It has been thirteen months Sandar Nan joined the Shwe Taung Kyar Village Saving Bank in Kyar Chaung Village, Myanmar. Early in 2018, Cufa project officers from its Myanmar office came to Sandar’s village and began running financial knowledge sessions as part of its successful Credit Union Development (CUD) Program. Sandar attended the sessions and soon learnt about saving money and the benefits of such before then she did not know or understand what this could mean for her.
Sandar is 32 years old and lives with her parents, her father who is a planter and her mother, a housewife, and her younger brother and sister. She has been interested in agribusiness since she was 21 years old and for the past 11 years Sandar has been cultivating papaya and guava plants and generates profits from her plantation through the sale of her products. Sandar wanted to save some of her money but she just didn’t know how to start. It was not until Cufa came to her village to teach and share financial knowledge and understanding was the “savings seed” planted.
Sandar now knew what she had to do. She opened an account at her village bank and started saving some of her money that she earned from her agribusiness. By attending the Cufa financial knowledge sessions Sandar learnt how to calculate the interest on her savings and how to set savings goals. Sandar said that the feeling of happiness that she felt when she looked at her savings book encouraged to continue saving. In a short period, Sandar had built a strong savings habit and regularly deposited money in her account from her business earnings.
Not only did the sessions teach Sandar about savings but she continued to attend sessions regularly and learnt community audit skills, financial co-operative principles, leadership skills, how to record ledger books, how to calculate savings and loan interest. Sandar shared her new-found knowledge with her friends and neighbours and encouraged them to open accounts at the village savings bank. Through the sessions Sandar and other villagers became friends and would often discuss their business and the growth of such. They would also share the value of their village savings bank provides with friends from other villages.
The village savings bank provides members with the ability to apply for a loan. They must have made regular deposits to their account for at least 6 months to be able to submit a loan application. Sandar was able to apply for a loan which was approved as she had developed a strong savings habit. This loan enabled Sandar to grow her business through purchasing additional plants. She was able to repay her loan to her village bank through the additional profits she generated. Cufa planted the savings seed and Sandar cultivated it and continues to reap the benefits from the financial knowledge she gained through the Cufa program.
Read more about Cufa’s CUD Program at www.cufa.org.au/our-programs
