My name is Hana Markos, and I’m 19 years old. I’m a member of Kemisie’s VSLA at Teza Gereba Kebele in Kedida Gamela District, Central Ethiopia. Having dropped out in Grade 10 and immediately got married, I never finished school because I thought it would be easier to be a wife than a student. I will never know what being a student would have been like after my Grade 10, but it certainly isn’t any harder than being a wife with two babies.
I joined VSLA because the woman who recruited me promised it would change my life, that I would make money and improve my life. My life needed an overhaul, and I needed money.
They taught us many important things, but best of all, we learned about saving money, loans, interest rates, discipline, and never losing focus on your goals. I met a group of girls my age and realized I wasn’t alone in my struggles and that together, we could change our future. I enjoy the home visit when someone gives birth. We each contribute 20 Birr and give her the money. We sit together, talk, laugh, and eat.
A few members left the group at the beginning. They said it wasn’t a good association, that we were misleading each other. When they left, they urged us to quit with them, but of course, we declined. There will always be people who don’t see the future you see.
Since I joined the association, I have saved 1,980 Birr and got four loans. I took out a loan to buy a goat. After one month, I repaid the loan and sold the goat for 1,800 Birr, making a 300 Birr profit. I took out another loan to buy butter and cheese, which I sold at a profit within two weeks. I gave my husband 1,000 Birr to buy iron sheets for the extension we plan to build next to our house. We are even discussing building a new house. It’s crazy talk. I bought more butter and cheese, but the business didn’t do as well this time, so I sold it and barely made a cent in profit. I took out another loan and bought fruit and vegetables, which I sold for a tidy profit.
I buy and sell, take out loans, and pay them off. I believe I’m good at it. I’m adept at saving and building on what we have. My husband feels I have changed and admires me. He says he didn’t think “I had it in me.” That makes two of us.
