This meeting is only attended by people who are interested to be in a S4T, and who have already gathered in groups of 10 - 25 people who know and trust each other.

What to explain:

• A S4T is created so that people can save, borrow  and start an insurance fund.
• Members are self-selected and the S4T is managed by its members.
• Every Group has a written constitution and clear rules.
• Some rules such as the amount of savings, or the service charge on loans are decided by  members.
• Yearly changing of a Management Committee which is democratically elected.
•  Members must attend all meetings, and buy at least buy1 share each meeting
• There are fines for lateness and missing meetings
• A group allows all members to buy between 1-5 shares each week,  share  is set by the members.
• Share money is used to provide small loans to members, which are repaid over a period of not more than 3 months.
• All borrowers have to pay a service charge (Interest) on their loans, at a percentage rate decided by the members.
• Social Fund from which members can receive small grants or interest-free emergency loans
• All of the Group’s cash is kept in a box with three locks, and the keys are kept by three different people, who are not part of the management committee.
• The box can only be opened in meetings, so all transactions are done before  all of the members.
• Record-keeping is based on simple passbooks and memorisation of important information, such as the amount of cash in the box and who owes money to the Social Fund.
• Each member has a passbook in which their savings and loans are recorded.
• The passbooks are locked in the box between meetings to prevent anyone changing the entries
• The members decide on a period for operation of the S4T before they share out their profits.  This is called a cycle and is never less than 9 months or longer than 12 months
• At the end of each cycle, all loans are repaid, and all savings and profits are distributed to members according to the amount that they have saved.
• The box and its contents will be supplied by the programme and must be paid for by the Group.  This will involve a down-payment of not less than 25%, with the balance being paid before the end of the cycle.  If there is a balance at the end of the cycle, the Group must pay the due amount from the loan fund prior to sharing out.
• The training and supervisionperiod is 36 weeks.  After this  S4Ts  continue  independently.
•  During the training period the S4T will meet weekly, and the FO will visit 15 times.
• Once the S4T becomes independent the FO will only come if the S4T needs him/her to do so.

Good members will:

• Know each other and come from a similar economic background.
• Not live too far from where the meetings will be held.
• Have a reputation for honesty and reliability.
• Be able to buy at least one share each week.
• It is better if members from the same household join different S4T.

Members area able to meet various needs at household level and even construct better houses which some have installed with solar power.