Millions of Village Savings and Loan Associations’ (VSLAs) members, like these women from Ecuador, are rebuilding after conflicts, launching businesses, and investing in their futures. Photo: Carolina Rivas/CARE
One powerful example is Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). Across 67 countries, more than 30 million VSLA members saved over $1.8 billion last year and accessed $105 million in small loans. With this support, women were able to grow businesses, support their families, and build financial security where banks are often out of reach.
Here are six of our favorite photos from 2025 that show the power of savings groups and the futures they’re creating together.
In Tanzania, Yuditha’s VSLA didn’t just help members save money. It changed how others in the community see women and their potential to drive economic growth. By pooling their funds, the group purchased their own farmland, branded and marketed their produce to reach larger buyers, and even bought a tractor.
Today, Yuditha isn’t limited to working on her family’s land and dependent on her husband for money. She is a local business leader who helps others modernize their farming by renting the tractor out to other farmers in the community.
For Yuditha, this shift has been monumental. “Our group projects have truly changed our lives,” she says. “Even after CARE’s support ends, we will keep going. We are now women of economic freedom.”
High in the Andes, the women of Poca Totores meet each week in one of the most remote Indigenous communities in Ecuador. Jobs are scarce here, and their VSLA has become a lifeline. For three years, members have used small loans to buy livestock — a crucial source of income. With a CARE seed fund, the members purchased their first cows. Now, the offspring of those animals have helped many families earn more predictable livelihoods.
As is the case in so many places, this savings group is more than just a financial tool. It’s a story of solidarity and resilience. Every contribution strengthens the collective, and every loan supports women’s abilities to provide for their families. In an often-overlooked region, these women have built stability with their own hands, together.
Before joining this cooperative in Chad, 54-year-old Marceline rented land to farm peanuts and relied on luck for the harvest. Through support from CARE and local partners, the group learned how to plant, irrigate, and harvest more effectively—but more importantly, they created a supportive space to save and plan together.
Now, their cooperative acts as both a business and a savings group. Within two years they bought their own shared land to farm, reducing their costs by pooling resources. Their earnings go toward food, clothes, school fees for their children, and investing in improvements such as processing machines so they can sell their produce for more.
Marceline says the work has changed everything, including household dynamics. “Before, husbands handled everything outside the home.” These days, the women and their husbands are partners. They farm together, cook together, care for their children together, and plan together.
The savings group intends to buy more land and cows for plowing. “We help each other and have become a family,” Marceline says of the group. “It’s better to work together than working alone.”
At a women’s center in Pariang, South Sudan, 24-year-old Nyabol learned to bake for the first time when she joined a VSLA. Soon, she became a vital part of a thriving community bakery. The women were able to save more than two million SSP in just two months. These earnings are more than just income; they’re a safety net when sudden bills arise or a member needs support.
As they knead dough and count the day’s savings, Nyabol tells us, “It is important for us women to be able to do this. Before, we were housewives. We did not leave the house. We now act together. This gives awareness that women can also earn a living and gives all of us the confidence we need to hold our heads high in society.”
At the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, 26-year-old Alaa joined a VSLA to strengthen her financial skills and plan for the future. She arrived at the camp with her family ten years ago and is now married with children of her own.
Alaa sees her savings group as a safety net during periods of job uncertainty. She joined training via the VSLA e-learning platform with CARE Jordan to learn more, combining her wish to plan for the future with her love of technology. Alaa hopes to start her own business and knows that access to small loans — and advice from her group — will help make that possible.
In Vietnam’s central highlands, Nối and her savings group turned a small idea into a growing business. With VSLA loans and shared knowledge, the women improved mushroom cultivation and sold everything they grew each season through savvy social media marketing.
Nối now earns around $155 a month — income that helps her support her family and build financial stability. The group’s success has also created opportunities for others. Members buy straw for cultivation from women in the community, which expands local markets.
“What began as a way to improve our own harvest has become women supporting women,” Nối says. “When women in my village come to watch me work, I see their excitement and it makes me proud.”
Across continents and communities, savings groups are helping women build resilience — not through charity, but through collective action, trust, and shared leadership. Whether it’s buying farmland, starting a bakery, or preparing for an uncertain future, women are using savings to create stability for themselves and their families. Even in a year marked by global challenges, these stories show what’s possible when women have access to financial tools — and to one another.
Every gift is matched right now! Your CARE PACKAGE gift supports CARE’s response in Gaza. Our work is reaching families with critical survival needs such as food, water, and post-natal supplies for new mothers and their babies.
Donate now