Emmanuel is a member of Liberty Seed Effect Savings & Loan Group that was started at Liberty Baptist church in Adjumani, Uganda.  

Emmanuel said, “I joined Liberty Seed Effect group because I am saving for life. I do not know what will happen in the future, so I need to have something saved. Maybe I will need to use it. I like what Seed Effect is doing because you also have the opportunity to share the word of God with people. It is very nice.” 

After saving in his group for a few months, Emmanuel was trained as a Seed Effect Village Agent to start, train, and oversee new Seed Effect groups. He is now a part-time member of the Seed Effect team and has started four Seed Effect Savings and Loan Groups.  

Savings group cycles run for 9 to 12 months. During this time, members meet weekly to study the Bible, pool their savings, and lend to each other. At the end of the cycle, the savings and the interest earned is share out or distributed amongst the group members based upon the amount contributed.  

Emmanuel told us about the impact being made in the groups.  

Emmanuel shared, “At the end of the first cycle, all loans had been paid back and no one was left out. Everyone received a portion of the distribution. Now that some groups are in their second savings cycle, members are even more encouraged and are saving more this year. They didn’t expect the money from the share out at graduation to be so big. And now, they do not want to miss out because they have realized that share out is everything.  

We do encourage members not to take loans just because their friends are taking them. We remind them that they must take loans for a purpose so that they will be able to pay it back. 

At graduation during the share out time, we talk about ways to invest that money and encourage them to use it wisely. For example, many of the members in my groups bought livestock with their distribution.”