Lanyiri, (UW/R), Feb. 8, GNA – Some beneficiaries of a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) at Lanyiri in the Wa West District, are counting the benefits of the Association, which has helped alleviate their financial challenges.
They said the proceeds from VSLA had, among other things, has supported the education of their wards.
“The susu we are doing here is helping us to take of our children in school. We also use the money to buy some basic things that we need.
“If you are also sick, you can borrow money from the susu to go to clinic and pay back later”, Madam Clementia Sei, a beneficiary of the VSLA at the community told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.
She, however, said she was not able to invest the money in any meaningful business to maximize its benefit due to the lack of road network linking the community to market centres at Wa and Piisi.
“Because there is no electricity here, you take the money and there is nothing you can use it to do to make it profitable. There are also no roads that you can go to the market to buy things with the money and resell to get profit”, Madam Sei added.
Mr James Dayi, another VSLA beneficiary at the community, said the association had helped him to improve on his farming activities as he used the proceeds from the VSLA to buy farm inputs such as fertilizers.
“This susu has been helping me to farm for some years now. At least, I get something from the farm for my family to eat”, he explained.
Mr Suleman Bipuah, the Programmes Manager fo-r Community Development Alliance (CDA), explained that the VSLA could improve the financial status of women, particularly at the rural level, if its well managed.
The VSLA is a form of saving and loans where members of the group contribute some amount of money weekly to save and share within a particular time frame.
It also serves as a source of financial liberation for members in times of emergency such as health needs and funerals as members could borrow money and repay within a particular period of time.
GNA