Third Board Meeting

Thursday, May 31^st was our third Board training. By far, it was the most intensive training day of their course. The agenda read something along the lines of:

The Importance of Budgeting

How to Create Monthly Budgets

The Importance of Auditing

How to Audit

Engagement Case Study

The Purpose of the Kanyawegi Community Bank

Creating the Mission Statement and Vision Statement

Organizational Values at the Bank

It was a long day, especially due to the general business education of the Board. Though every single person on the Board is incredibly intelligent on top of having amazing personalities, there is very little business education [side note: one member, Fredrick, is actually on his way to being an accountant! More on his lifesaving accounting skills in another post]. In fact, just re-reading that agenda almost overwhelmed me. Each of the topics covered was done at a basic level, but the responses we received at every turn were very inspiring and energizing.

Before showing the Board how budgeting applied to the Bank and to their positions, we ran through how budgeting could help them in their everyday lives. We taught it to them in a way that they could relay the knowledge to the broader community. Most of the Board are already active savers at the Bank, but showing them how to make a PLAN for their future changed their perspective on the importance of Bank. Halfway through this budgeting introduction, our translator Sally stopped Graham and I and asked if even someone like her, who could only save very small amounts, could make a budget. It was touching when we told her that she most definitely could, and the next day we saw her at the Bank, signing up for a new account!

The introduction to auditing was not quite as smooth as the intro to budgeting. Everyone really understood the importance of auditing; mainly the fact that it fights corruption and makes sure that all the money is accounted for. Beyond that however, auditing is just a buzz word in their vocabulary. We taught them a very simplified auditing procedure (again, described in detail in another post), but the mathematical reasoning skills they have don’t quite jump to the conclusions as easily as we had been hoping. However, we powered through, and encouraged them to ask many questions. I think that when Maurice realised that people outside of GIVE would be critiquing his work, he got a little bit more cautious with how he approaches expensing receipts. He also got a bit defensive, which was expected. But he realises how this Board is here for the long-term success of the Bank, and not because we suspect him of anything, which is a relief.

The engagement case study went incredibly well – once again they nailed all the answers and went beyond what we had planned for. We had set up the case to result in answers such as “the committee members should work together to bring encouragement to the community”. They came up with answers such as “Each person needs a specific role in order to stay engaged over the year, and the supporting body should be providing an incentive program to keep members working hard at their jobs”.

But it was the creation of the directional statements that blew my mind that day. Mission statements, Vision statements, mottos (hakuna matata), Organizational Values, Value statements, you name it and every single organization, business, school, hospital and CBO has them here. However, actually writing these up become very convoluted, and it is very easy to mix them up or have them be ineffective. I was fully expecting to have the group make a bunch of suggestions that were service based, such as ‘offering microcredit’ or ‘opening many branches’, things that really don’t belong in a mission statement. [side: for those unfamiliar with a mission statement, it is the purpose of the Bank, coupled with the demographics of their clients and the needs it fulfills of the clients. Vision statement encompasses the long term goals of the Bank, that align with the mission statement]. The mission statement they developed after FIVE minutes of group brainstorming?

To be an institution that nurtures the culture of saving to help the low income earners achieve their financial goals

Yeah, I almost teared up at that one.