The ritual of the weekly meeting
In Cibitoke, north of Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, every Tuesday afternoon at 3pm the members of the microcredit group meet and 
savings called Dufisekazoza , a word in the Kirundi language that can be translated as “we support each other” .
This weekly meeting has become a sort of ritual, in which some essential actions for the Si può fare! project are repeated.
It can be done! The project that accompanies community microcredit in Burundi
Community microcredit groups, supported by AMU with this project, include 10 to 25 people who self-finance by putting their savings into a common fund. In this way, each group can grant individual members small credits , repayable with a minimum interest, to support them in starting and managing small income-generating activities.
During the community microcredit group meeting
So, on Tuesday afternoon, all the members of the Dufisekazoza group sit in a circle around the tables and place in front of them the accounting books and the blue box containing the common fund, symbol of the project. It can be done!.
At this point a series of operations are carried out, starting with the verification of attendance and then continuing with the collection of the social contribution: each participant gives the cashier the amount of money he wishes to save , knowing that there is a minimum and maximum limit for this amount.
Next, there are the credit refunds, and then the requests for new credits are considered.
The secretary then counts the income and expenditure and communicates the state of the cash to everyone before concluding the meeting.
Participating in microcredit groups is a life changer
This community microcredit group, like all the others supported by AMU, contributes to profoundly changing the lives of those who take part in it . Most of them are young people who carry out various income-generating activities, started thanks to the common fund contained in that blue box.
Among them is Richard, who with the credit he obtained started to produce and sell soap. There are mechanics, car parts sellers and motorcycle taxi drivers.
Strong bonds have been created between them, as one of the participants enthusiastically recounts: “We have become a family, each of us knows the other’s profession, so we support each other in a way that if someone needs a service or a product, they know who to turn to .”
The next step
The Dufisekazoza microcredit group has been active for five years and the time has come to take a further step forward, all the kids are convinced of this: “We want to create a collective income-generating activity, with the aim of consolidating our family spirit and solidarity.”
