Africa
Rkongni Group – Women’s social group in Cameroon
A letter received from Madam Muyer Celestina.
“Before joining Gatsby, I was a member of a social group known as Rkongni, meaning ‘love’. This group was made up of 21 members. We had a weekly meeting and during these meetings each member contributed 1,000 francs as a form of Njangi.
This meeting went on close to eight years. Before joining Gatsby, we had been hearing of the existence of a group known as Gatsby. At one point a lady called Madam Nchia Rosemary visited us and sensitized us on the benefits of being a member of Gatsby.
At first, some of the members of our group were skeptical about this new development but as time went on, reasons prevailed and we registered.
I became the general president of Rkongni and shouldered the task of enlightening the other members of Gatsby, contrary to the opinions that were formally held by others. That period of observation went through and our group was duly registered as belonging and working in partnership with Gatsby. The general coordinator of Limbe Gatsby Federation, Madam Nchia Rosemary, and the general manager, Madam Susan Elango, and some senior Gatsby officials, visited our group and were satisfied with our group and the projects we put forth to them.
Our demand for a loan was granted and the sum of 400,000 francs was handed to us as our first loan from Gatsby. This amount was shared amongst the Rkongni group members according to each member’s type of business. From this first loan, my share was 25,000 francs. This money enabled me to increase the quantity of corn which I was selling in the market. The number of buckets increased and I had the opportunity to pay women to work in my corn farm so that I could have enough corn the next year and I also had the opportunity to make a daily saving of 500 francs to meet with my monthly payment of the Gatsby loan. Because of my promptness in paying the loan, I had the opportunity to increase the loan.
I could now loan more money to increase the size of my business. The nature of the business now became diversified. I was selling only corn but now I have included beans, groundnuts, jinger, garlic, garri and a lot of other food items.
All said and done, I wholeheartedly testify that my membership in Gatsby has earned me a lot of successes. First it has changed the life of the entire Rkongni group and my own life in particular. It has increased the size of my business tremendously and my children are going to school with no stress, and some have gone abroad. I must say thanks for the support I got from Gatsby and to crown it all I have more than one million francs in my account, just because of the help I have received from Gatsby. So to end up, I give more thanks to the founders of Gatsby.”