June 2005

An income generation group in Ngaba

In February 2004, a group of six women from a church were given a loan of $100 to start a small business in the field of their choice. They were trained by the Department of Women and Families (DFF) of the Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa (CPK). They learned how to produce the product, how to manage money, how to count and do basic math, how to repay the loan. And they learned related subjects such as nutrition, hygiene, and basic information about HIV/AIDS.

Their names were originally suggested by a woman named Harriet who had been trained by the CPK as community HIV/AIDS worker. She thought these women were all “high risk” for AIDS because of their living situations. Harriet, along with the pastor and elders of the church and the leaders of the DFF, confirmed the situation of these women, and encouraged them to form a group. Originally there were six members in the group, though one member moved with her husband to another region of the country, leaving five. Only four are pictured here (see photo) because one member was sick the day the photo was taken.

The group produces fermented manioc, a popular local food. Trucks bring to Kinshasa the manioc flour needed to prepare this food. The women wait for the arrival during the night, purchase it as soon as it is unloaded, and then begin the process of making the fermented manioc. It takes several days to prepare.

First the flour is sifted into water and rinsed and soaked. Afterward, it is put into a bag and left to dry. Then it is pounded and later boiled until it becomes a thick paste. It is then kneaded and shaped into rolls, wrapped in leaves, tied in a piece of string (which are reused over and over) boiled, left to ferment, and then sold. If the flour is bought on Thursday, they are generally ready to sell the manioc by Saturday afternoon.

Though they don’t count cost precisely, they generally generate a benefit of about $7.00 to $8.00 per sack of manioc flour. Affecting the benefit they receive is both the stability of the local currency, which has lost value over the past several years, and such things as road conditions. May is the end of the rainy season, so roads are generally at their worst. Because of that, trucks are unable to enter the city as usual, necessitating additional transport costs to get the products to their distribution points. This raises the prices of goods in general, and so for these women, the cost of a sack of manioc. As the dry season begins and roads become more passable, the cost should go down.

When asked what the group has meant to them, they replied:

• “Before we sold on our own. Now we work together and we have a family. We are a family.”
• “We eat now, everyday.”
• “Some of our children go to school.”
• “When one member was sick, we were able to put our money together and pay for her medicine and medical costs.”
• “We had always wanted to buy uniforms for the anniversary celebration of the CPK. Now each of us has one.”
• “When Bibi’s brother-in-law died, she had to travel 40 kilometers to his funeral. And one is expected to give something. Again we put our money together and could help her do this.”
• “We advise each other and we pray for each other. We pray together.”

The group members

• Yembi Lusongadio was the only member of the group comfortable speaking in French. (They all speak Lingala, the common language of Kinshasa.) Her husband has been employed for a while. She has five children, all of whom are in school.
• Bibi Minkala is married and has five children also (three boys and two girls). Only one of her children goes to school.
• Ngamba, president of the group, has been a widow since 2000. She has two sets of triplets, nine children in all, (two boys and seven girls). Only two of her children are married, the girls. Her last child is in high school, but failed her exams last year and hasn’t been able to restart because of the high cost of restarting.
• Kikwemi (which means “it is bright”) is a widow with seven children, (four boys and three girls). Three are still at home. When her husband died, the husband’s family wanted to sell her house and property. The group prayed together, because she didn’t know what she could do. She had a dream that she’d be able to buy a new home for just about a dollar. That week the husband’s family told her they sold the property—but gave her $1,000, and she was able to find a new place to live for less than that. “God answered our prayers.”
• Melissa’s husband just died. He had owned two pieces of land, one that her house was on, and one near the airport. Her brother-in-law put pressure on her to take the land by the airport because he wants to live in town. Though it will be hard to get to Kinshasa to work, the group counseled her—for the sake of family peace—to take the land near the airport. They’ll help her with transportation back and forth.

Though these women aren’t making lots of money, they are rejoicing that they now eat everyday and have the chance to help others more. They also can do things, such as buying uniforms, that they could not have done before. And they have a new family that loves and supports each other even when their real families don’t. They would like to increase their benefits, not just for themselves, but so they can also “help the church more” too. They say they can do this by purchasing more basic equipment, so that they can all be working on all parts of the process at the same time. They don’t mind working more. They enjoy their time together. God has blessed them and their families through each other. They’re proud of that, and so very glad.

Caryl

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 317