A Single Woman’s Dedication to Serve Other Women
This story was originally told by Mattu Vandi of Ngolahun.
Translated from Mende and written by Nyagia M.S. Rogers, Community Action Program Supervisor and James Gendemeh, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer
Mattu Vandi is a 32-year-old volunteer teacher married with three children. At a young age of 16, economic hardship forced her to drop out of school. Despite this situation, she was determined to bring about change in her and her family’s life. Before OneVillage Partners entered the community, Mattu had little knowledge about business and did not save or budget her resources. Additionally, she was never part of any group in the community and lacked the self-confidence to speak in public.
One morning, she noticed the Nurturing Opportunities for Women (NOW) training in the community. Though she was not enrolled in the program, Mattu listened in on the session the next day. This session moved Mattu so much that she thought of it for the rest of the day and so she visited an enrolled NOW participant, Yatta, that evening to learn more. After a week of coaching with Yatta, Mattu continued to listen in on the NOW sessions. One day, OneVillage Partners staff noticed Mattu listening in and encouraged her to attend the session. At first, Mattu was so shy that she could not even say her name out loud! But the sessions inspired Mattu to use her voice and knowledge to form a savings group for 25 women in the community, where group members could come together and contribute weekly to personal savings funds.
“I felt delighted about Mattu’s intelligence and patience, and I was touched when she quickly grasped the NOW learning by forming two sets of savings groups,” Yatta said.
The outcome of the first savings group stimulated interest from other women in the community, so Mattu formed a second savings group of an additional 30 members. Just from listening in on the NOW sessions and coaching from a friend, she was able to pass on the learning to 60 women in the community on goal setting, savings, and household planning. Through this experience, Mattu started working with fellow community women and therefore felt bolder and more confident to speak in public.
Women in these groups now embark on business and other income generating activities, such as backyard gardening, savings, and internal lending. “I now feel very excited when fellow women and other organizations come to me for ideas and solutions,” Mattu stated.
Overcoming her struggles, Mattu is now a leader and a source of inspiration for many women in the community and beyond. As Mattu put it, “OVP’s work has taught me a very big lesson, that speaking in public or interacting with other people within the society is not qualified by the level of one’s education, but rather through dedication, commitment, and perseverance.”
Learn about the impact made in OneVillage Partners communities in 2020 by reading our Annual Report.