It's not every day that credit unions can change a continent!
In 2014 I kissed a giraffe for the first time! I also learned the passion I had for helping improve people's lives could be inspired exponentially when seeing the power financial cooperatives have in Africa.
Over the past decade, through the pan-African trade organization called ACCOSCA, I created friendships with people from SACCOS (credit unions) from across the continent pursuing cultural change as women were encouraged to take leadership roles, and the voice of youth began to be listened to, and the importance of savings was taught to many.
In 2022, ACCOSCA and the African Cooperative Development Foundation (ACDF) will take on a major fund-raising campaign to raise $1.2 million to outfit the new ACCOSCA offices and to build a state-of-the-art training academy -- appropriately called The ACCOSCA Academy. The Academy will distinguish itself by attracting well-known and respected credit union practitioners and researchers to provide the highest quality of training programs and certifications. The ACCOSCA Academy will benefit African credit union leaders from National Associations, SACCOs, legislators, regulators, and the community at large. Doing so will provide a first of it’s kind training center that will improve training standards, enhance skills and build strong governance and leadership programs resulting in sustainable SACCOS. This center of learning will strengthen and grow the African SACCO system while at the same time improving the lives and livelihoods of the African People.
Serving as a member of the ground team, this October 2022, while CLIMB AFRICA Campaign members are summitting Mount Kilimanjaro, I will be doing community development work in Kenya and Malawi. I am proud to participate in the CLIMB AFRICA Campaign because of my passion for education and the growth of the credit union movement around the world. Your donation is appreciated as it will help reach our collective goal of changing a continent through education.
While I can't promise to kiss another animal, anyone making a $100 donation will receive a photograph of an animal that I will take during a safari to the Serengeti.
Asante (Thank you),
Jim
