impact in numbers.
15
people saving.
7
parents involved.
65
fijian dollars saved.
It made me really happy to see you teach the kids how to save money now; it will be so important for their lives.
Saini R.
Village Counterpart
about the project.
One pillar of the Community Economic Empowerment Project (CEEP) is to help individuals and families manage their income and spending to reach their financial goals.
Inspired by fellow volunteer, Bridgette Larson, I started letting kids (7-18 yrs old) keep a "savings account" in my house.
Using sandwich bags and my Peace Corps issued lock box, I leave my door open for any child to "open an account" and leave change they recieve from their parents at my house. Through this process, I teach every child how to keep record of every savings transaction, calculate their running balance, and work towards an achieavable savings goal.
This eventually led to the parents and neigboring adults being inspired to save money themselves. With resources acquired from the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, a counterpart and I will host workshops on using this in-the-village savings method in hand with a interest-accruing bank accound with a trusted financial organization.
timeline
October 2023
~
Present
taught kids how to track their savings on paper
asking the kids to write their transactions keeps the power in their hands.
informed parents about places to save and invest money.
education is just the first step - make sure you help people overcome challenges along the way.
gave 50 cents to any kid that opened a "piggy bank" to encourage savings.
some things don't need incentives and can taint the reward of just learning.