We’re sitting in a circle beneath a shady tree in Lositeti, serenaded by birdsong. The all-female building team has been loading the truck for their next construction; they’ve paused for this gathering.
This year, we started holding monthly meetings that bring together the women builders and members of our management team. It started with lending cooperatives: our managers had a wealth of knowledge and experience to share, and we put this into practice by providing sessions on financial empowerment.
To leverage the transformation that’s possible when women make good money, we helped each team of builders to set up a lending cooperative. Members pool a portion of their monthly earnings, then take turns borrowing from the fund, repaying it so the next woman can do the same. Save the Rain matches every shilling they save.
Judith guides today’s discussion, teaching the women the tools they need to manage the cooperative themselves. They agree on a savings goal before lending can begin – and that loans will be specifically for starting businesses, so that the money can grow. Funds can be accessed if a family member falls ill, but only if it’s a woman or child. Judith’s expression is quizzical, so they explain: when men get sick, they sell their cows and use the money to take themselves to hospital – but this doesn’t extend to wives and offspring.
Next, Cleo takes the floor: her sessions on health are proving increasingly popular. They began with an introduction to the female body, and how to recognize early signs of disease – but now, the women’s questions lead the direction of the discussion. As trust and confidence grow, they venture into topics that would’ve been taboo – like contraception. This feels fitting: if the lending cooperative promises agency and independence financially, it follows they should want the same for their bodies.
The safety of this space holds room for much more than wealth and health. The women address the hindrances to their teamwork: how to manage people turning up late, or how to circulate information in time… together, they co-create better systems. They are bound together by the sweat of their labor, by the bonds of community, by motherhood, and by faith. The more their lives intertwine, the more it pays to ensure their web of togetherness is strong.
Each time Judith and Cleo hold these circles, this togetherness expands to include them. The more connected we are to the women we depend upon to bring about transformation for those we serve – the better equipped we are to serve them. We’ve dubbed these meetings ‘Everything But the Build’, and they’re just as important as the tanks we construct. They’re part of our commitment to those we work with, and that extends beyond their labor to their health, their happiness, and their wholeness.
The meeting closes with prayer and song; there is laughter as they leave. When we take time to tend to togetherness, we’re building something that will last even longer than our tanks. Trust. Support. Sisterhood.
