WOMEN CHAMA

Women Chama- "A gathering where women go to gossip and incite one another" this is what most of our men think we do.

Honestly speaking they are not that far from the truth.

Before you start raising all insults on me allow me to explain my point.

Let me say every woman should have an active Chama, if you are not in one you are missing out big time.The pros of being in one actually beats the cons.

Women Chama started way back with our great grandparents and it is attributed to development in the society. Women formed into small vikundi's and contributed money say monthly and helped one another in starting different income generating projects thus lifting the economic status for members.This led to transformation from mud houses to mabati houses.

In these Women Chamas they gave out loans to members for emergencies or even self development at a small fee and the interest generated was again loaned out to members or they would share at the end of the year. Women were able to pay school fees and contribute in the family budget, this came with enormous respect from our opposite sex.

Flash forward times have passed and these concept has been brought down to generations. I vividly remember the chama days of my dear mum, I can still smell the aroma in the delicacies prepared and the fashion displayed was on point. We each had our favorite member and we would look forward to their coming even if we had to wait almost an year to see some of their faces. Food was in plenty and the environment filled with joy and laughter. We would eat way early than the guests arrival and only this time were we allowed to play very far from the house. NOW I KNOW WHY.

The apple does not fall fall from the tree. Let me just say I found myself in a couple of Chama's- no regrets thou. I love and enjoy every moment with my girls and look forward to every Chama meeting. There are different personalities, thou let me just highlight a few, am sure Chama members can relate.Just find out who you are.


1.Fashionista.
The lady can dress. Her hair and make up is on point. She always has a new outfit or a new hairdo and yes she is pretty and rocks almost everything she tries out. We all look forward to her arrival.If she is the one hosting, WOW, her house is on point, there is always something new and exciting, new curtains maybe or she has changed the set up of her home.Everything is just lovely, she never disappoints.

2. Crowd Puller.
A very sociable and likeable person. A marketer indeed. She can easily martial members to support her point or even change the constitution to her favour. You should watch out for her.

3.Accountant cum Auditor by default.
None of those is in her profession but when it comes to money matters she is very keen and alert. She keeps record of all monies and loans taken by members. She is keen on reconciling money on table and no shilling goes unaccounted for. A valuable asset in Chama.

4.Absent minded.
These are the people when you make rules in Chama the next time they will be shocked when you changed the constitution. If you bring up a topic they are the last people to get it. A good asset to Crowd puller because they can easily be convinced. Tag them along in this journey you need everyone though it can be a bit annoying to deal with them at times.

5. Story Teller.
A crowd puller can easily fit in this group. These are the ladies who make you laugh your ribs out and forget about your worries. They have juicy stories that bring about discussions. Chairlady should be keen on these ones because they can consume alot of Chama time.

And yes we do Gossip.
The extent depends on the maturity of your Chama. It can be as silly as a Chama member who is a bad cook and puts alot of water in the soup in the extent that meat is floating.

And yes we do incite each other.
We advise each other on how we live with our dear children, in-laws, house helps and of course husbands , how one cheated and was tamed, how one was abusive and was tamed, how one was stingy and was tamed.The list is endless.At the process we have a good laugh at the experiences. If this is incitement then we are guilty as charged.

This is where we unwind. During this time we forget all our problems and worries. Men this is good for us because really, a woman carries and sacrifices a lot. This is one of her time out. She really needs this and so do you .Plus the money is good- you can testify , you have on some occasions enjoyed a loan from this Chama or even something new has been bought in your house from this Chama.

We are all benefiting so let us be.

Long Live Chama.

With Love,
the WOMAN in me.