 Fighting poverty by increasing household earnings Since its inception, SLO continues to run an annual special member’s financial (SUSU) program. The SUSU aims to empower its members financially to be self-independent and encourages compulsory saving. Members meet every Sunday and pay a minimum of twenty-five and maximum of two thousand Liberian Dollars. This amount is then loaned out to the members with an agreed interest of not more than 10%. Members are asked to continuously pay their dues and monthly contribution up to the end of November of that year. Two weeks before Christmas day, each member receives the full amount of his/her monthly contribution and a share of the interest generated during the period. Through this initiative, some members have established small businesses of their own-meaning that they can provide not only for themselves but also for their family and members can obtain a loan easily from the SUSU acumen, without any difficulty or high interest rates.
The Annual Special Members Financial (susu) Program from the time it was established up to present, has impacted its membership in the following ways:
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People living with disabilities are pushed to the peripheral of every society. Humans have single life but while many people are adversely affected and what can we do? The answers drove us to creating project for poor people with disabilities.
The support rehabilitation project sponsored by The Pollination Project trained as well as empowered 5 (10 intended) disables in Ganta in African hand-made arts. The project has helped reduce some of the psychological problems that beneficiaries face by keeping them engaged, involved, and compensated from their own skillful jobs that bring sense of self-confidence and worthiness. The TPP see grant gave us a worthy beginning. We have for many years intended to reach out to people with special conditions and our desire couldn’t be realized until TPP grant was received. In fact, TPP see grant was the first fund to get outside of our own little contributions since Sehzoor Life Organization was established in 2013. Therefore, TPP see grant has become the subject or foundation of our community work funding. TPP seed grant has built a well cemented link between the disable community in Nimba, Liberia and us. It’s worthy to note that because of the work you sponsored, the disable leadership has recognized our compassion towards their lives. We were invited to speak on their program in which we presented those trained by TPP project. The project has made us known and regarded as a young national leader pushing for the general welfare of disables. The lead trainer, Samuel Davies who is a disable has gained significant prestige among his colleagues. The community radio stations that cover our activities have made us popular. Our chief of secretariat interview to participate a leadership training was successful when he mentioned about SLO work with disables in our community. And from that training, he was certificated as a social entrepreneur. In other words, it has added value to SLO. The project made beneficiaries able to get their daily food through the skills provided them. We were able to train disables and they are doing a minimum work for themselves. The only different is that we couldn’t establish an art shop for materials produced as anticipated because of limited resources. we strongly hold it as the highest honor of my life currently, as a young man, it was my first time to serve as guest speaker for disables program. It was a beneficiary who told the disable community about me, and thy contacted me as their high guest of honor. The funds were used to obtain materials, materials cutting, loading, offloading and transported to train disables in Ganta, Nimba County, Liberia. The work was done by community boys, and Samuel Davies, the trainer. Beneficiaries will be incorporated into our community base organization, Sehzoor Life organization as pioneers for disable welfare. The project has a social welfare sustainability at individual level. It’s our conviction to working with more disables with primary emphasis on our mission “shouldering the costs to alleviate extreme poverty, hunger and societal ills regardless of individual statuses”.  Sehzoor Life Organization Chief of Secretariat Here is the Chief of secretariat of Sehzoor Life Organization, Emmanuel Kpon Saye’s story. He’s a Liberian, an alumnus of Young African Leadership Initiative, Ghana Regional Leadership Cohort 6 online with membership in Team Yamoussoukro. His track is Social Enterprise Management. He’s commonly called Ekpon. Ekpon is passionate about eradication of Extreme Poverty, hunger and societal ills. He believes that when extreme poverty, hunger and societal ills are eradicated, citizens will have access to better education, health and well-being, justices, safer water, and respect for natural habitats at all levels….
Ekpon was born, living in poverty and hearing about peers in other nations far beyond where Africans are, brings this to his mind: why Africa is rich, but Africans are poor, and how can we contribute to change the story? This is seriously important to him. His spirit makes him feel that he’s obligated to contribute to community change efforts. He feels incomplete if he cannot help make a difference. He believes that the same way God has given us life, in the same manner we must support community change efforts. He’s always pushed for acceptable and appropriate conduct of himself and others towards anyone considering them as equally perfect creature in the image of God regardless of creed, color, orientation, geographical location, or backgrounds. One day, he was explaining his story, and this is how he began: “From birth, I have tried to understand why Africans are extremely poor? What I have initially understood is that people perpetuate poverty through behaviors that are not congruent. Imagine, at age 6, my teacher asked me for $20 dollars to be promoted. Being a single parent child, my only hope to get this bribery fund was my mom and she refused. After a long dialogue with my mother, she said "my boy, you are my future, so please carry this message to your teacher then tomorrow I will give you the money". "Ask her, do you want me to be bad person in the world? Whatever her answer will be, tell her you are good teacher, but your request for money is stupid". This was the message my mom gave me. If citizens at this age are taught bribery or corruption, what will happen in adulthood? My life story tells me that teachers perpetuate corruption. And corruption perpetuates poverty. It denies citizens of basic social services. Beyond my childhood, I have witnessed, read in news proliferated corrupt practices and failed governments' policies that all contribute to poverty. Additional things include greed, discrimination, tribalism, lack of vision, selfishness, nepotism, vest illiteracy, and beliefs are responsible for extreme poverty”. In other to fight back and make a better story, he has founded Sehzoor Life Organization with mission “shouldering the costs of eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and societal ills.” Finally, in unity, we can “shoulder the costs of eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and societal ills”. We say poverty is man’s no 1 enemy, hunger is an urgent unwanted state and societal ills are the outward manifestation of what in the devil’s stomach. |
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