When Charles Samuel Bakia’s niece fell sick, his family suddenly needed money for medical treatment.
For many families living on uncertain incomes, an unexpected medical bill can quickly become a crisis. But Charles did not have to borrow money or wait for someone to come to his family’s rescue.
He reached for his savings.
For Charles, that moment meant more than being able to pay for treatment. It showed him that the small financial habits he had been building saving, planning and managing his income carefully were beginning to make a real difference in his family’s life.
“Planning has been one thing that I have learnt there, plus the saving skills,” Charles says, reflecting on what he learned through his participation in a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) supported by Men4Women.
The money he used for his niece’s treatment did not come from the VSLA itself. Charles had saved it separately through his business and personal saving habits.
But the discipline and financial planning he strengthened through the VSLA helped him become more intentional about putting money aside and preparing for unexpected needs.
For Charles, saving was no longer simply about having money left over. It was about being ready when life did not go according to plan. A Skill Learned in Juba, an Opportunity Built in Yambio
Charles’ journey into the beauty business started long before he joined the VSLA.
While living in Juba, he learned the practical skills behind his Cutex business from a friend. He did not have much capital at the time, but he had something he could carry with him wherever he went: a skill.
When he returned to Yambio, he decided to turn that skill into a source of income.
“Since already I have the idea, let me start the business,” he recalls thinking.
That decision became the beginning of his journey in the beauty trade.
Charles had already started the business before receiving financial literacy and saving support through Men4Women’s VSLA training.
The training did not teach him how to provide beauty services. Instead, it helped him think differently about the money his work was already bringing in.
He began paying closer attention to where his income was going what was needed for the household, what could be saved and what could be put back into the business.
Over time, that approach helped him reinvest in his work. He acquired additional equipment, including two machines and a hair-drying machine, allowing him to serve more customers and strengthen his business.
The two experiences played different roles in his journey.
His friend in Juba gave him the practical skills that opened the door to the beauty trade. The VSLA experience helped him develop the financial discipline to manage the income that came from those skills.
The skill helped him earn. Saving helped him prepare. Redefining What It Means to Be a Man.
There is another part of Charles’ story that goes beyond money.
In South Sudan, beauty work such as hairdressing, manicure and personal care is often seen as work for women.
In some communities, the sector has also been associated with foreign workers. Such perceptions can make it difficult for some local men to see beauty services as a serious way of earning a living.
Charles did not let those expectations determine his choice. For him, there is dignity in any honest work.
A skill is a skill. Work is work. And providing for a family is not about whether a job fits an old idea of what men are supposed to do.
By choosing to build a livelihood in the beauty sector, Charles is challenging those assumptions in a simple, practical way: by showing up for work, serving his customers and using what he earns to support his family.
His story offers a different picture of masculinity one built around responsibility, care, hard work and preparation rather than restrictions about what men should or should not do.
Being a provider, he is showing, is not only about earning money. It is also about knowing how to manage it. It is about caring for family members.
And it is about preparing for the days when something unexpected happens. When Saving Becomes a Safety Net
The lessons Charles gained through the VSLA did not stop with his business.
His household has also adopted a weekly savings practice, putting money aside for emergencies, education and other family needs.
That habit became especially valuable when his niece fell sick.
Because Charles had made saving part of his routine, he had money available when his family needed it most.
Again, the money did not come from the VSLA. It was money he had saved separately after applying the financial planning and saving habits he had strengthened through the programme.
The experience left him with a lesson that many families can relate to: earning an income matters, but what happens to that income after it reaches your hands can matter just as much.
When there is little money to spare, an emergency can leave a family with very few choices.
Savings can create one more option.
For Charles, that option meant being able to help his niece without first having to search for a loan or ask someone else for assistance.
Today, Charles continues to run his Cutex business while saving and investing in its growth.
His story is not simply about a man entering a beauty trade. It is about what can happen when a person has a useful skill and gains the confidence and financial discipline to make that skill work for him over time.
It is also a story about changing expectations.
Charles has shown that a man can choose work traditionally associated with women and still see himself as a provider. He can learn from another person, build a business, save for the future and care for relatives.
He does not have to choose between earning a living and challenging traditional ideas about men.
He can do both.
A skill gave Charles a starting point. A business gave him an income. Saving gave him a cushion.
And when his family faced an unexpected medical need, that cushion gave him the ability to act.
This is the kind of practical change Men4Women seeks to support not simply encouraging men to think differently, but creating opportunities for them to develop skills, strengthen their livelihoods, question restrictive gender expectations and make decisions that can benefit their families.
For Charles, the journey is still unfolding.
He is still working. He is still saving. He is still investing in his business. And he is still learning.
His experience carries a simple lesson: a livelihood can help a family get through today, but saving and planning can give that family a better chance of facing tomorrow.
With continued support, more men like Charles can have the opportunity to build livelihoods, challenge limiting expectations and turn small changes in everyday habits into greater security for their families and communities.
