SPRING 2015

ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS TO HUMANITARIAN PROBLEMS

DEPARTMENTSDirectors Corner

Breaking News

Village Spotlight: Yati, Haiti

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FEATURESChanging the Currency

VSLAs by the Numbers

CHICKENS ARE THE REASON WEMA IS ATTENDING SCHOOL IN MGENDE, TANZANIA.

CHANGING THE CURRENCY OF RURAL POVERTY

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At Plant With Purpose we are working to bring about environ-mental restoration, economic empower-ment, and spiritual re-newal to rural com-munities. This issue of

The Sower highlights Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), which are our primary tool for economic empowerment.

There are many things I like about these cost-effective but powerful groups, not the least of which is the way they change par-ticipants self-image and their view of their own community. They are left with no de-pendence on outside institutions or outside capital. As a result, when members achieve success they have no doubt in their minds that it is because they have used their own talents. They are empowered.

When we highlight one piece of our work like this, people occasionally ask wheth-er it is indicative of a shift away from tree planting, agriculture, or Christian outreach. The answer is, of course, no. We believe that it is in their synergy that environmen-tal, economic, and spiritual programs are most effective, so we still work to holistical-ly integrate all three. These savings-and-loan groups provide an excellent opportunity for doing just that.

Village Savings and Loan Associations are made up primarily of small-scale farmers in locations where the primary economic ac-tivity is farming. Agricultural training can be offered through the VSLA, or offered else-where but promoted within the VSLA. Loans are often used to purchase land or buy farm

inputs. Many times loans are invested in the agroforestry or agro-ecological techniques that Plant With Purpose promotes.

Groups also represent a source of civic in-volvement and group members participate in reforestation efforts together. Tanzanias VSLA program hosts a competition among group members that is the single largest cat-alyst for tree planting, resulting in more than 1 million trees planted annually.

In most communities local pastors are bi-vo-cational and participate in VSLAs, allowing us to build trust and begin partnerships with their churches. For those groups that choose to do so, prayer and devotions are an impor-tant part of their group activities, as Ematyel Charles describes in this issue. Sharing the love of Jesus is an important value in our work; however, Plant With Purpose serves everyone, regardless of faith, and groups are not required to make devotions a part of their practice. When they do, Plant With Purpose staff is excited to support them.

Village Savings and Loan Associations are by no means the only thing we are doing, nor do they represent a change in mission. Over the last ten years though, they have represented a shift in strategy, and are pro-viding a platform for everything else that we do in a community.

Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Scott SabinExecutive Director

THE SOWER ISSUE #107 Plant With Purpose, a Christian nonprofit

organization, reverses deforestation and

poverty around the world by transform-

ing the lives of the rural poor.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Scott Sabinscott@plantwithpurpose.org

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Doug Satredoug@plantwithpurpose.org

MARKETING AND EVENTS: Becky Rosalerbecky@plantwithpurpose.org

ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS TO HUMANITARIAN PROBLEMS

STAY CONNECTED: 4747 Morena Blvd. Suite 100San Diego, CA 92117

Ph: 800.633.5319

Email: info@plantwithpurpose.org

Web: plantwithpurpose.org

Tw: @PlantWPurpose

Fb: facebook.com/PlantWithPurpose

EMAIL MEDIA@PLANTWITHPURPOSE.ORG TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN: Share your Plant With Purpose story Host an event Become a Plant With Purpose advocate

Leave a Legacy. Please consider includ-ing Plant With Purpose in your wills and bequests. Contact Doug Satre: doug@plantwithpurpose.org.

copyright 2015 Plant With Purpose

DIRECTORS CORNER

VSLA LEADERS COUNT SAVINGS IN HAITI.

WWW.PLANTWITHPURPOSE.ORG 3

BREAKING NEWS

PLANTING HOPE GALAMark your calendars! The 2015 Planting Hope Gala will take place on Saturday, October 3. We are excited to announce that it is being held at a new location: Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

RESTORATION AT WORK Once a quarter we invite you to join us at the San Diego office for an up-date on field programs and how lives and land are being restored. Set aside the following Thursday evenings from 5:30-7:00 pm: March 26, June 18, September 10, and December 10.

70 percent of the worlds poor depend on the land to survive. But when trees are cut down, the land stops producing and families go hungry.

Enter Root 7. Your $7 plants 7 trees in 7 countries every month. When you join Root 7, youre doing more than putting trees in the ground. Youre planting heal-ing, opportunity, and hope for a better fu-ture. Trees restore the environment, clean the water, nourish the soil, protect farms from erosion, and provide a source of in-

come and food for farming families. In short, trees are life to the rural poor.

We invite you to join the movement. Root 7 member benefits include a cus-tom steel tumbler and regular updates on the impact your trees are making around the world.

STUDENT JUSTICE CONFERENCE Do you know a teenager who is interested in social justice? Encourage them to attend the Student Justice Conference this sum-mer. This four-day event designed for high school juniors and seniors is being held at Point Loma Nazarene University July 30-August 2. Plant With Purpose is honored to be a title sponsor. Visit studentjustice-conference.com for more information. We hope to see you there!

RECEIVE THE SOWER BY EMAIL If you would like to receive The Sower by email and save a tree, please send an email

to info@plantwithpurpose.org with your name and current email address under the subject of eSower. Or simply follow the steps on the enclosed envelope.

UPCOMING VISION TRIPS If you havent visited one of Plant With Pur-poses programs, wed love for you to trav-el with us. Additional trips for 2015 are in the works. Contact Doug Satre for more in-formation: doug@plantwithpurpose.org.

Tanzania: April 16-26, 2015

Dominican Republic: July 13-18, 2015

Mexico: October 25-30, 2015

Join today at plantwithpurpose.org/root-7

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Money. Its what makes the world go round. It equips us to buy food and clothing, pay our water and electric bills, purchase services, obtain goods, get from one location to the next, and experience endless forms of entertainment.

Yet for poor rural families with limited funds, money represents barriers rather than opportunities. Lack of income reduces options, forces painful decisions, and leads to further despair. Arnulfo and Adriana Morales, a young couple from Montefrio, Mexico, understand this all too well. Confronted by desperate poverty, Arnulfo had little choice but to leave his family and immigrate to Los Angeles. He worked for six years as a day laborer, earn-ing money to send back to his wife and childrenthe family he couldnt afford to stay with. He explains, It wasnt because I wanted to leave, but because I had to.

Sadly, their story is not an isolated one. But there is hope. Plant With Purpose is addressing crippling poverty in a way that empowers our partners and offers finan-cial security.

VSLAS: THE NEW RURAL BANKEconomic empowerment is a key piece of Plant With Purposes three-part holis-tic approach to development, and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are the driving force behind it. Not only do VSLA groups equip impoverished families to increase their savings, theyve launched Plant With Purpose into an era of unprecedented program growth.

According to the World Bank, 2.5 billion adults around the world do not have an account at a financial institution. This means saving, transferring, or borrowing money is not an option for one-third of the worlds population. Without access to financial services, these individuals will never be able to borrow the necessary funds to buy a house, launch a business, pay for college, or even cover the cost of emergencies. The ability to get ahead for-ever remains out of reach.

Even if rural families could earn more money, they lack safe places to save it. Accumulated cash is stashed in random locations around homes, putting fami-lies at risk. Often cash-in-hand is spent quickly as a precaution. Through VSLAs, Plant With Purpose partnering families

have a safe place to put their hard-earned money, while earning interest on their savings (see sidebar on page 6 to learn how VSLAs work). By providing an alternative to traditional financial services, VSLAs are transforming com-munities.

THE VALUE OF SAVING (GROUPS)Thousands of partnering families are discovering the value of saving. A comparison between the 2011 and 2014 Impact Evaluations (*) shows encour-aging results. Across the board, the number of households actively saving money increased throughout the six field programs. The most dramatic re-sults came from the Dominican Repub-lic: three years ago only 29 percent of participating households were saving; today, 100 percent of participants sur-veyed are saving.

CHANGING THE CURRENCY OF RURAL POVERTYBY BECKY ROSALER, Marketing and Events Coordinator

ARNULFO, ADRIANA, AND THEIR DAUGHTERS LOOK TOWARD A BRIGHTER FUTURE.

*Every three years Plant With Purpose conducts an extensive Impact Evaluation to monitor program impact. Data is collected through household surveys allowing Plant With Purpose to compare participating and nonparticipating households.

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VSLAs provide the financial support nec-essary for partnering families to save cash and access large sums of money. When Arnulfo returned from California, he and Adriana joined Montefrios VSLA group. They used funds from the group to con-struct a fuel-efficient stove. Adriana now makes the bread the family used to pur-chase, and recently started a small busi-ness baking cakes for special occasions. Her business saves neighbors the time-consuming trip to bakeries in Oaxaca City and according to local staff, the quality of Adrianas cakes rival those found in the city.

Perhaps the most unique outcome of sav-ing comes in the form of relationships. For widows in Tanzania, their weekly VSLA meeting provides a consistent source of community. These groups look out for one another and provide added layers of ac-countability. When loans are borrowed to establish businesses, the 20-plus group members have a vested interest in the success of that business.

SHEEP ARE LIKE A SAVINGS ACCOUNTArnulfo and Adriana purchased a pair of sheep with their savings. Other improve-ments around their farm are evident: hens and chicks from their coop run through the garden, which bursts with pumpkins, corn, and beans. A greenhouse full of tomatoes stands near the house. The majority of the familys food is homegrown. In addition to fresh vegetables, Arnulfo says, We now have eggs and meat.

Many VSLA members save money with the goal of purchasing livestock and improving

their farms. The array of traditional farm animalschickens, goats, pigs, sheep, and cowsact like savings accounts for rural families. By investing their money in animals, families like the Morales are getting a return. Eggs, milk, meat, and offspring create a sustainable source of income. Livestock and other farm addi-tions are the rural poors equivalent of monetary assets. In an emergency situa-tion families can choose to sell their live-stock and instantly access funds to cover unanticipated expenses.

A DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO INCREASES RESILIENCYAs the saying goes, Dont put all your eggs in one basket. Its never wise to keep all your funds in one investment, which is why financial planners encour-age clients to diversify their portfolios. Plant With Purpose also encourages diversification on family farms. By in-creasing crop diversity, partnering families will be better positioned if a disaster occurs. For example, a coffee rust disease recently wiped out coffee plants on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Farmers who de-pended solely on coffee crops were hit harder than those with additional crops to sell. 2014 Impact Evaluations show that partnering farmers in Haiti harvest a variety of 35 crops compared to the 26 species that nonparticipants grow. This 35 percent increase in crop diver-sity is helping families absorb shocks and weather storms.

Not only does greater crop diversity in-

crease financial security, it also provides food security. Arnulfos highest house-hold expense used to be food purchas-es. Through the encouragement of Plant With Purpose, he and Adriana now grow or bake most of their food. The Morales family plans to continue integrating as-pects of Plant With Purposes program into their daily life.

AS SAVINGS INCREASE, SO DOES QUALITY OF LIFEArnulfo and Adriana are succeeding in raising their children together. They re-cently purchased property and built a house complete with a cement floor, an indicator of economic well-being. The family is thriving as they embrace new economic opportunities. The exciting news is that the Moraleses are not alone in their success; 40 percent of partner-ing families in Mexico have an emer-gency cash reserve to cover living ex-penses for six monthssomething only 2.5 percent of nonparticipating families can claim.

Economic empowerment through VSLA groups is positioning families to im-prove their livelihood, increase their well-being, and dream of a different tomorrow. Arnulfo and Adriana are an example of this. When asked if he would have migrated had he been given the chance to work with Plant With Purpose years ago, Arnulfo said, Of course not. The evidence is in: economic opportuni-ties exist where families are rooted, and VSLAs make self-sufficiency possible for the rural poor.

PLANT WITH PURPOSE VSLA GROWTH MEMBER EQUITY

VSLA GROUPS

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Plant With Purposes VSLA groups typically consist of 20-30 members from the same community. The members draft their own bylaws and elect leaders. These leaders receive substantial training over several months before the VSLA investment cycle is initiated, as well as ad-ditional training and follow-up throughout the year. Once the savings cycle begins, each group member can purchase shares by depositing money. The group meets weekly and every member must invest at least one share at each meeting. Share size is agreed upon together (usually the equivalent of $1 USD).

The savings box is secured with three locks, and three different group members hold the keys. All three key holders must be present to start the meeting. Accountability is vital to the success of VSLAs and con-tinued transparency during the meeting and savings cycle establishes trust between neighbors. Group leaders count the accumulated sav-ings at the start of each meeting. Members are called forward one at a time to purchase shares, which are tracked in individual bankbooks. The group discusses applications for loans and collects interest from past loans. A group secretary keeps detailed records of each transac-tion.

At the end of a twelve-month savings cycle, each members sharesplus any accrued interest or gains on capital from fines and fundrais-ingare distributed. Groups have accumulated as much as $5,000 in capital at the end of the cycle.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT BY THE NUMBERS

1.6 percentage of rural Burundians who access loans from a financial institution

100 percentage of partnering farmers in the Do-minican Republic who are saving

21 percent increase in rooms per household of partnering families compared to non-participants in Haiti. Rooms per household are a reliable indicator of economic well-being.

4 percentage of rural Mexicans who save their in-come at a financial institution

14 percentage of rural Tanzanians who have an account at a financial institution

55 percentage of partnering families in Thailand who own pigs, a monetary asset

*Global Findex; 2014 Plant With Purpose Impact Evaluation

HOW VSLAS WORK

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VILLAGE SPOTLIGHT:YATI, HAITI

The small community of Yati lies on the

border of Haiti and the Dominican Re-

public. Deep-seated prejudices create

tension between the two cultures, and

border communities feel the brunt of

this friction. Millions of Haitians cross

this boundary line illegally to seek op-

portunity in the more prosperous Do-

minican Republic, even while rural com-

munities on both sides barely eke out a

living from their farms.

Yet among the steep hillside farms of

Yati, transformation is taking root. Farm-

ers who used to spend their minimal in-

come on gambling or drinking now de-

posit that money carefully into a savings

box each week. Soil that once slid away

with every rainfall now anchors trees

and crops, producing nutritious food for

families. Neighbors that once lived in

discord give what they can to support fel-

low community members.

Ematyel Charles and his wife are mem-

bers of Yatis Village Savings and Loan As-

sociation (VSLA), which they credit for turn-

ing their lives around. Over the past few

years theyve increased their savings and

borrowed loans for important life steps.

Thanks to our VSLA group, my wife started

a business, Ematyel says. We can afford to

pay school fees for my children without dif-

ficulty. Through savings groups, Plant With

Purpose gives women dignity and a voice

in the household as they contribute to their

families income.

Yatis VSLA group also serves as a platform

for Plant With Purpose to teach sustainable

farming techniques and share the love of

God. My heart is always refreshed because

I am a group member, Ematyel says.

We pray before any activity in the group

and every two weeks we hold a Bible re-

flection.

Through agricultural trainings, Ematyel

learned to protect and restore his small

plot. Today, low stone walls support his

farmland, preventing valuable soil from

sliding away. Neighbors whove noticed

the changes in Ematyels crop production

and income ask him to share his knowl-

edge. Thanks to new skills and confi-

dence in his God-given abilities, Ematyel

says proudly, I really know I will make

success in my life.

For just $1 a day you can partner with

a community like Yati to help meet vital

needs. Fill out the enclosed envelope or visit

plantwithpurpose.org/sponsor-a-village.

BY ANNELISE JOLLEY, Outreach Coordinator

PARTNERING FARMERS DIG A SOIL CONSERVATION BARRIER TO ANCHOR TOPSOIL ON THEIR HILLSIDE FARM.

Plant With Purpose

4747 Morena Blvd. Suite 100San Diego, CA 92117

Ph: 800.633.5319

Email: info@plantwithpurpose.org

Web: plantwithpurpose.org

NON-PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGEPAIDPERMIT 751SAN DIEGO CA

RURAL FAMILIES EXPERIENCE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

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