Village Community banks have been reported to benefit the poorer men and women in developing countries since their establishment. In Tanzania, VICOBA and other informal financial institutions have reached 27.9% of rural communities who were initially unserved. Much as the grassroots communities have been served by VICOBA few studies have been conducted in Arumeru Distict to evaluate how VICOBA have benefited the poor. It was from this concern that this study was conducted in June 2012 to assess the services, achievements and challenges pertaining to VICOBA in Arumeru District. A sample of 96 respondents was selected for the study. From the study it was found that Village Community Bank members of Muhorere, Mchele mchele and Mwangaza groups have benefited as members and sole owners of the banks. Members have been empowered in different skills and received different services such as soft loans, savings, shares, trainings and social or emergency loans. The banks on the other hand have achieved a lot since their commencement. There has been an expansion of their member base, their stakeholder base and even their capital base. Nevertheless there have been some hurdles encountered such as illiteracy for some members, inadequate capital and lack of bank offices among others.

In spite of its usefulness, initiation rituals in Lugurus have been blamed to impede girls' education. In a research conducted in Morogoro rural district between April and June 2011 with the aim of investigating the effects of initiation rituals to primary and secondary school girls, a sample of 74 respondents were involved of which 46 were girls from Mkambarani ward and from both primary and secondary schools. From the research it was found out that girls attend initiation ceremonies as early as they reach puberty be eleven or twelve years. Further it was established that the girls who attend the ceremonies encounter mistreatments, abuse and sometimes they miss their precious school time. Complementing that it was learnt that after the ceremonies, girls change their behavior and thus some of them feel they cannot cope with formal education. As a result of the change of behavior the girls reported dropping out of school to pursue other womanly responsibilities of getting married and having families.