Skip to main content
14 Nov 2025 Nigeria

Lead writer- Mogbonjubade Adesulure

Tinu*, a mother of four from a cocoa-producing community in Nigeria, was able to grow her business through a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and cash support from Save the Children’s Future for Every Child (FUFEC) project. Once unable to pay school fees while hawking food, she accessed loans and a cash grant to expand her business. Today, Tinu runs a thriving shop and has enrolled her children in good schools.

Tinu* is a mother of four; she has two boys and two girls. Like every loving parent, she dreams of a better life for her children. She wants them to go to good schools, but for some time, that dream felt out of reach. Tinu used to hawk cooked food; it was her source of income, yet she couldn't afford to send her children to school.

 Then, the tide began to change!

Through Tinu’s participation in the Village Savings Loan Association, she was able to borrow money, and not just that, she also received a cash grant from Save the Children through the FUFEC project, further strengthening her ability to grow her business.

Tinu* smiling in front of her shop Mogbonjubade Adesulure/Save the Children  

Accessing a loan is an opportunity made possible by the savings a VSLA member has contributed over time. In a VSLA, members pool their savings into a shared fund, which allows individuals to borrow money, up to three times the amount they’ve saved. 

Cash grants are part of the project’s enterprise development program and seek to foster economic empowerment and sustainable livelihoods in cocoa-producing communities.  The enterprise development program is part of the project’s Livelihood implementation strategy and targets caregivers and young adults. Through the program, over 200 individuals have received cash grants to initiate or scale up enterprises, following completion of a business management and financial literacy training. These grants help participants start or scale up their businesses and build sustainable livelihoods.

With the cash support Tinu received plus the loan she collected from the VSLA, she expanded her business. She opened a small shop. She began selling provisions, soft drinks, and raw food. Her income grew. And most importantly, her children went back to school, good schools!

I’m grateful to the organisation, Save the Children, for their support in my life and my family because before I hawk… , but when I joined VSLA…, and when they supported me with money and I became someone who got a shop, I put items, I sell food, soft drinks, raw food... even my gain has further increased, I’m even sending my children to school, because before they were not going to school but when the VSLA came with this support my business further got elevated. I put my children in school, good schools… we are grateful, in the name of Jesus this organisation will not burn, in Jesus name you will be moving forward...

 

Tinu and her lastborn in front of Tinu's shop, Mogbonjubade/Save the Children"  

The FUFEC project is aimed at addressing child labour in select Nigerian communities. Save the Children believes that to truly and sustainably reduce child labour, we must address the root causes, including but not limited to poverty, limited access to education, and the economic pressures that lead families and farmers to engage children in child labour.

 *name changed
 

 

Related Blogs