We have spent the past few months working with CWISH, one of our partners in Nepal, on reviewing needs studies and reports. They have also carried out a number of small pilot programs which have proved hugely successful, so now we are ready to go!
“But what is it?” I hear you ask. We are going to provide a group of 500 (yes, you read correctly) women with basic literacy, numeracy and business skills training. We are going to help them establish a savings plan and also provide them with some seed money. We are then going to mentor them as they set up, in small groups of around 20 each, their own small businesses. This will be a truly life-changing opportunity for these women, who will predominantly come from urban poor communities and living in often unimaginable situations.
The UN recently stated on Women’s Day that studies continue to show that investing in education and empowerment of women has proven benefits for many aspects of the societies of developing countries. You can read more about this here. This type of project also works directly towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
But wait … there’s more! We wanted to make this project sustainable and also find an incentive for the women to repay the seed money loaned to them whilst also invoking in them a sense of pride and honour. We don’t want these women to feel like they are just receiving handouts from a foreign donor and we also want to give them a role in helping others. Therefore, we are introducing the “Pay it Forward” concept into the program. This means that as the loans for the first groups are repaid, these funds will then be utilized to fund the next group and so on. Therefore, once the initial amount of seed money is established, it should only require minimal top ups to maintain and even expand the program!
This is where you come in. We are seeking donors to raise the funds to establish the program as well as setting up the loans for the women to start their businesses. The cost to sponsor 1 group of 20 women is $1,000.00 (AUD). This covers all of the expenses of educating the women as well as the ongoing monitoring and business mentoring. This amount also includes the initial seed money to get establish the business.
So if you and a group of 9 friends joined forces to “adopt a group of women”, it would only cost $100.00 each to make the most enormous impact on others’ lives or you could hold a fundraising event to raise the money. This could be a great project for a group of workmates, a social club, a business group such as a Chamber of Commerce, the list is endless. All it takes is a commitment right now to make a difference. You will receive reports on the progress of your sponsored group at each stage of the program including photos – so you can see for yourself the changes taking place!
We will be posting more details of the program on our website soon and we anticipate an officially launch of the program whilst we are in Nepal during Thulo April 2008. So stay tuned for further updates, and please get in touch if you would like to contribute or help in any way – all it takes is your decision to do something, and acting on that decision.
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