Saving together to collectively respond to emergencies in their communities
Siragi Nabende from Masiwe Cell in Mbale District and Chairperson of the Masiwe Disaster Savings and Credit Group, leads members in routine savings. The group pools funds to support both household needs and disaster preparedness activities.
Siragi Nabende leads a community savings group in Masiwe village in Mbale district that helps residents to respond collectively to floods, damaged infrastructure, and other disaster-related challenges affecting the area.
In Masiwe Village, severe weather often affects not only homes and gardens but also critical community infrastructure. Floods, landslides, and strong winds regularly damage bridges, footpaths, and other community structures that people rely on every day.
When movement is disrupted, children struggle to reach school, farmers find it difficult to access markets, and some households become temporarily cut off from essential services. For many families, these challenges have been a recurring part of life during periods of heavy rainfall.
For Siragi Nabende, one of the biggest challenges was what happened after the damage had already occurred. Communities often had urgent needs, but local resources were limited and support was not always immediately available.
“We would just hope someone came to help. Sometimes that took a long time”
Before the savings activities became formalized, many families in Masiwe Cell were already coming together informally during difficult moments such as sickness, funerals, flooding, and bridge damage.
According to Siragi, the group later became more organized through the project, allowing members to begin contributing small weekly savings that could support households during emergencies and recovery activities.
Part of the money is now reserved for disaster-related needs such as repairing damaged bridges, supporting affected households, buying tools, and helping families respond after floods and strong winds.
Although the savings are small, Siragi says the system has helped the community respond more quickly using resources they already have locally.
One moment in particular tested whether the system could really work in practice. Heavy flooding damaged a bridge that many families depended on for daily movement across the community.
Instead of waiting, the group came together to assess what they had. They reviewed their savings, discussed the urgency of the situation, and made a collective decision to act.
“We met, calculated what we had, and decided to fix it ourselves,” Siragi explains.
Group members from Masiwe Savings Group repair a damaged bridge damaged by floods along River Sambye. Using funds saved through their VSLA, they purchase timber and nails to restore the structure, ensuring safe community access.
Using their savings, they bought materials and coordinated repairs so that movement could resume quickly. Children returned to school, farmers accessed markets again, and daily life gradually normalized.
For him, that moment showed the community what could be achieved using resources they had organized themselves.
“When something happens now, we already have a way of discussing it and looking for solutions together,” he says. “We already have a way to respond.”
Since then, the savings group has grown beyond emergency repairs. It has become a space where members support one another through different challenges, not only disasters.
It has strengthened cooperation among households and encouraged people to look first at what they can do together as a community.
Siragi Nabende and members of the Masiwe savings group after the meeting, reflecting their collective commitment to financial resilience and preparedness. The group pools funds to support both household needs and disaster preparedness activities.
For Siragi, what stands out most is how the group has continued working together beyond the initial activities. During difficult periods, community members increasingly discuss what resources are available locally and how they can organize themselves to respond.
About the project: With funding from the European Union Humanitarian Aid, Oxfam in consortium with Caritas Tororo and Uganda Redcross Society (URCS) are implementing the Early Warning Early Action, Strengthening Multi-Hazard Disaster Preparedness in Mt Elgon Subregion project to enhance community resilience to shocks and stresses through effective and participatory multi-hazard anticipatory action and Preparedness measures.