The Basics of Self-Help Groups
Self-Help Groups are groups of 15 to 20 poor widows who want to improve their living conditions by setting up their own savings and loans for small business. The fund is owned by the group and consists of the savings of the members. The project will also provide a revolving fund on top of their savings to encourage the group. The revolving fund is used to provide short-term loans to every member to strengthen their business. The group comes together every week to collect savings and to give out loans, as well as to discuss various social issues together. Each meeting will focus on a different topic including social issues and training in areas such as basic business skills, hygiene and sanitation, maternal health, etc., facilitated by the project’s social worker.
Management Committee
The members of the group will elect a management committee of 5 members: a president, a deputy (savings administrator), the loan administrator(controller), a cash book recorder (a writer), and a cashier.
The project will train the management committee on basic bookkeeping skills (to record their savings and loans).
By-Laws
The group will make some decisions, which will be written down in the group regulation (by-laws), such as:
Finances
The group will keep some cash at hand at all times for emergency loans. Emergency loans are loans that can be given any day of the week to group members who have a sick person or an accident in the family, and need money urgently.
At the end of the year, all of the loans need to be paid back. During the last meeting of the year, they can jointly decide:
The entire process of SHG establishment will be facilitated by the project’s social worker who ensures the group will reach their goal.
