Feel good in pandemic econ issues - Susu groups pop ups

[downtoearth]

I loved this CBC news story! It's a long running tradition that has supported women, and minority women especially from the Caribbean, and it's filled with love and abundance and community. 
I suggest listening to the audio story. <3

How an old tradition is helping people weather the pandemic's financial storm

Social Sharing


Susu groups offer support and sense of community

As Canadians look to weather the financial storm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, some are turning to a tried-and-true tradition called susu to save money — and help one another.



"It's a mutual support group. It's a social group. It's a way that we can meet our goals, financially, as a community," said Ginelle Skerritt, an Adinkra Farm banker lady for eight susu groups and a vice president at The Neighbourhood Group, a social service agency in Toronto.



"It really has many different ways of manifesting positive things for our communities."



A susu is an informal club of people that get together on a regular basis to contribute an allotted amount of money, called a hand. That money is pooled together and usually collected by the banker lady. Then, it gets paid out to a different member of the group each time the susu meets.



For example, Skerritt was part of a susu that ran from May to October of this year, and she received the first hand. The funds helped her purchase lawn furniture she'd been planning to buy for years. Then, she paid the money back through the susu over time, she said.



"For some, it's like a loan. For some it's just a way of supporting other people to get money when they need it," she told The Current's Matt Galloway. "And for some, they just want to save for a particular goal."

www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/remaking-a-living-surviving-the-covid-19-economy-a-special-edition-of-the-current-1.5781493/how-an-old-tradition-is-helping-people-weather-the-pandemic-s-financial-storm-1.5781670