A journey to self-sufficiency – Savern’s Story

August 2020

Single mum Savern runs a profitable small-scale farm. With a successful business, she is well on her way to complete self-sufficiency.

Every two weeks, the Family Finance team visit Savern to support her with practical business skills and coach her in financial literacy. Together they work out her biweekly profit, expenses and overall cash balance after her expenses are paid. This coaching helped Savern to not only support her family’s basic needs but to start saving.

One of Savern’s goals was to build a chicken coop big enough to house her growing flock of chickens. CCT and Savern agreed to build it together. To build a coop big enough to house up to 200 chickens, Savern would pay for the construction and labour and CCT would pay for the materials. Three months of careful savings later and Savern has saved enough to start the build. Her next goal is to save enough to buy a motorbike, which will help her transport her daughters to and from school and doctors appointments.

When CCT met Savern, she was struggling. Her youngest daughter Chelly was constantly sick and in and out of hospital, leaving Savern unable to work and unable to afford her family’s living expenses. After CCT supported the family with essential food supplies, a water filter and healthcare support, their health greatly improved. Chelly no longer needed to be in hospital, which meant Savern could go back to work.

Today, Savern is finding it much easier to make ends meet. She plans to teach other families in her village financial literacy skills as well as how to make compost and raise chickens. CCT will continue to support Savern’s journey towards self-sufficiency in whatever way she needs.

Help families become self-sufficient