A Savings Group Meeting

Bintou was one of the last to arrive at the mango tree where the meeting was held, so she quickly found her place in the circle of twenty-one women and sat down among the group, emptying the basket of peanuts in front of her. Some other women in the group were also shelling peanuts, while others held their young children. Everyone sat on pagnes, colorful, multifunctional cloth wraps that serve as skirts and wraparound baby carriers. Bintou leaned over to grasp hands and say hello to her friends and then pulled a handful of peanuts out of the pile and began to shell them, dropping the raw, hulled nuts back into her basket.

The group was sitting in the center of the village, the mango tree casting just enough shade to make the meeting pleasant as the hot morning sun climbed into the sky. With everyone settled, Aminata, the group’s president, raised her voice to ask the first question. “Is everyone here?” she said in Bambara, the dominant language in the region, turning to the person on her right. Each woman made the same motion, confirming that the person who always sat next to her was indeed there. “What is our group called?” she sang out. The group replied, “Benkadi,” meaning solidarity. Aminata continued through the group’s opening process, a ritual that laid out the agreed-upon ground rules and expectations at every meeting. Restating the rules upfront tended to keep disagreements and confusion to a minimum, especially since the group had no written charter, which could alienate members who could not read.

“What is our goal?” President Aminata asked.

The members called back, “To divide what we have saved all year among ourselves.”

“How much do we save each week? What is the fine for not saving? What is the fine for missing a meeting?” Aminata continued, pausing after each question for the group’s reply. When the group had stated aloud the terms for loans they had agreed to and a reminder of the meeting time and place, the president called for the collection of savings.