From Teacher to Entrepreneur
James Milton's Journey with the VSLA

PUBLISHED MARCH 3, 2023

James,a teacher in Sierra Leone overcomes gender stereotypes and financial struggles by joining a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) and using the skills he gained to start a successful fishing business.

Background

James Milton is a 38 years old teacher with more than ten years of experience teaching students at the RC Primary School located on York Island. As an unapproved teacher, he does not receive a salary from the Government and has to resort to menial jobs such as cleaning homes within his community to earn an income. He is paid less than a dollar a day but this is what he uses to cater for his wife and four children.

The Journey

In 2021, the Bonthe Island Fish Trading (BIFT) project introduced the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) model to the York community. James participated in the initial training but due to socio-cultural beliefs which reinforce gender discrimination, James outrightly rejected the idea of a man being a member of a women-dominated savings group. He, however, participated in a gender transformative training which transformed his perception of gender roles by understanding the need for equality between men and women and equal distribution of productive resources within the community. In 2022, James joined the women's savings group and due to his background as a teacher, was elected by his group members to become the Secretary of the group. Once the group was formed, members of James's group were taken through a series of training sessions that enhanced their financial literacy and capacity for entrepreneurship. Through Competency-based Economies through the Formation of Entrepreneurs (CEFE) trainings, the members developed competencies to identify and explore business opportunities within their communities and beyond. Once members like James had identified prospective opportunities, they used the knowledge they acquired from business development training sessions to develop comprehensive business plans to guide their their entrepreneurial activities.

"I became highly motivated after the training and was convinced I could do something great for myself", James said.

James ensured he saved $2 a week with his savings group. With his business plan clearly developed and enough savings contributions, James requested for a loan of $50 as startup capital to start a fishing enterprise and support his spouse in a food-making business. With the loan, he purchased the needed raw materials such as timber to fabricate a small fishing canoe and food items for his spouse's restaurant business.

After he fabricated his canoe, he continued saving diligently and with his spouse's business bringing in income due to his investment, he was able to repay the $50 loan he had received earlier. After the first share-out which marks the end of the saving cycle for 2022, James had saved a total of 1,300 Leones which was equivalent to $100. He purchased a fishing net and other fishing gear and invested some of his savings to expand his spouse's restaurant business.