Introducing Village Savings and Loans to Water Point Committees
Introducing Village Savings and Loans to Water Point Committees
For every borehole we drill, we form a Water Point Committee (WPC), which is a group of volunteers selected by the community to be in charge of managing the borehole by ensuring it stays clean, functional, and well-maintained. To help cover small repair costs, every household that uses the borehole contributes a small amount of money as agreed upon by the community. This ensures the community always has money available for repairs and it also ensures ownership and sustainability of the borehole.
What happens to the contributions?
The money that the community contributes for small borehole repairs is kept waiting for needed borehole repairs. Thus, instead of letting the money sit unused, we decided on training Water Point Committees to run Village Savings and Loans groups. The idea is simple: as the community contributes to the borehole fund, those funds can also be used to offer small loans to community members and borrowers repay the loans with a small interest, allowing the fund to grow over time.
“This initiative will greatly benefit communities because not every family can afford to contribute to the borehole fund at all times. In a village of over 70 people, there are moments when some households are struggling even to buy food. With the VSL system, the fund will become self-sustaining over time, reducing the pressure on households and ensuring no one is left behind,” said William Tonnex, who is also the village head of Mphongolo village.
What excites him the most is that this will also benefit families by helping them have access to much-needed capital for small businesses, emergencies, or school needs.
We are excited to see our Water Point Committees welcome this idea and be willing to run with it. By turning their borehole funds into community savings and loan systems, they are building resilience for their water supply, families and livelihoods. We look forward to seeing how this approach will transform lives.
