Since its first year of existence, the number of microfinance institutions participating in the World Savings Week in Rwanda has meanwhile doubled. Under the slogan “Make Saving a Culture”, some 60 local institutions across the region organised various activities and events on the occasion of the fifth World Savings Week, which took place in Rwanda from 24 through to 31 October 2015.
And these festivities were quite remarkable: The range went from mass events attended by some 2,000 participants, high-level district representatives and microfinance institutions to smaller school events. Singing scholars walked through the streets of their villages, carrying posters proclaiming the motto of the World Savings Week. In many places, children and young people performed short plays and colourful dances around the issue of saving or competed with each other in football or volleyball tournaments. There was a strong motivation to come out as winner in view of the many prizes to obtain. School accessories like notebooks and colour pencils, passbooks or budget planners for the whole family were handed over to the winners.
Many representatives of the Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation (Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation) and its partner organisation AMIR (Association for Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda) supported the events on site.
Exchange of traditions: World Savings Day and “Umuganda” combined as model of success
On 31 October on the dot – the day on which the <link http: www.sparkassenstiftung.de en world-savings-day.html _blank>World Savings Day is celebrated in Germany and many other project countries of Sparkassenstiftung – the savings week ended in the “land of a thousand hills”.
The 31 October is not only World Savings Day, but this year it was also the last Saturday in October, which is of special importance in Rwanda. The last Saturday of each month is “Umuganda” – the national day of community service. All members of the population have the obligation to do community service for the benefit of the public. They perform duties that are in everybody’s interest, such as tending to public parks or participating in clean-up campaigns.
As a closing event of the World Savings Week, the Sparkassenstiftung experts and representatives of the partner organisation AMIR joined in the activities of “Umuganda” organised in the village of Kayonyi. This year, the national day of community service was dedicated to road works. Together with the village inhabitants, the team of Sparkassenstiftung and AMIR worked on improving bad roads. Equipped with shovels and a lot of motivation, the participants of “Umuganda” transformed the knackered road into a drivable one. This successful event culminated in a meeting of all participants on village’s schoolyard. Seizing the moment, the representatives of Sparkassenstiftung and AMIR again informed the many attendants about the significance of saving.
But it is not only by organising the World Savings Week that Sparkassenstiftung and AMIR have promoted financial literacy at Rwandan schools for many years now. The training of children and young people in financial literacy issues has highly positive effects, too. In the savings year of 2014, the Rwandan microfinance institutions reported a significant increase in the number of savings accounts and along with it a significant increase in the overall savings volume.
We are convinced that this success is going to proliferate.
Contact partner:
Annika Peukert / Carina Lau
Sparkassenstiftung für internationale Kooperation
Simrockstraße 4
53113 Bonn / Germany
Phone: +49 228 9703-6622 /-6608
Fax: +49 228 9703-6613