Clouds are gathered everywhere in the sky, the smell of the wet land is a greeting every morning and getting soaked in the rain is the order of the day. Vendors are busy selling various types of seeds for planting, especially maize. Farmers are spending all their time tending to the maize crops — the staple of Malawi.  Every household in Kaungu District relies on farming to feed their family and maize is the main crop that every family makes sure is not missing in...
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Village Savings and loan Association (VSLA) groups are an important initiative of Join My Village because they help rural people (especially women) learn basic financial skills as they begin to save and loan their own money as a group (see blog titled Introducing the Village Savings and Loan Model posted on February 3, 2011).  The model is a successful way to help empower women and communities because it:  Teaches women basic financial skills Enables women to borrow money from a village-formed "bank" so they can...
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Join My Village, a "click to commit" social change initiative, is launching the second year of its online community with a new partner: American country music singer and songwriter Lee Ann Womack. Individuals will have the power to release up to $900,000 of General Mills and Merck charitable dollars for economic and educational opportunities for women and girls in Malawi. The campaign is a partnership between General Mills, Merck and leading international humanitarian organization CARE. Join My Village puts the power of General Mills and...
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This year Join My Village (JMV) has introduced new positions in the communities to assist with the management of Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) groups called Village Agents (VAs). These are members of VSLAs who are identified as having the skills to train others to start VSLA groups. They work hand in hand with CARE’s JMV field staff at the ground level and are one way of empowering the community for sustainability of village savings and loans, as they will have the skills necessary...
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A Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) is a group of 15-25 people (most often women) who save together and take small, low interest loans from those savings. CARE founded the VSLA model in 1991 in Niger.  Based on its proven impact, CARE has promoted the methodology in over 20 countries, across Africa, Asia and Latin America.  For Join My Village, the VSLA model has formed an important part of our approach to empowering women and supporting girls’ education in Kasungu District.  VSLAs are self-formed...
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