The Spirit of Sharing Good Things from ASCA
As social beings, sharing goodness is obligatory and does not have to be in material form. The benefits and good things we get can also be shared as a form of caring for others, for example in terms of saving. Delfianti (32), commonly known as Mama Alif, is a mother of two. Mama Alif is a member of ASCA (Accumulating Saving & Credit Association) in the assisted area of the Sipado Program Area of Wahana Visi Indonesia in Sibedi Village. She has been joining the ASCA group since 2015.
“Every time I do saving, I often take back my savings if there is a family need. I did promise myself to replace it but it never happened. Well, in the end, I failed to save,” said Mama Alif explaining the process of saving that she did before getting to know ASCA.
Mama Alif's life and habits changed after she knew ASCA. Various rules agreed with other members made Mama Alif more disciplined in saving.
“If I borrow I will try to repay because I am embarrassed if I don't pay on time. Even though I think what I borrowed was my own money, but I still tried to replace it. However, that made me finally disciplined to save and I was very happy at the end of the cycle because I received the money I saved. The result motivates me to save more,” she added.
According to her, ASCA helps to meet the urgent needs of her family. She revealed she was able to have additional capital to start a business at home by selling women's clothing since October 2020.
“I remember when my mother was sick and we needed money for her treatment, but we didn't have any money, and at that time my husband's income was only around IDR15,000 per day. Fortunately, at that time, I had joined ASCA and I was able to borrow money from ASCA to pay for medical expenses,” she recalled with tears.
Now, Mama Alif does not keep all the benefits she receives from ASCA for herself. She often shares the benefits of participating in ASCA with relatives and neighbors and encourages them to join ASCA. She said that the good benefits must be distributed to many people so that more people are helped, especially the people in their environment, including people with low economies and often in debt to others. The thing she said most often to encourage us is that if we save at ASCA we will receive our savings every Eid and it always coincides with the new school year. So, we no longer have to worry about the cost of schooling our children.
Related to her story and encouragement, many relatives and neighbors finally decided to join ASCA. Mama Alif has succeeded in forming 4 ASCA groups, namely 2 for adults and 2 for children.
Written by: Helda Dongalemba, Field Facilitator of the Sipado Program Area Wahana Visi Indonesia
