Dear friends,
Our Community Tabung is a savings programme to supplement children’s Child Development Account (CDA). Each month, families within a community, pool their savings and the entire amount is tripled with matching funds from donors and then divided equally among all who participated. We will help deposit the amount into their respective CDAs and the government matches dollar for dollar. This programme began at our child development centre in July 2013 and since February 2017, it has been implemented at different neighbourhoods.
Last Monday, 4 mothers came for a meeting with their children because a colleague who was managing the Tabung in their community has left the organisation. They wanted to know who the new staff-in-charge was and enquired if someone whom they were familiar with could take over. We explained that we have not found a replacement, and, in any case, it would not be wise to assign someone who needed time to better understand the ins and outs of our work and organisation. As for the colleague, they mentioned, we told them she already had her hands full with several other responsibilities.
Then we briefed them on the paperwork required to keep the Tabung open in their neighbourhood and asked if they could manage it. It seemed like quite a bit of work but after hearing us out, one of them shared that it was really important to keep the programme running. She said that the savings had helped her pay for her son’s eczema medication and another agreed, sharing that she had used the funds to purchase her children’s spectacles. One of them added that although the programme was not running, she deposited some money into her child’s account to benefit from the government’s matching because she “did not want to lose a month’s savings.”
The group then discussed the work required and eventually came up with a workflow to share the work. They had a request though that if the programme was not held physically, participants must PayNow their savings to a phone number held by a staff of Beyond. They anticipated that when these funds are mixed with their own, they may utilise them accidentally and will find it challenging paying back. Hence, to avoid potential misunderstandings, it is only correct that they do not hold money. They also asked to be linked with parents from another neighbourhood who were managing their Tabung to see if there were good practices they could learn and glean.
While the Community Tabung started off as a service and remains an important savings programme for families to meet expenses for their children, we do not wish to be positioned as a service provider. Wherever possible, we encourage people to take charge and we are in the service of their efforts.
These mothers are now no longer passive service-users but programme organisers who will pave the way for neighbours to cooperate in the interest of their children. Ownership and a healthy dose of pride in one’s efforts are key ingredients for sustainable community initiatives. When we told these mothers that we could acknowledge their efforts by providing a stipend for one of them should the work increase, they laughed and declared that they will just share it among themselves “because it is only fair.”
Foe peace, community, and neighbourhood pride,
Gerard
If you would like to live in a community in which you may have pride, then dedicate yourself in a spirit of humility and your responsibilities in that community. – Herbert V. Prochnow
