A dream comes true
Chan, a ten-year-old boy, and his seven-year-old younger sister live with their parents in a small village near Dagon Seikkan Township, Yangon region. He is quite delighted with the beautiful home that his parents built two years ago. The life of his family had not always been like this.
They used to reside in a rented house. His parents made a living by selling vegetables in front of the house. The shop was connected to the house they were living in. So, he and his sister had to live in a pretty cramped space.
"I've always wanted our own house with a large space," Chan says.
Due to an increase in food prices and living costs, the earning from the vegetable shop barely met the daily expenses of the family. Sometimes it was difficult to have meals for their entire family.
All of these unfortunate conditions, however, have been left behind for Chan and his family.
In October 2018, World Vision introduced and implemented the Savings and Transformation (S4T) programme, a community-based money-saving initiative, to his village through the community mobiliser.
Nwe, Chan's 34-year-old mother, joined one of the S4T groups without fully comprehending the S4T. Following the training, his mother started to understand the S4T programme, the advantages of saving, and the duties and responsibilities of each member. Later, she gained financial knowledge and saved aside money regularly in the savings group.
He says, “My mom used her savings to start a new business selling mobile phone top-up cards and motorbike gasoline.”
In addition, his mother shared her dream of owning a house. Naing, Chan's 33-year-old father, was motivated by his wife's dream. On the other hand, the status of the family business has substantially improved, with the support of the new business. His parents have been able to manage the household income effectively due to the financial knowledge received through the S4T programme. Later, his father also joined another S4T group.
“S4T programme allows me to better manage income and strengthen the financial resilience of my family,” his mother remarks.
Finally, the efforts of his family were repaid. His parents could purchase a new home with six compartments for MMK 70 lakhs (approximately USD 3,000) and save MMK 2,550,000 (approximately USD 1,214) in 2022. They live in two compartments and rent out the remaining four. His parents got a monthly income of 210,000 kyats (approximately USD 120) from the house rental.
“Three years after joining the S4T savings group, our family was able to buy a house with six rooms. I can play happily with my younger sister and sometimes with my pals at home. Now that I have a room, I have been better able to learn my school lessons.” Chan proudly states.
He smiles and adds, “Now we have our own home. Our dream comes true.”
The Savings for Transformation (S4T) program under the Dagon Seikkan Resilience and Livelihoods Project has supported 129 savings groups with a total membership of 2520, positively impacting 9954 people in this area. The programme has helped disadvantaged families in managing their finances by providing financial knowledge training and accessible loans to grow or establish their small businesses. It can also improve the financial resilience of these families, allowing them to support the education, health, and well-being of their children.