Megan Whaley's Posts - Urgent Evoke2024-03-29T07:44:13ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaleyhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2209226581?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=2lypua7gnd8t0&xn_auth=noHumanure and your relationship with life cyclestag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-23:4871302:BlogPost:589392010-03-23T17:15:48.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
<p>Humanure is what it sounds like- human waste transformed into a viable, safe fertilizer</p>
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<p>I was studying this use of human manure as a way to transform toxic sources of water poisoning in rural areas of Uganda into a way to improve suffering soils. The issue of poor water quality in the areas where I was working posed a particularly acute and complex problem which could not be solved through human manure. However, it's a practice I'm seeing more and more in less urban areas of…</p>
<p>Humanure is what it sounds like- human waste transformed into a viable, safe fertilizer</p>
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<p>I was studying this use of human manure as a way to transform toxic sources of water poisoning in rural areas of Uganda into a way to improve suffering soils. The issue of poor water quality in the areas where I was working posed a particularly acute and complex problem which could not be solved through human manure. However, it's a practice I'm seeing more and more in less urban areas of western countries. I envision that there is a way to implement the humanure system on a scale efficient and large enough to accommodate urban dwellers. World food security about world water security- a far more precious resource considering global climate change. Each time you flush your toilet you are washing down gallons upon gallons of clean water which will in turn flow through a processing facility that inputs thousands of gallons of clean water and then dumps the "cleaned-up" sewage water into rivers and estuaries. The nutrients in that water feed hungry, fast multiplying algae which suck oxygen out of the water systems as they grow. This disturbance in the balance of the fragile water ecosystem causes plants and wildlife to suffocate, starve, or take over (if they are highly opportunistic). Finally, this has extremely profound and wide-reaching effects on the ecosystems which produce the food we eat. It can cripple and utterly destroy their ability to sustain populations of organisms which are key to the healthy functioning of our food systems (such as bees). We should do what we can to protect the precious water that we have and find new ways of harvesting fresh water that is not being used (<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090709-fog-catchers-peru-water-missions/">For instance these fog nets in Peru which have brought fresh water to the locals living in poverty</a>).</p>
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<p><em>You can avoid flushing down the gallons and put nutrients which your body did not process back into the food system safely and in a balanced manner.</em> A very informative but long read is the <a href="http://humanurehandbook.com/index.html">Humanure Handbook</a> <--- everything you would want to know about microbials, soil ecosystems, vermiculture (worms! our best wiggly friends), composting, composting human poo, and soil cycles.</p>
<p>Also, if you are more hands on and would like to see how it works through videos, Jenkins has tons of videos which document the whole process (even if you just want to learn how to compost) <a href="http://humanurehandbook.com/videos.html"">right here</a></p>Food Security in the middle of the Michigan mitten- Organic Farmingtag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-23:4871302:BlogPost:578692010-03-23T07:56:04.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
<p style="text-indent: 1em; color: teal;">Last spring I spent a couple of months working at the <a href="http://www.msuorganicfarm.com/">MSU Student Organic Farm</a> (SOF). I met them first while I was volunteering for the <a href="http://www.sister-cities.org/">Africa Sister Cities</a> Conference in 2008- they are constantly working with cities around the world to develop sustainable solutions to the food crisis and global climate change.…</p>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em; color: teal;">Last spring I spent a couple of months working at the <a href="http://www.msuorganicfarm.com/">MSU Student Organic Farm</a> (SOF). I met them first while I was volunteering for the <a href="http://www.sister-cities.org/">Africa Sister Cities</a> Conference in 2008- they are constantly working with cities around the world to develop sustainable solutions to the food crisis and global climate change.</p>
<br/><p style="text-indent: 1em; color: teal;"><a href="http://www.msuorganicfarm.org/csa.htm">The SOF has a program called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)</a>. As a member of this community you purchase a share of SOF's harvest for one season. Every week you come by the farm to pick up your produce. Every week, tons of students would come by to hand pick produce from the greenhouses, collect eggs from the hen house, and clean it up and bunch it for sale. On average a CSA member could expect to pay about $30 for their share and get about $55 in high quality, organically and sustainably produced foods like Kale (of every color), bok choy, parsnips, Irish potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, garlic, chives, fresh eggs (of blue shells, yellow, white, brown, and everything in between), rutabagas, and a bunch of things you wouldn't find at your market (<a href="http://www.msuorganicfarm.org/share.htm">the list of items in the share per season</a>). A large portion of the produce was taken to campus to sell once a week so that students could take advantage of the low priced veggies they offered.</p>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em; color: teal;">As a volunteer, and a poor student at the time, I benefited from SOF and the CSA program in ways I never imagined that I would. Most volunteers expressed that they were reaping similar rewards:</p>
<ul style="list-style:circle;">
<li>I developed a relationship with my food: the roots of the plants that fed me, the animals that produced it, and the farmers that carefully tended it. This taught all of us how precious food is and how hard it is to make as much food as you consume.</li>
<li>I became deeply tied to life cycles which I had never experienced before: many volunteers would stroll around the farm carefully picking leaves off shrubs and (seemingly wild) plants and eating them. Some would sigh and something I saw as a deep appreciation for life would spread across their faces. I'll admit I was a concrete-attuned, city lady. I hadn't a clue about how many beneficial plants there are in the world that are packed with vitamins and minerals (<a href="http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2304/2">take amaranth for example which is frequently eaten in villages in Uganda- called Dohdoh</a>).</li>
<li>Fresh fruits and vegetables are usually out of reach of most poor Americans. The SOF manager saw the lack of these foods in my diet and heaped free veggies on me and other poor students. I learned quickly how these veggies improved my health and could improve the lives of others.</li>
<li>Most students who volunteered or work at SOF were dedicated in nearly every aspect of their lives to sustainable living techniques (several rode their bikes as far as 15 miles to get to the farm a couple times a week). They were a community which stressed environmental and food production sustainability. I was introduced through SOF to the <a href="http://msu.coop/coops/about">Bower Student Cooperative (Community housing dedicated to sustainable living)</a>, the <a href="https://www.msu.edu/~foodbank/">university's student food bank</a>, organic farmers across Michigan, and <a href="http://www.lansingcitymarket.com/home.aspx">local farmers markets</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>I just can't thank SOF enough for their insight and community development efforts.</p>Urban Farming- resources and ideas I've come acrosstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-23:4871302:BlogPost:578642010-03-23T07:53:18.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
This is a post in response to <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PatricioBuenrostroGilhuys">Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuy's</a> post <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/collaborate-urban-farm?commentId=4871302:Comment:57707&xg_source=msg_com_blogpost"><em>"Collaborate-Urban Farm"</em></a>.<br></br>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em;">Urban farms are an incredibly relevant issue right now in the Detroit area of Michigan where the unemployment rate is around 1/4 the…</p>
This is a post in response to <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/PatricioBuenrostroGilhuys">Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuy's</a> post <a href="http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/collaborate-urban-farm?commentId=4871302:Comment:57707&xg_source=msg_com_blogpost"><em>"Collaborate-Urban Farm"</em></a>.<br/>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em;">Urban farms are an incredibly relevant issue right now in the Detroit area of Michigan where the unemployment rate is around 1/4 the job-seeking population and families are not finding enough food to eat. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/08/04/n_detroit_urban_farming.cnnmoney/">This video talks about how urban farms in abandoned areas of the city can change the landscape of a community</a>. Children are learning how to eat right and form a tight bond with life cycles.</p>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em;">Have you ever heard of <a href="http://www.growingpower.org/">Growing Power</a>? I love this video series and supporting videos as it shows an inspirational transformation of a community through an urban greenhouse and a man's powerful dream and focus. <br/> 1.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k39D2myzRFQ">Growing Power- The Greenhouse</a><br/>
2.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutSMk2mpdM&feature=related">Growing Power- Vermicompost</a>(I <3 worms- really the best little buggies on earth)<br/>
3.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kENge18wIqg&feature=related">Growing Power-Aquaculture</a><br/>
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<p style="text-indent: 1em;">There's an amazing book titled <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=CI9bfX0lNjEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+pull+of+the+earth&source=bl&ots=ZeZ8mrgBF6&sig=dZ2jqlAcI7iGtAcyKAsJ5zvp-cU&hl=en&ei=S2-oS9XbC5ueM82OnbEB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false">The Pull of the Earth by Laurie Thorp</a> which is about how a school garden changed the lives of children in an elementary school in a low income neighborhood (brought peace into their turbulent families, improved their nutrition, changed the way they related to their food and sustainable food growing practices). This was Laurie's dissertation research at MSU. You can read a bit of it at the link above- although the book itself is pricey.</p>Social Innovation: 2020 is calling me and I'm right in the actiontag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-22:4871302:BlogPost:534412010-03-22T17:07:56.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">I'm in my small four walled office trying to ignore the drip, dripping of rain water falling into the pan from the leaky corrugated iron roof. One of our students is working on putting up a rain water harvesting system for this tin shack soon, but resources are tight. I scowl- I feel bad for each drop that washes away soil that could be going into a thirsty mouth or root. I'm so proud of them! We took designs of rain water harvesting systems that we saw in villages…</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">I'm in my small four walled office trying to ignore the drip, dripping of rain water falling into the pan from the leaky corrugated iron roof. One of our students is working on putting up a rain water harvesting system for this tin shack soon, but resources are tight. I scowl- I feel bad for each drop that washes away soil that could be going into a thirsty mouth or root. I'm so proud of them! We took designs of rain water harvesting systems that we saw in villages during our cross visits with other villages and schools, analyzed the availability of certain necessary resources, innovated with what we had (since we lacked what other villages had access to), and put up the first model on a widow's home. Our students decided she should come first since she's an elder, she has done so much for the village, and she's caring for 9 young orphaned children. I smile thinking about it- such wonderful students.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">In fact, the most rewarding part of my job are the service projects that youth in our vocational training programs are required to carry out. Vocational training in the program is free. But, students are required (as a way of paying for their training) to develop a service project through their three year training that will change their communities forever. The projects must follow these criteria: sustainability (the benefits must grow and sustain growth over time), innovation (with new ideas and local materials-maximize on what they've got), collaboration (with other community members, youth, and institutions), pass on skills and knowledge, and empower the most needy (as defined by the student class). The students can work in groups or individually, and usually they work in groups.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">This vocational training center is the first of many in this region on the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first student class named it Bee Hive in Kiswahili- because with time and patience, they argued, like bees they will make what no other being can make from the resources and tools around them, a sweet medicinal substance that will heal their village. As you can see, working with these youth has been the best experience of my life.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">But let me back up- ever since I proposed to Reserved in 2011, a deep friend of mine and chief of a town near Kinshasa whom I met in 2009, that we start one village at a time building youth vocational training centers in the DRC magic has been occurring. I've been working in this village for the past 8 months finding artisans willing to learn more, farmers willing to innovate, and local leaders willing to make changes here there to improve the living standards of people at the "bottom of the pyramid" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_of_the_pyramid">(BoP)</a>. It hasn't been easy but that's what's so exciting about it!</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">The Bee Hive is more than vocational training center because of it's constant outreach to the community. We've been stimulating a suffering farmers market, working with farmers to market their products, build up farming cooperatives, train leaders to find their inner potential, and most of all (the part I'm most excited about) training youth to adopt new skills, paradigms, and language that will help them get money in their pockets.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">My kid is tugging at my pant leg- 6 now and wants to run to see the preparations for Musa's birthday. Musa's a poor farmer- at least he was. As the first, and most spirited I might add, student in our program here, he took up the skills we taught in our first session (calculating farming budgets, drawing up 3 season action plans for the farm, choosing the most optimal (price for value) tools and livestock, etc.) and went to work. He passed on the knowledge to his brothers and sisters. He formed a strong farming cooperative for chicken farmers (including his interested family members) so that they could negotiate market prices of eggs, chicken meat, and feed. Now he and 4 other farmers are bringing 2 trays of eggs minimum a day to the local market- that's 8 times the income they would normally be bringing in!</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">Today isn't a normal birthday. He and the community are holding a celebration in honor of his family and the farmers he's been working with to congratulate them on all their success. Of course, we've been cheering him on the whole time and helping him and the farmers out every way we can. But, they own this project. It's their life.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">I'm glad the rain has stopped- my kid runs off out of the shack with a giggle. I simply would love to help, Alchemy, but I have to attend this celebration. It's important to Musa, and every one of our students- and to me! Here, let me tell you what. Here's the contact information for the project leaders of 5 of our best performing vocational training centers in Kisangani, Goma, and Ituri. Those youth right there- they can solve ANY problem. Those are your world leaders right there.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">And, Please Alchemy, let me know if you need anything else.</p>Tiller International- hooking up with the right people to help rural African farmerstag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-22:4871302:BlogPost:556042010-03-22T15:50:55.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
<p style="text-indent:1em;">I just called <a href="http://www.tillersinternational.org/tillers/about_staff_roosenberg.html">Dick Roosenberg, a man passionate about working with farmers to improve livelihoods in rural areas of Africa</a>. I'm going to meet him sometime in the next 2 weeks at the Tillers International farm in Scotts, Michigan. I'm so excited I'm bouncing out of my seat.</p>
<p style="text-indent:1em;"><a href="http://www.tillersinternational.org/index.html">Tillers Int'l…</a></p>
<p style="text-indent:1em;">I just called <a href="http://www.tillersinternational.org/tillers/about_staff_roosenberg.html">Dick Roosenberg, a man passionate about working with farmers to improve livelihoods in rural areas of Africa</a>. I'm going to meet him sometime in the next 2 weeks at the Tillers International farm in Scotts, Michigan. I'm so excited I'm bouncing out of my seat.</p>
<p style="text-indent:1em;"><a href="http://www.tillersinternational.org/index.html">Tillers Int'l</a> trains farmers how to implement low capital (very low capital) solutions to improve the efficiency and productivity of their farms. Dick has had his eye on helping rural farmers in Africa ever since he was in the Peace Corps in West Africa. What do rural farmers need to get money in their pockets? He asked. They need low cost, few barriers to entry technologies- <em>like donkey traction!</em></p>
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<p style="text-indent:1em;">At Nyaka we work in the highlands <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=kambuga+uganda&sll=-0.867887,29.910278&sspn=0.690682,1.352692&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Kambuga,+Kanungu,+Uganda&t=h&ll=-0.817767,29.788742&spn=0.329556,0.439453&z=11&iwloc=A">(Google map us)</a> where the land is very rocky and the hills are extremely steep and tightly packed. We also work where the land is very flat and the climate is dry and very hot. There are many good reasons to use donkeys for traction in this area.</p>
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<ul style="list-style: circle;">
<li>Donkeys can sweat off the body heat unlike horses and oxen which need frequent breaks, shade, and water because they overheat easier.</li>
<li>They don't require a lot of forage unlike horses and oxen. They outlive cattle in drought situations and easily survive by foraging around them. Especially since we are looking into planting Moringa trees around our two schools and community farm facility and distributing seeds as quickly as we can get saplings, farmers will easily have enough low cost forage to provide for the donkey.</li>
<li>Donkeys have a working life of 12-15 years (if treated well)</li>
<li>Donkeys can manuever through difficult terrain because they are sure- footed and small.</li>
<li>They are well mannered, kind towards humans, walk about the pace of a human (so they are ideal for traction), hardy, and darn right hard working.</li>
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<a href="http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/AD35.pdf">Here is an excellent manual on the benefits of working with donkeys for traction in low income areas.</a><br/>
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<p style="text-indent:1em;">Also, from a completely different angle, donkeys have interesting social stigmas which make them ideal for working with women farmers. In many places in the world, including many areas of Africa, donkeys are considered "low status" animals (perhaps like pigs in some western countries). Despite their worth as traction animals, donkeys cannot be given as part of a wedding gift. They are not eaten and they do not produce offspring as rapidly as other livestock. However, they are almost always cheaper to procure than other traction livestock. And frequently, where men take issue with a woman owning a animal such as a cow or goat, they will not take issue with a woman owning a donkey. A donkey can carry as much as 3 times the same amount of water a woman can carry back from a water source in one trip. The donkey can pull a small cart with her produce in it to market. For women strapped for opportunities and cash who won't take on a risky venture, a donkey is a low cost investment. What more can I say about our lovable equine friends?</p>
<a href="http://www.ifad.org/gender/learning/sector/agriculture/73.htm">A wonderful article by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) on how donkeys can fit in with women farmer's needs</a><br/>
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<p style="text-indent:1em;">Not to stifle the excitement here: there are many issues we have to overcome in introducing donkeys into rural communities who have never worked with donkey and many times never seen a donkey beyond a primary school text book picture. Some of those issues involve cultural attitudes towards the treatment of donkeys (some donkeys indeed are abused), lack of knowledge on how to maximize the health and productivity of a donkey, and a ready market from which one can purchase a donkey, necessary medicines, harnesses, carts, etc. These are issues which we are attempting to overcome through our work with Tiller Int'l. <em>Wish us luck!</em></p>
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<a href="http://www.atnesa.org/donkeys/donkeys-bwalya-extension-ZM.pdf">Here is an excellent, brief paper on some of the issues we face <em>(and how we can face them)</em> in working with donkeys for traction in Zambia and Zimbabwe.</a>Social Innovation: hooking up with Villgrotag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-21:4871302:BlogPost:515882010-03-21T00:05:23.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
<em><b>Villgro is amazing!</b></em> <a href="http://www.villgro.org/">(Follow this link to their Website)</a> <br></br>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">It's a hotspot for social entrepreneurship and innovation that is dedicated to finding solutions to rural poverty in India. I read through their current Blog material, read through their staff, read through their current initiatives, and I've fallen in love with these people. On their home page they have a button: "Do you have an idea? Share it with…</p>
<em><b>Villgro is amazing!</b></em> <a href="http://www.villgro.org/">(Follow this link to their Website)</a> <br/>
<p style="text-indent: 1em;">It's a hotspot for social entrepreneurship and innovation that is dedicated to finding solutions to rural poverty in India. I read through their current Blog material, read through their staff, read through their current initiatives, and I've fallen in love with these people. On their home page they have a button: "Do you have an idea? Share it with us: Upload" and "Looking for an idea?: Find." Last year they had a convention in Chennai called <a href="http://www.villgro.org/unconvention/"><em>Unconvention: Where path breakers meet path makers</em></a>.</p>
<br/><p style="text-indent:1em;">I want to hug these people, they make me so happy inside (<em>While I'm at it- I would like to hug EVOKE- you guys are changing my path in life</em>). Sure I chose a group of people to be my heroes rather than one person, but why not? They are my Rural Innovation to Fight Poverty Squad!</p>
<br/><p style="text-indent:1em;">I'm now subscribed to the RSS feed of their <a href="http://www.villgro.org/researchblog/">Research Blog</a> and I'm a friend on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Villgro">Villgro Facebook Page</a>. <em>Let the games begin.</em></p>
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<div>-MW</div>Social Innovation: saving your shillings in a small women's grouptag:www.urgentevoke.com,2010-03-20:4871302:BlogPost:514042010-03-20T22:54:33.000ZMegan Whaleyhttp://www.urgentevoke.com/profile/MeganWhaley
I learned several techniques to finding simple and innovative solutions to poverty issues in Uganda. 1. Listen to people when they talk about their problems, be empathetic, and try to live life their way to understand the problem from their angle as well as your angle. 2. Create simple (I can't emphasize that enough!) solutions which are replicable and catchy- solutions which are transparent to even the least skilled user and that you can explain easily. 3. Make sure the solutions involve…
I learned several techniques to finding simple and innovative solutions to poverty issues in Uganda. 1. Listen to people when they talk about their problems, be empathetic, and try to live life their way to understand the problem from their angle as well as your angle. 2. Create simple (I can't emphasize that enough!) solutions which are replicable and catchy- solutions which are transparent to even the least skilled user and that you can explain easily. 3. Make sure the solutions involve building human capital- empowering people with skills which they can master over time and apply in other areas of their lives to improve their lives.<div><br/></div>
<div>One example of how I applied these three social innovation techniques involves three groups of grandmothers in three parishes in a rural area of Uganda. I was at the Eastern Ward Grandmother's Self-Help group's bi-monthly meeting when they brought out a large metal box with a lock on it and began passing out neatly organized blue passbooks. I was there to learn how the ladies conducted their meeting, which was always very revealing and inspiring.</div>
<div>"What was the box for?" I asked. The Eastern Ward group had one member, a prominent local, woman leader who was a field officer for CARE Int'l for that Sub-County. She had advised them to start collecting their own personal savings. After counseling her friends and relatives (everyone in the area was connected in a close social network) on savings techniques and the values of savings, the group decided to pool their funds to purchase the box, the personal passbooks (which kept track of their savings and loans payments), and a stamp.</div>
<div>"Why the stamp?" I asked. Nearly all of the women in the group are illiterate. The stamp represents 200 UGX (about .10 USD). The women can easily add up the amount they have saved by counting how many stamps they have.</div>
<div>"Does the stamp work for them?" Actually, yes! The women even feel a bit of competition as they see other women adding stamps to their books. They feel encouraged to add more stamps to their books. Also, most women can at least save 200 or 400 UGX at a time. So, the stamp makes them feel accomplished in saving even the smallest bit they have. It works perfectly as a reward mechanism. (I noticed that many women were discouraged to save because they did not feel that they had enough to save- as if the bit they had wasn't 'save-worthy' - the stamp changed that).</div>
<div>"When can the women take out from their savings?" Anytime they need to. However, they encouraged to add on to their savings.</div>
<div>"How can they ensure that their money is safe in this box?" Well they decided that the President, Secretary, and Treasurer (all ladies who were democratically voted into their positions by the group) should all hold a different key to a different lock on the box. The box could only be opened when all three members were present in one place to open their locks. This ensured checks and balances, and it has built a large amount of trust and cohesion in this group. They love one another.</div>
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<div>This whole solution was so innovative, simple, and transparent. It got me excited. The women even told me they were pumped watching how excited I was about what they had accomplished. Previously I had talked to the Northern Ward Grandmothers Self-Help group about starting a bank account at the Kanungu Development Bank in town. Why hadn't they started an account? They told me they wanted to but the bank required a minimum balance to sustain the account. They also charged fees on certain transactions and when too many transactions occurred. The group could not sustain the fees and lost confidence in the bank. Most of all, the bank was simply intimidating. The paperwork was difficult to understand and impossible to read for most women. They had good reason to hesitate working with large institutions like federally regulated financial institutions. These banks were not in business to service the poorest of the poor, although they may wish to. Many of the women expressed to me their experiences in the past of relationships with authorities gone sour when processes were not explained to them properly, authorities failed their expectations, or authorities downright didn't deliver on promises for one reason or another. The group saving scheme just seemed to make sense!</div>
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<div>After borrowing one of the Eastern Ward's passbooks I rushed over to the Northern Ward groups' president's house and then to meet the Bushura Grandmother's Self-Help Group. I explained the scheme and how Eastern Ward was already making great strides. The ladies were comforted by the fact that another group of women in similar life circumstances were moving mountains with such a simple scheme. They examined the passbook, drew up a sample of it, and debated ideas of how the savings scheme would work. Members raised their hands to bring up concerns which others contemplated quietly. Women popped up excitedly with possible solutions. They adapted the concepts to their groups' needs. Then they voted on whether to adopt the scheme. They voted unanimously! It was amazing to watch them build trust and cohesion in their groups which would carry on into the effectiveness of their endeavors. They were learning incredibly valuable skills there that day! What skills you may ask?</div>
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<div>1. Learning to design incentive systems which ensure cooperation, mutual interests, and positive results every time.</div>
<div>2. Learning group problem solving techniques such as: exploring options; resolving conflicts; identifying strengths in the group which may forward the objective; and building consensus and trust.</div>
<div>3. Learning personal effectiveness skills such as: respecting/caring about other's opinions and viewpoints; maintaining an open, non-judgmental mind; maintaining and fueling optimism; expressing one's opinions effectively; and inspiring others to action.</div>
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<div>This was just in the decision making process and it does not include the skills they learned while carrying out this savings scheme.</div>
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<div>-MW</div>