DR Congo: From Waiting to Action — Christine’s New Beginning through the Saving Groups of the Axe-Fille Project

Under a makeshift shelter where she carefully displays the smoked fish she sells, Christine wears a calm, proud smile, the smile of a woman who now knows she is standing on her own feet. Captured among her goods, that smile tells far more than a simple business success. It reflects a long journey: that of a mother who refused to let uncertainty continue to shape her life.

In her early thirties and a mother of four, Christine spent many years living in a state of waiting: waiting for the harvest season, waiting for better opportunities, waiting for life to stabilise. In a household largely dependent on subsistence farming, every poor harvest meant insufficient meals, difficulties paying for school supplies, and sometimes children sent to school without uniforms, and often on empty stomachs. 

A life held hostage by uncertainty

For years, Christine moved forward with no clear view of what tomorrow might bring.

“There were times when I didn’t know how my children would go to school the next day,” she confides.

The lack of a regular income made any form of planning impossible. Each new school year became an ordeal; every unexpected event, a burden too heavy to bear.

The step that changed everything

Her life took a turn when her children’s school set up a saving group under the Axe-Fille project. She was introduced to the ideas of solidarity, gradual saving, and small, accessible loans to start an income-generating activity.

Christine doubted, hesitated, then decided to try. Week after week, she set aside small amounts.

“I never thought that even 1,000 francs (0.5 USD) could make a difference,” she says today.

Yet those small contributions became the lever that transformed her daily life.

When savings become a source of strength

After several saving cycles, Christine received her first loan. The amount was modest, but enough to start selling smoked fish and basic food items that are in high demand in her neighbourhood.

Sales quickly improved. Profits grew. Christine reinvested, organised her business better, learned to manage her expenses, and diversified her products. For the first time, she had a stable income, no longer dependent on weather conditions.

Restored dignity

Thanks to this activity, Christine can now buy school uniforms and supplies for her four children, cover basic healthcare costs, and contribute regularly to household food needs.

“I’m no longer afraid of the end of the month like I used to be,” she says with confidence.

Her smile in the photograph says it all: that of a woman who has moved from dependence to economic self-reliance.

One personal story, a collective impact

Christine is one of more than 1,000 households supported through 90 savings groups established in the subdivisions of Luebo, Mweka, and Ilebo in Kasai province, under the Access and Equality for Girls’ Education (Axe-Fille) project, financially supported by the people of the United Kingdom.

These savings groups strengthen parents' economic capacities, particularly mothers', and help create a more stable family environment conducive to children’s schooling, especially girls'.