The Self-Help Group

The Basics of Self-Help Groups

line drawing illustration of women electing a self-help group committee
       The election of the Self-Help Group Committee

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).

line drawing illustration of a female educator standing in front of class of other women. Our Regulations is written across a  chalkboard in the background.

By-Laws

The group will make some decisions, which will be written down in the group regulation (by-laws), such as:

the amount of savings that all members will contribute every week
the loan terms
the amount of fine for late repayment
the amount of fine for non-attendance without good reason

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:

to keep the savings and use only the revolving fund or
to use the savings and the fund for their business

The entire process of SHG establishment will be facilitated by the project’s social worker who ensures the group will reach their goal.

Loving Hands & Hugging Hearts!

With your help, we can make an even greater difference.

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