Meet Sokona
Sokona Sangaré could rightfully use the title President Sangaré if she wished; after all, her savings group companions have elected and re-elected her to serve as president of their savings group since they started meeting in 2014. But she’s too humble for that — “It’s because I can read and write. That is why they chose me to be President,” she says — but she recognizes the important role she plays: “They continue to vote for me every year because I have won the trust of the group.”
Sokona and her friends live in Lassa Faranida, a small hillside community on the northwest edge of Bamako. It’s very remote, and infrastructure is weak; potholes dot the dirt roads, drinking water comes from wells, and only a handful of houses are wired for electricity. It’s no wonder that the women of Ben Kadi savings group (a Bambara phrase meaning “mutual understanding”) used to have great difficulty paying for their families’ health expenses.
Sokona explains:
” Before Mali Health helped us start this savings group, when my children or I would become sick, we didn’t have the money to get to the doctor quickly. It was difficult, sometimes impossible, to get loans from family or friends. Now all of us women in Ben Kadi can get a quick loan to get ourselves or our children to the doctor at any time day or night because I keep the healthcare lock box and key in my house. Whenever there is an emergency or urgent medical need the women know to come to me to get a health loan because the money belongs to all of us. “
As president, Sokona is responsible for protecting the lock box containing all of the money they’ve saved to support healthcare expenses; another group member holds the lock box containing funds that women can draw on to support activities that help to build their income. Sokona also facilitates every group meeting, tracking attendance, and supporting group members as they request and repay loans.
Sokona has worked hard her entire life, not only for herself, but for her community. While most women living in peri-urban communities like Lassa Faranida did not have a chance even to complete primary school, Sokona graduated from high school and then college before becoming a teacher at the local primary school. In the past, she earned extra money by selling charcoal from her home, and she looks forward to learning how to make soap to sell to local families. Ben Kadi is another outlet for her to support her community and the women around her, and she speaks proudly of her groupmates:
“I really enjoy being president of this group because we are all women, we all help each other and we all work together.”
