To run a successful business or cooperative, it’s important to keep your finances are in order, especially when you’re working and sharing with others. Many of our changemaking efforts — including the greenhouses — involve combined finances, where a group of people works together and pools their earnings.
However, sometimes these groups don’t have a safe place to store their money or financial documents. To encourage better bookkeeping and meet a security need, we decided to buy each of the four greenhouses their own safety deposit box. These boxes provide each of the groups a set place to store their combined earned money and accounting documents.
Prince, the chairperson of the Juru greenhouse, had positive feelings about the finances of the group and welcomed the additional support. “This area did not previously have a market,” he explained. “But because of this project, our community has been able to open a small market. So far, the money we have gotten from here, we’ve been able to save and then divide to each of the 12 members. So far, each person has gotten about 60,000 shillings (around 16 USD) each. This has been a huge success for us.”
