Then To Pommerini

After leaving Kitowo we took a right turn and continued down the road.  Pommerini is about 30 minutes down the road from Kitowo.  It is an old village with several old German buildings lying on the fringes.  We have been to Pommerini a number of times and always enjoy the people here.  This is an active, energetic group. 

The Pommerini SACCOS has 98 members.  It has hovered around 100 for 2 years now.  Last year this SACCOS made 87 loans to members.  They had 100% on time repayment (they always do!).  They have a waiting list of 10 members and could have more if they had more capital. 

Last year an AMCOS was started here.  The AMCOS has a membership of 79 people.  Not all of the members belong to both the AMCOS and SACCOS, but most do.  Their SACCOS runs a shop that is open 7 days a week, 8 hours per day.  In their first year they paid all of their bills (including a full time sales lady) and earned enough money that, together with their shares, they bought a small building!

The AMCOS sells fertilizer, garden seeds, insecticides for gardens, and some basic farming supplies.  Everyone here said how great it was to have fertilizer sold here last year.  Before this they had difficulty getting the right fertilizer at the right time.  Last year for the first time this was not a problem.

We were met by the SACCOS chair who asked if we could go right into the meeting.  There was a death in the village and many people had gone to the funeral. Normally Pommerini has a very large turn out for these meetings.  It is clear that the funeral has had a large effect. 

The chair of the AMCOS is waiting with the others.  She wants to be sure to tell us about their first year of operations.  In their first full year of operations this AMCOS managed to have a store open 8 hours a day seven days a week (with paid staff) and still earn a profit.  The chairman is uncertain of the exact amount of profit and the treasurer has gone to the funeral, but putting their profit together with their share sales they have bought a small building for their store.

Peter gave a brief class, after which the two chairmen showed the members a new product they have found. They recently went to a government seminar about a new, low cost grain storage bag.  This bag is made in Tanzania from recycled plastic.  It can hold over 200 pounds of maize and be reused several times.  The storage loss in the bag is at most a few percent (versus 15% or more using the traditional method) and the bag sells for $2.50.  They hope to supply the bags at their store, but currently they are short on capital.  We were happy to donate the cost of 20 bags to get things going.  We were aware of this product, but so far hadn’t introduced it to any of our groups.  It is great to see our new AMCOS has already found it and is making it available to the members without any help.

The SACCOS members (the women, that is) have prepared a very good lunch for everyone.  After we ate, the two chairmen walked with us to their new store.

It is very bright and hot out today.  Peter offered Sandy his umbrella for shade.  Interesting, it is a broken one that she gave to Peter last year.  He has fixed it and now lent it back.

At the store we looked over the inventory.  The shop seems a bit bare, but it offers the basics in garden supplies, fertilizer, and some sprays.  While Tom looked over the building Sandy was standing on the step talking to one of the ladies when a little boy came over and took her hand.  This is very unusual since most of the young children are afraid of us white folks.  The boy looked at Sandy and seemed surprised; he clearly thought he was reaching for his mother’s hand.  Still, he was brave and did not cry or fuss.

The AMCOS is renting one half of the building to a hardware dealer.  They say that the income from this pays for the saleslady in their shop.  All in all we are impressed with this group.  They seem to be doing very well.

We left Pommerini and headed back to Iringa.  Itiweni has been at an all-Tanzania co-op meeting.  There were over 300 participants at the meeting.  At the close of the meeting our network was cited as the “best in the country.”  Too bad they don’t award a cash prize!

The SACCOS chair at Pommerini is a very active, strong leader.  This SACCOS continues to do very well.

The chair of the new AMCOS at Pommerini is a woman.  She is quick and brings a lot of experience to the AMCOS.

The leaders had been to a seminar to learn how to use these new storage bags.  They can keep the maize for up to five years, are reusable, and are low in cost.  They represent a major improvement over other choices for storing crops.

Sandy donated funds to buy 20 bags to start stocking the AMCOS store.  We feel certain that these will be a "hot" item.

The cooks had prepared an excellent lunch.  As soon as we are done all of the members will go to a funeral that will last the rest of the day.

The sun was very hot as we walked to the AMCOS store.  Peter lent Sandy his umbrella for shade.  It turned out it is one she gave him last year when we left.  It had had a broken spoke, but he has fixed it.

Although small the store has all of the basics needed for now.

This small boy reached out and took Sandy's hand then looked at her in surprise.  We think he was expecting his mother instead!

Between selling shares in the AMCOS and earning some profit from their store the AMCOS was able to buy this small building.  They rent the part where Tom is standing and use the other area.  There are a number of empty buildings in this area making it cheaper to buy than to build.