Youth savings

Wow where is the time going. Friday already!  Part of me feels like I have just arrived while another part of me is starting to feel like I belong.  The sight, sounds and smells that were so unfamiliar just a few days ago now appear normal. Well some of them do, others still boggle my mind.  Like how is it possible for someone to pack an entire load of firewood balanced on their head with a baby strapped to their back and still be able to wave at you as you drive past.  I have to say that I have been blown away with how welcoming everyone is. 

We arrived at our second credit union last night, after a quick round of introductions we were advised that we would be taken out to supper and then picked up and taken for breakfast.  When we arrived at breakfast this morning there was a bit of a difficulty.  The organization that they had made the arrangements with had not paid the bills and had run out of food.  The General Manager was very disappointed but quickly rectified the situation and found an alternative for us.  The delay made us late for our meeting with the board, however instead of accepting our apologies for being late the board apologized to us for the company not been able to serve us. We truly do feel that we have been hosted by the Ghanaian people.



MIM Credit Union

I loved the credit union that we were at today.  They were so open and honest with us that both Heidi and I feel that we will be able to make some very sound recommendations that will be able to help them immediately.  In fact even though we will not report back to the board until Monday we have already seen some of the staff starting to implement some of our suggestions. Another reason that I really enjoyed meeting with this credit union was that we were able to talk with some of their youth savers. 

In order to build a culture of savings, the credit union has started a youth savings program.  The program is very successful.  It is a very simple savings account by our standards.  The youth can open an account and make small deposits to it for their future education. When they get to junior high they can withdraw the funds but not before.  The appeal is that the money can not be withdrawn without the consent of the parents and it is kept in a safe location so that they will have something when they head off for school.  The manager and general manager go into the elementary schools and talk to the youth about why it is important to save.  The once a year they have a party for the kids who have saved money that year.  While we were waiting outside of the branch we started chatting with some youth that were also standing outside.  It turned out that they were participating in the youth savings program.  It is impossible not to see the typical stereotypes fall to the wayside after these types of interactions with the youth of Ghana.  Time they are a changing and it will be these young people who will set the direction for Ghana in the years to come.