Breaking barriers for women in Burundi

“Before Tubunganire Women’s Association, what would it have taken for a woman to have 400,000 Burundi Francs [about $65]?” Mwibutsa Ndagijimana, SIA African Advisory Board member from Burundi, asked the Tubunganire Executive Committee during our visit in Ryansoro. “Nothing.” “There’s no way she could have,” were the responses from Gereni, Clautilde, Agnes, and Concilia.

“Before, it was painful to have some small need and not be able to get it yourself,” said Agnes. She explained that before, men controlled all the household money, so the woman would have to wait until her husband got home to go out to buy something she needed.

Agnes, Clautilde, and Gereni, members of Tubunganire's Executive Committee, with the beans the group will plant in September.

Now, with the savings and loans group, a member can get a loan quickly and have access to cash (with the dignity of not having to beg or borrow it) every Thursday when they meet. “Now it’s rare that a woman goes without salt or cooking oil,” Agnes said with a smile.

When SIA started partnering with Tubunganire Women in 2022, the first grant provided $1,000 to increase the loan fund capital for two savings and loans groups. The groups were already in operation, but the $500 per group was enough to set up a good loan fund so that all members could take small loans when they need them. Currently, Tubunganire has over 300 members, in groups of about 30 women.

SIA Vice President Amber Picou and I visited the Tubunganire women in their rural village.

Seeing the fruits of their savings

On the afternoon we visited, two of the Tubunganire groups distributed the funds that women had saved over the course of the year, plus their equal share of any interest collected on loans to members. One group was distributing 6 million Burundi Francs (BIF) (about $1,000) to their 36 group members – a huge amount in this rural village!

The calculations took all day, with reconciling the various record books and dividing interest. It’s a big task for the groups where few members are literate. Clautilde, a widow, had saved the most of her group, and I had the honor of handing her 600,000 BIF [$100 USD]. She’ll use some of it for school materials for her children, and for seeds for planting next month.

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Left: Anitha, one of the group's younger members, is the money counter.

Right: Clautilde saved the most money this year, over $100!

Breaking barriers

At the evening celebration after the savings were distributed, there was a group of about 20 husbands who attended, in addition to the 60 women present. It was a barrier-breaking moment.

When it was his turn, Charles said the men were pleased to be invited by the women to their event, which was not a common thing. He also testified to how the association had brought harmony into households, with less worry and conflict about money. It was a huge moment of changing norms, marking the elevation of the status of women in the community.

SIA African Advisory Board Member Naomi (pictured left) joins the Tubunganire women in drinking the celebratory fermented millet. The men are seated on the side of the room and only had a drink after all the group members.