

What seem to be normal, mundane details of a ladies lunch are actually quite extraordinary. When I started One Mango Tree, I wanted to see quick results - big changes in the tailors' lives, and fast. I'm learning that fair trade's proof comes with time - sustained, regular income is what moves people out of the poverty trap, and for good. Charles only works sporadically on construction projects - Prisca is the family breadwinner. Through careful savings and budgeting, the incremental improvements she's made have translated into big changes for her family.

the front door of the new family home

In between the kitchen tukul and the two-room home, Prisca and Charles built a large brick home. She used her 2010 savings to put in the roof, floor and window casings. Even while building their home, Prisca and Charles are now able to make spending decisions based on comfort, not necessity. Their family crowds the TV each evening to watch the news and local programs (Prisca loves the Spanish telenovelas dubbed into English - they are a big hit here). They have meat for dinner almost every night, and usually invite friends and family to join in the feast. Prisca cuts up cold pineapple as a treat for the kids when they come in from playing after school. Even the matooke we ate is telling - it's a cuisine choice from southern Uganda, and very expensive to buy in Gulu. It's one of Prisca's favorite treats - one she can now easily afford.

'Empowerment' made real.

Over the past six weeks, our ladies have completed an incredible Financial training course and have begun their own Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA). Fancy terms aside, it's one of the many beautiful ways that their incomes from sewing and creating are being multiplied and yet another way that YOUR purchases are transforming lives here in northern Uganda. Simply put: empowerment is truly being made real at One Mango Tree... read further to hear the exciting news!




In the span of these six financial trainings, our ladies have saved over ONE MILLION shillings (about $500) as a VSLA group. AMAZING! We were told this is pretty extraordinary for a beginning group... so proud of the ladies and excited to see how their savings will continue to empower their futures.

AWESOME!

xo lauranne

WEEK 2 of Savings & Loans

The VLSA group is alive and kickin'! Today, the ladies met for the second time with Stephen (remember him?) and the Village Savings & Loans Association took form for the very first time. The laughter is still coming, by the way!

They received an official blue safe with three keys and a sweet One Mango Tree logo to collect weekly savings and loans safe. They also elected women who would hold chairperson, secretarial, treasury positons, etc. Stephen said that this is the most he's seen a group save at the first initial meeting. Our ladies are working it!

More photos to come!

From the Workshop: New Program!

The women are exclaiming the most joyful laughs and we couldn't be more excited for them. Stephen, an Acholi and financial guru working for Respond Renu (Restoring Northern Uganda), is here for his very first microfinance training with our ladies and it's surely an exciting day. For six weeks, they'll be students again, growing in knowledge and expertise about how to become financial rockstars.

What's the impact of Financial Literacy? In the developing world, a woman who earns her own income in a male-driven society immediately earns social worth and respect; her community sees her as strong, powerful, and inspiring. That's how our ladies are viewed in their communities. Now take that same incredible woman and teach her how to save that money, how to give loans to others within her community, and how to forward-think about her finances. The impact of work in a developing country is multiplied exponentially when locals are able to take financial control of their future. This is a great, big (and possible!) dream for many of our women (remember Lucy's story?). It's an exciting day when their faces light up during a microfinance training. They're excited to learn and it's changing who they are and who they can become. The future for their children is getting brighter by the day. Powerful.



So, today, the women are beginning their very own Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), a microfinance group that comes together to pool their savings in order to have a source for lending funds. The women will make savings contributions to the pool and can also borrow from it. "VSLA represents a way to provide basic access to financial services, thus improving control over their future."

In the words of the awesome Adong Kevin... "The training was so, so nice! *gives thumbs up* You know, I'm dreaming to buy land and build a home someday soon. Stephen is going to teach us how we can do it... we are so happy."

It's a powerful day for the future of One Mango Tree. And friends, you're surely a part of this change. Let the joyful laughing resume and expect more updates soon!

a shilling saved...

The One Mango Tree Savings Program started out to solve a problem. On trips to Gulu, I often had a line of ladies out the office door asking for loans for various things - medical bills, advance payment on rent, buying school uniforms for children, etc. I realized that our tailors really were making enough money in their monthly wages to cover these relatively small expenses - so why were they always coming to me?

After a some questioning, I learned two very important things about our tailors:

1) they didn't know how to create a family budget, and
2) they didn't know how to save.

The OMT Savings Program has proven to be a success for #2. Each woman agreed that One Mango Tree would withhold 15% of her monthly earnings. On monthly pay stubs, we break down the earnings like this:

1) total labor earned
2) monthly savings
3) cumulative savings

On payday I often see the women pulling out past pay stubs and lining them up on their sewing tables to check my math. I hide a smile as I walk through the workshop. They love seeing #3 grow, and often compare savings with each other. I decided to up the ante a bit to really boost the incentive for saving - if the women do not withdraw from their savings for one year, One Mango Tree adds 10% of the full amount saved as a bonus. No one has withdrawn from their savings yet, and no one asks me for loans anymore!

Next task: we're putting together a family budgeting class in the local language so that the tailors learn to prioritize their spending and set goals. We'll learn what brings that twinkle to their eyes when they see their savings grow - and help them to realize their dreams. Check out the photo above right - that's Apiyo Prisca's son Isaac, 6, learning money management early on as he buys a sim-sim ball from a young vendor in the market.