Power of youth-led savings.

Rejoice is one of the Zimbabwe Young People’s Federation members in Mucheke Masvingo from the golden vision savings scheme. Rejoice thought that after she had finished school a job would come and she would drop her CVs at big companies only to realize that she was not growing any younger. She joined the Tinevimbo Saving group from the mother Federation, a group consisting of women. These women motivated her to do savings and she realized it was good, she saw them buying for each other household appliances with their savings.

Rejoice realized that as a young person, she also had an ambition to own property and assets. She engaged with other young people who had similar dreams. They formed a savings group and drafted a constitution to govern how savings will be managed. Rejoice and her peers had limited financial resources which made them venture into savings and borrowing(loans). The loans were meant to start their own businesses. Rejoice was given the money they saved as a group and she ventured into a small business with quick return (buying and selling of shoes) because the money which she had been given came was supposed to be returned back with interest.

Rejoice used the loan opportunity and bought herself a car where she used to run her buying and selling business from one place to another and is contributing to both her financial stability and meeting local market demand.

In the interview Rejoice indicated that she is not the only one in her group who has managed to buy a car, she also has two other friends who have been successful in getting wheels for themselves. This massive success is in line with Rejoice aspirations which she mentioned

‘I am not only concerned about my growth but to motivate other young people to chase their dreams”

The positive impact of savings extends beyond financial success, it has effectively provided opportunities for other young individuals from engaging in unsafe behavior like drugs and substance abuse. Rejoice success story exemplifies the transformable power of savings not only in enhancing individual lives but also contributing to social economic welfare of the community.