Empower Women through the Self Help Group Approach

The Self Help Group Approach project has reached 1886 unemployed rural women in the last year. These women are part of 119 Self Help Groups that meet together to save money from which they take turns to loan for various life improving activities. Through the donations that we have recieved in the last year, Thusanang has been able to employ 8 Community Facilitators who mobilse, organise and train the women on how to set up their Self Help Group and how to keep their books up to date. The Community Facilitators are the live-wires that keep the Self Help Group Approach functioning. They motivate the members to start income generating activities as well as help the groups to serve as a social asset where the women can discuss and resolve common issues that affect them in their communities.

In the last year we have seen some small group members starting and growing small businesses. Through these small businesses they are able to earn an income to sustain their families as well as growing the business. These small businesses range from subsitence farming, street vending through to chicken farming. In the Maruleng Municipality - Ga- Sekororo two groups have joined hands together and acquired a 1 hectre plot on which they are now growing vegetables to feed their families and sell the extra harvest to generate income. While some enterprises are done in groups, others are started by individuals. The enabling factor for these enterprises has been the loans that the women were able to access from the group savings. These loans bridge the gap for capital finacing without which the small enterprise would remain an idea. The fact that the women are all unemployed, means they could not access loans from formal finance institutions. This is where the Self Help Group Approach makes the critical difference. 

Thusanang is grateful for all the donors who have contributed to this project. The donations have enable us to facilitate and build confidence among a sector of society that would have remained marginalised. One member, one group and one small enterprise at a time, the project is restoring dignity and offering hope.

The last few weeks of 2025 were as frenetic as any other year end! Somehow we were, once again, caught up in many functions, all marking the end of another year. We are very grateful that, with the support of of kind donors, recurring and once-off, we were able to keep this project going in 2025. We only had funding for the stipends of 2 of our 7 Community Facilitators (CFs) last year, so we are really grateful for all your donations. We are concerned that we may not be able to pay stipends this coming year, so please carry on giving generously so that we can continue with this valuable work.

Our Self-Help Group Learning and Sharing Year End function took place at the end of November. About 200 ladies from all three districts where we have Self-Help groups, gathered at the Thusanang Centre to renew friendships, learn from the guest speaker, share success stories from the past year and discuss challenges. 

Our guest speaker was a social worker from the Department of Social Development. She spoke about causes of stress and anxiety amongst unemployed people. Many examples of situations she highlighted, resonated with the ladies present. She mentioned how, when you have no money, and your child comes to ask for some to buy necessities,  your immediate reaction is to start shouting at the child before he/she has even finished speaking. This increases stress for both the mother and the child. At the end of her speech, one lady stood up and admitted that that was exactly what she did, and vowed that she would never shout at her children when they needed money again! 

Links:

• Help Rural Women Help Themselves