Habitat Zambia

Category: Success Stories

  • Savings Group Member Extends House and Boosts Chicken Rearing Business

    Savings Group Member Extends House and Boosts Chicken Rearing Business

    “Once the savings group records and cash boxes are fully incorporated in Savings Groups, I will spend very little time away from my business as I will opt to be virtually present in some meeting while attending to my business,” said Sophia Phiri.

    Sophia Phiri is a 50-year-old woman, married with six children. She is a member of Twafwane Savings Group, a Habitat for Humanity Zambia supported group which she joined in 2020 during its formation.  She joined the group with the hope of boosting her chicken rearing business by having access to loans with little interest rate.

    “I joined Twafwane Savings Group with the hope of boosting my business through access to loans and access to information on how to grow my business. Before joining the group, I was running a chicken rearing business of 100 birds and after the first share out of the funds, I decided to increase the number of birds to 200,” Sophia said.

    Through the money raised from Twafwane Savings Group, Sophia has been able to extend her house and connect pipped water to her house.

  • Savings Group Member Builds Shop and Boosts Business

    Savings Group Member Builds Shop and Boosts Business

    “Due to the digitization of the Savings Group records, I no longer have to go through the stress of tracking my savings through a book at home which sometimes gets misplaced or lost,” said Elizabeth Mwape.

    Elizabeth is 48, married with four children. She joined Twafwane Savings Group in 2020 when it was formed. She heard about the Habitat for Humanity Zambia-supported Savings Groups from Community Change Agents working with Habitat for Humanity Zambia who were sensitizing the community on the value of Savings Groups.

    Elizabeth shares how her business and family have benefited from the Savings Group. “Before joining the Savings Group, I used to sell tomatoes, charcoal and mealie meal. After the first share out, I added cooking oil, salt and beans to the items I am selling. I only used to buy one box of tomatoes for sale, but now I buy two boxes,” said Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth built a shop at her house when she previously used to sell her products on a table. She has additionally enrolled one of her children who used to attend a government school into a private school. She further added that the family could only afford one meal a day before she joined the Savings Group. Currently, they can afford to have three meals a day.

    Elizabeth intends to allocate the money from the next share out to renovate her shop by adding shelves to place her products.

  • Digitalization Of Savings Group Records Increases Confidence in Groups

    “Since the digitalization of the group records, the level of confidence among Savings Group members in Prosperity Savings Group has increased. This is because each member has records of their savings such as social fund, loan fund messaged to their phones after each meeting to our,” said Gift Phiri.

    Gift Phiri is a 31-year-old single mother of two. She is a member of Prosperity Savings Group. The group was formed in 2021 and she decided to join it in 2022 after hearing about its benefits from a friend.

    Habitat for Humanity Zambia is implementing a one-year project titled “Improving Financial Security for Women” that will support 2,900 female members of Saving Groups from low-income households in the informal settlement of Makululu, Kabwe district.  This project aims to improve their financial security by facilitating and consolidating savings behaviour through the formalisation and training of Savings Groups in Kabwe in the use of a safe and secure digital financial platform, supplied by our partner Dream Start Labs.