Savings Group Fuels Business Development
Innocent Karamage smiles as he gives a few final snips to his client’s hair at his salon in Gacyamo village in northern Rwanda, before powering down his razor and hanging the scissors on the wall. His client smiles back in the mirror.
“I used to wonder how I could ever have my own salon,” Innocent says. “Or even just my own electric razor.”
Innocent Karamage shows off his electric razor inside his barbershop in Rwanda. He was able to buy the razor and open the shop thanks to loans from the My Pride SILC group.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
For many years, Innocent worked for other stylists, paying to use their equipment and salon space. The profits were low.
Then, he and his wife, Antoinette, who is now pregnant with their second child, became involved in Catholic Relief Services’ Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Known locally as Gikuriro Kuri Bose, the program aims to improve the health and nutrition of children and mothers while empowering families’ economy through savings and access to small loans.
While Antoinette was most interested in planting a kitchen garden and learning best practices for feeding and caring for their three-year-old son and future baby, Innocent was intrigued by the idea of joining a Savings and Internal Lending Community, or SILC group. Unable to meet the requirements for a bank loan, he could save money and have access to small loans through a SILC group.
Innocent joined the My Pride SILC group and began saving. After a few months, he took out a loan for $35, which he combined with $20 from his personal savings. He used the money to renovate an old, single-room building. It had no windows, doors, or a paved floor, but it was still a space where he could build a salon.
“This salon is like our farm,” Innocent says. “We use the profits to buy food and respond to the needs of our child.”
Innocent Karamage stands outside his barbershop with his wife and 3-year-old stepson in Gacyamo village, in the Burera district of Rwanda.
Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS
He continued to save and eventually worked on the structure and bought equipment, including his own electric razor.
The couple says their son has been gaining weight and growing thanks to the garden they now have and from following the nutrition and diet tips they’ve learned. Antoinette will use the same best practices with her future child. The couple also recently bought a pig, whose manure they use to fertilize their crops.
Innocent says the next step will be to re-plaster the walls of the salon, and he dreams of opening an even bigger one in the future.
But for now, Innocent says he is just thankful for his faithful clients and for having learned about the SILC model.
“This project opened our eyes to what is possible,” he says.
The Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Program is a five-year program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to improve the health, functioning, nutritional status and well-being of women of reproductive age and children under six years of age, with an emphasis on the child’s first 1,000-days. It strengthens the inclusion of children and adults with disabilities and improves positive parenting and child development. The program is implemented by a consortium led by Catholic Relief Services in 10 districts of Rwanda reaching more than 2.17 million participants. More than 218,000 are members of more than 8,000 SILC groups formed.
