Earlier this week, Mama Bahati Foundation opened a new branch! It's in Ifupila, near Mafinga, Tanzania. This now makes four MBF branches: Iringa, Mafinga, Morogoro and now Ifupila.
Ifupila is a tea-growing region and most of the clients will be tea-pluckers. There is a strong need in this area for community savings as the pluckers do not save year-round. This means they live well in tea season but not the rest of the year. MBF plans to teach them savings and business skills so they can save for off-season and also start side businesses to give year-round income.
Ifupila is only 25km from Mafinga but the community because Ifupila communities were spending large sums on transport to and from Mafinga and really wanted services closer to home - the need was so acute that local leaders donated the building for an MBF office.
Two staff have been posted there - one is a former IT officer from Iringa who is freed up now that the cloud-based Musoni system is bedded in, and the other is a female intern who has previously been volunteering her time, but who has now been offered a job. The MBF Programme Leader, Japhet Makau, predicts this branch will break even within three months thanks to commission on MKOPA's solar loans and CRDB agency banking, and because the operating costs are very low.
Japhet is also planning to start a new branch in Dodoma region which will serve 4 dioceses. So, we currently have four branches in three Tanzanian dioceses and could add another four dioceses through the Dodoma branch. Mama Bahati Foundation is definitely spreading her wings.