Board meeting under an African shade tree

I awoke this morning as I have many other days to low resonance of morning prayer being called.  The days start early in Ghana to take advantage of the cooler  temperatures.  Morning prayer is called around 4:30 and the school children are on the road not long after.  School starts at 7am and for some it is a long walk to and fro. 

We are heading back to Mim Community Credit Union today to wrap up our interviews, finalize  our report...which is already 12 pages long, and then present our findings to the management and board for their consideration. I have LOVED working with this credit union, they have been engaged and very open and honest with us from the start.  Both Heidi and I feel that we have some very strong recommendations that they will be able to work with in the short, medium and long term.



The road less traveled

We decided to take a short cut to the branch as it should take about 45 min off of our travel time.  The general manager Mr. Menseh has advised us that the side roads are ok if you trust your vehicle otherwise you may get 'hot'.  However this day our morning drive was perfect. Well almost, unfortunately a chicken sacrifice its life to our travels.  The animals here seem to have an exceptional amount of road sense and will run pell mell to the side of the road as soon as a vehicle approaches, well usually...



A mobile banker returning after completing his rounds

Our work with this credit union has resulted in some great findings.  One area that we reviewed was mobile banking.  No not banking on a mobile device like your phone, but mobile bankers, staff who go out into the community and collect members savings from them and then take the funds back to the credit union for deposit.  This ensures that members who are too far away or are working are still able to keep their savings safe and create a habit of savings.  Our role is not to 'audit' the branch but to review the day to day operations and see if there are any areas of risk that the credit union can mitigate, or any potential areas that they can explore to help them stabilize their base and build trust with their membership. With mobile banking our recommendations are simple, currently the member does not get a receipt for the deposit, the mobile banker simply updates their passbook.  The recommendation, duplicate numbered receipts that can be reconciled to ensure all funds are being credited to the members account.

 

We have been getting spoilt at this credit union and they insist that we take a lunch break.  We have found that it is much more productive to skip lunch as often the places that our hosts feel it is okay for us to eat are quite a ways away from the branch and it cuts into the day significantly.  However today this is no escaping it.  Good decision.  We are served plantain, yams and a delicious spicy meat stew.  The plantain and yams are both very similar in taste and texture to a boiled russet potato.  I'm enjoying the local foods but we are really quite cautious about what we eat.  With out access to washrooms until we return the hotel at the end of the day (usually about 12 hours) getting sick is really not an option.

 

We returned to the branch with full bellies but there would be no napping today. The entire board

plus the loans committee, the supervisory committee and the education committee were all in attendance to hear our report.  The offices were far to small to host 3 people let alone 15, so we gathered in a circle under a tree in the church yard.  I must say this was by far my favorite setting for a meeting that I have ever had the pleasure to attend.  We talked for over two hours, about lending policies, cash management, security and more.  The board was so engaged we were peppered with questions.  One of the things that made this such a great experience was that we knew the idea's that were able to share with them will be able to improve their credit union.  And this board will do it.  They are very committed to the advancement of their credit union for the benefit of all.

 

Today we made a difference.