From Refugee to Employer, Geoffrey a year later

Geoffrey’s story starts in 1997 when the South Sudan war broke out, forcing him to flee with his wife Flora. They left everything behind and, eventually, settled in the West Nile region of Uganda. 

We featured Geoffrey on the last World Refugee Day (read story) and he remains part of the Opi Okweni Savings Group, a group introduced to VisionFund Uganda by World Vision in 2019. The savings group has transformed the lives of its members.  

Geoffrey’s life has drastically improved since then, he has acquired new machinery for his grinding mill (that he purchased with his first loan) and has also acquired an ox-plough used both in farming activities and rented out to fellow group members at a small cost to raise additional income. He has been able to do all this because the savings group got a FAST loan of $1,621, of which Geoffrey received $270.  

Geoffrey is grateful because of the income generated, he has experienced a significant change in the well-being of his children, being able to pay school fees without delay, and providing food to his family with ease. With this current loan, he has acquired a goat that is ably providing milk for the nourishment of his children.  

As Geoffrey's life has improved from the growth of his businesses, he has been able to employ others in his community and help them improve their lives through increased income.  He has employed people to work at his grinding mill and assist with the animal rearing.  

He remains hopeful that with the roll out of FAST, VisionFund will increase the maximum loan amount from $1,621 to enable group members to qualify for bigger loans from the cashbox. He is enthusiastic that with the continued breeding of his animals, he will have a herd of livestock in the future with the help of VisionFund.