($47.91). Excluding three associations with contributions of 50,000 Z or higher, the average drops to 13,353 Z ($31.05).

# 3. Reasons for Saving

Fifty members were asked what they would do with the savings pool when it was their turn to receive it. The most frequently cited responses were business investment (44%) and purchase of a household durable good (34%). About 8% said they would use the money to pay for education, while 14% cited other uses, including purchase of clothing or jewelry, financing for a trip, and security deposit for housing.

Since school fees are usually paid in August and September, most members had probably already found the funds to pay for education by the time of the survey in October, thus education did not rate high among reasons for saving. Surprisingly, no members cited purchase of health care services as a reason for saving. The emergency loan funds organized through moziki associations were used to purchase health care, however, as described below.

# 4. Emergency Loan Funds

Four of the six moziki associations studied had emergency loan funds to which members contributed regularly. Equivalent monthly contributions to the loan fund ranged from 900 Z ($2.09) to 2,000 Z ($4.65) per member, creating a monthly pool of 9,000 to 40,000 Z ($21 to $93). Since the loan pool is additive, the total pool can grow to 81,000 to 800,000 Z ($188 to $1,860) by the end of the cycle.

In the four associations with loan funds, 10 of 54 members (18%) had received loans in the past 12 months. Loans ranged from 10,000 to 50,000 Z ($23 to $166), with an average loan size of 27,500 ($64). Four loans were made for health-related reasons; three helped finance birth, and one was for a non-maternity hospitalization. Other reasons for loans were deaths or marriages. Loans were repaid in I to 2 months, without interest.

An additional function of the loan fund is to assure that the association does not falter because one member fail make his or her contribution during a particular interval. The loan fund is used to complete the member's contribution, and the member repays the fund before the next meeting.

In the two moziki associations without loan funds (both of which were located in the rural area of Bwamanda), members stated that collections were sometimes taken up for members facing extreme difficulties. This money was given, not loaned, to the member in need. In a recent case, 500 Z ($1.16) was collected from each member for a total of 3,000 Z ($7) to give to another member who had been hospitalized. This amount represents about two-thirds of the standard price of a hospitalization in the internal medicine ward.

# _5S_ Use of Money Lenders for Medical Emergencies

A recent World Bank study of savings and credit cooperatives in Zaire documents the use of money lenders as a source of informal credit (22). In the associations surveyed, members were asked if they had ever borrowed money from a money lender to pay for extraordinary health expenses. Of the 50 members surveyed, one admitted she had borrowed 20,000 Z ($46) to pay for her sister's operation. She repaid the loan in one month, with 50% interest. The sociologist conducting the interviews noted that the practice of using money lenders is considered embarrassing, however, so people may have been reluctant to admit that they used money lenders.

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