Music to My Ears: Good News from Ka-Tiwala

While interviewing Ka-Tiwala (“trust-fellows,” or savings group members) clients and spending time with savings staff in the Philippines, these are some of the most encouraging things I’ve heard.

From savings group members:

• “This is the first time I’ve saved in any kind of formal account.” (a variety store owner in a tourist facility)
• “Through my group, I’ve learned to read the Bible.” (a horseback-riding trail guide)
• “In our group, we’ve learned about the love of God. If we let God hold our hands, we’ll be able to go on our way easily with Him.” (a widow with nine children who is supporting herself through her new roadside fast-food business)
• “One advantage of the savings group is that the money we save is our own money—it’s not coming from anyone else. When we earn interest on a loan, it goes back into the group instead of going back to the bank.” (a variety store owner who’s business supplements her husband’s income as a cook)
• “I used my savings ($75) to connect my house to the public water line. Now, I have running water in my house.” (a stay-at-home mother who has been saving with CCT since August 2011)
• “Before joining this group, I never used to open my Bible and I never got to hear the Word of God discussed, but now, we do it often, and it’s sinking in. Before joining this group, I had a really hot temper, but now I can control it and I’ve developed better relationships with my friends.” (a mother of two, including a seven-year-old son who also joined a savings group)
• “I dream about giving my parents a better life. In the future, I want to use my savings to help my parents renovate their home.” (a 20-year-old student studying hotel management)
• “In my savings group, I’m allowed to save as little as 50 pesos ($1.25) a week. I can’t afford to do that in local banks because their minimum savings balance is 5,000 pesos ($125).” (a snack vendor whose small business stabilizes her family’s irregular household income)

From staff:

• “Savings members told me they ran out of passbooks because so many people want to join savings groups.” (a CCT savings facilitator)
• “When I first joined CCT nine years ago, I would visit new communities to introduce them to CCT’s ministry. I was discouraged so many times to hear that the church is closed to ‘money matters.’ But I praise God for the savings program because now lots of church leaders are realizing that the savings program is a great way to reach the unreached in our communities. Now I know I’m not alone.” (a CCT savings facilitator)
• “Through the savings program, I finally have the chance to reach out to my family, my relatives, my own people. After so many years of serving outside my home region, now, I’m serving where I come from, and they are really paying attention to what I have to say.” (a CCT savings facilitator who moved back home to bring the savings program to her own indigenous people group)
• “At our assessment, I met a 16-year-old girl who said, ‘My dad abuses alcohol and my mom is a chain smoker. One thing I’ve learned through my group is that you don’t need to repeat the same mistakes your parents have made.’” (a HOPE SCA Specialist visiting the town of General Santos, Philippines)