The power of microfinance

Frida, a single mother uses her micro loans from VisionFund Uganda to educate all her children and improve the wellbeing of her family

Frida (35) is a resident of Kibaale, Uganda. She is a single mother of five (three girls and two boys) and a commercial farmer, growing maize, beans, and bananas amongst others at a medium scale.  Through a struggle to make ends meet, Frida was introduced to VisionFund Uganda by one of the village agents of World Vision way back in 2017. With a need to grow her agriculture activities, she joined the mostly-female Kyamuganguzi Savings Group of 15 members where each member applied for a particular loan amount.

Frida was given a loan of UGX 500,000 which she invested in her garden, which resulted in yielding a relatively improved output. After paying back her first loan, she graduated to loans of UGX 600,000, UGX 800,000 and then UGX 1,000,000, with the latter amount taken over three times.

During all this time Frida was not only struggling with poor agriculture output as a result of bad seasons but also making enough to pay school fees for her children.

“It was a time like now in 2018 when I saw the power of God working within people of VisionFund Uganda who helped me raise school fees for all my children and I have been able to educate them in better schools. I have also managed to use my loans well to construct a permanent house for my children. My eldest daughter graduated as a Nurse, and she is currently employed at a local Government hospital. At some point, I also took a WASH loan from VisionFund Uganda which I used to construct a pit latrine at home to improve on sanitation and hygiene,” says Frida with a big smile, mentioning all achievements with excitement.

Her future plan is to see all her children complete quality education in good schools.  She also plans to support her daughter who is nurse to upgrade from a certificate to at least a diploma in nursing. She plans to achieve all this by borrowing more money from VisionFund as an individual client instead of in a group, in order to take out larger loans.