Julie helps to develop African credit unions
JULIE MONAGHAN, Risk & Compliance Officer with New Ross Credit Union, recently travelled to West Africa and spent two weeks sharing her expertise, knowledge, and skills with her credit union counterparts in Sierra Leone.
A former British colony, Sierra Leone celebrated 58 years of independence last year. During the 1990s it experienced a civil war and in recent years it suffered badly from an outbreak of Ebola. There are currently 28 credit unions with over 10,000 credit union members in Sierra Leone. The Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation (ILCUF) provides financial and technical support to ILCUF Ltd – a company helping to build up a strong credit union movement and support NACCUA, the representative body for credit unions in Sierra Leone. The programme is an opportunity for credit union personnel to give back to the credit union movement.
The aim of the project is to ensure strong, secure and sustainable credit unions throughout the country as a means to reducing poverty.
Julie participated in a coaching programme which uses the expertise within the Irish credit union movement to build the capacity of the credit union staff and directors in Sierra Leone.
Both she and her fellow volunteers spent the first day in Freetown at the ILCUF Ltd office, where they met the local staff and received an overview of the movement and the challenges facing it. Following this the volunteers broke into two groups and travelled outside Freetown to begin their credit union visits.
Julie was accompanied by Istau, a credit union development officer with ILCUF Ltd, when she travelled to Bo almost four hours from Freetown where they undertook a number of visits to rural credit unions.
First up was Bo District Teachers Cooperative Credit Union where they met with staff and credit union members.
Julie spent time with the book-keeper, Daniel Allie, to review the credit union accounts and financials and also met with some of the board members to discuss suggestions for improving the credit union’s operations.
Her next credit union was a two-day visit to Pujehun Teachers Cooperative Credit Union, having travelled on unpaved roads to get there. In Pujehun she provided support to staff and directors and following a review of their operations Julie and Barry made a presentation to the board highlighting recommendations to implement to help further strengthen the credit union. Julie also visited the nearby primary school in Pujehun to meet with teachers and students. Many of the teachers are members of the credit union and they explained to Julie how being a credit union member has improved their lives.
After four days down country it was back to Freetown to provide support to urban credit unions, many of which are based around market areas where many of the traders are credit union members.
The first visit was to Tawopenah Traders Cooperative Credit Union, the biggest credit union in Sierra Leone. Julie got to visit their new premises.
All the credit unions are using manual systems so Julie reviewed all the operations manually to identify any challenges and make suggestions for improvements.
Following the various visits the next task was to plan a two-day training workshop for credit union staff on the key areas identified from the visits.
Julie and her fellow volunteers facilitated the workshop to provide training on key areas of credit union operations.
The programme came to a close with a visit to the Embassy of Ireland in Freetown where they met with Ambassador Lesley Ní Bhriain to discuss Ireland’s support to the country and the important role of credit unions in addressing financial inclusion.
Speaking about the programme, Solomon Mwongyere, General Manager, ILCUF Ltd, thanked Julie and all of the volunteers.
‘You have provided a lot of support to our credit union. Thank you for coming to Sierra Leone and sharing your knowledge to upskill the credit union staff and volunteers, we really appreciate it and we have learned a great deal from you.’
Speaking about her experience Julie said: ‘ This was a wonderful opportunity to experience the difference credit unions really can make. People are the same the world over, wanting to better themselves in life and to support their families. The work of a credit unions in Ireland and Sierra Leone do just this in helping people in their communities achieve their goals.
‘A special thanks to New Ross Credit Union and the local businesses of New Ross for their support ahead of my trip. The work of the ILCU Foundation in Ireland and Sierra Leone is truly invaluable. This was an experience I shall treasure.’
CEO of the ILCU Foundation Alan Moore said: ‘It was great to have Julie volunteer on the coaching programme. She has been a great ambassador for the ILCU Foundation, New Ross Credit Union and indeed the wider Irish credit union movement.
‘ Throughout the course of the two weeks our credit union partners in Sierra Leone learnt a great deal from Julie and we really appreciate giving are grateful. The Foundation, and our partners in Sierra Leone, really appreciate Julie’s generosity in volunteering her time and sharing her expertise to help others.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank New Ross Credit Union for their support to Julie to participate in the Coaching Programme, for their support of the Foundation through their Third World Fund and lastly to the many local businesses for supporting Julie with generous donations.’
A number of local businesses supported Julie and made kind donations ranging from stationary supplies, reading glasses and some travel essentials, including Barrow Office Supplies, Byrne’s Opticians, Nicola Bailey at Bailey Design, Burke’s Pharmacy, Waterford Credit Union and Rachel Power, O’Dwyer Power Accountants.
The ILCU Foundation was set up in the early 1980s with the expressed aim of helping poor people, and has helped thousands of people in Africa.