|
Hello, Welcome to the first newsletter of the Sea Change Foundation. It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to what is a new and innovative approach to assist the poorest people on the planet on their journey out of extreme poverty through Microcredit. What is Microcredit? Microcredit gives the poorest people - mainly women - in the world access to credit which gives them financial capital to start or expand their business. It is not a gift but a loan that is repaid with interest. What is the Sea Change Foundation? The Sea Change Foundation is a dynamic, not for profit foundation based in Ireland with a global network of Microcredit partners throughout the world. Our mission is to raise funds and awareness for Microcredit projects targeting the worlds poorest people, empowering them to lift themselves, with dignity, out of extreme poverty. Sea Change is presently funding Microcredit partners in Haiti, Kenya, and Thailand. Establishing Sea Change In August 2005 after I visited Thailand and the region of Khao Lak where over 3,000 people died in the Asian tsunami, I met the spokeswoman for a group of families who had lost everything. As we wanted to help them re-establish their businesses again we gave them 50% of the funds in grant form to pay for capital expenditure, and 50% as an interest free loan to be paid back in 12 months. The members of the group were told at the outset that if they repaid all their loans, funds would be available for further borrowing. The loans were paid back and have since been reissued to continue to help them rebuild their shattered lives. This was my first hands on experience of Microcredit. When I returned to Ireland I contacted a group of friends who are successful in business, who also wanted to give something back to acknowledge the good fortune in their own lives. In 2006, the Sea Change Foundation was established. I look forward to you supporting our mission to raise funds and awareness for Microcredit projects in whatever way you can. Each and every one of us has a role to play and I ask you to join us in helping to make extreme poverty history in our lifetime. 100% of funds go directly to the extreme poor Our guarantee is that 100% of the funds donated by you will go directly to those who need it most, with no deductions for costs. All the administration and ongoing running costs of Sea Change and Run Johnny Run are fully financed by directors and friends. This means any gift you make is a direct investment in the poorest people in the world. Thank you in anticipation. Paul Mitchell Chief Executive Sea Change Foundation
--------
What is Microcredit? It is the distribution of tiny loans to the poorest of the poor, without the requirement for collateral. Loans ranging from €20 and averaging at around €100 provide the means for women within communities to purchase the tools or supplies needed to start or expand a Microcredit business. The types of business that Microcredit supports include: • Growing and selling vegetables, • Catching and selling fish, • Raising chickens to sell eggs, • Raising goats to sell milk, • Weaving and sewing, • Many other initatives that these entrepreneurs identify to make a living. How does it work? Loans are given to groups of five borrowers, mainly women who encourage each other and hold one another accountable to pay back their loans. As a result of this "community bond", bad debts typically run at less than 2% which is lower than most banks in the developed world. What constitutes extreme poverty? Families that are ‘living' on less than 2 dollars per day. There is an estimated 2 billion people who live in extreme poverty, which is a third of the world's population. How long is Microcredit around? Microcredit was started in 1976 in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus an economics professor. During visits to the poorest households, he discovered that very small loans to groups could make a dramatic difference to the lives of extremely poor people. His first Microcredit loan was made to a group of 40 women in Jobra, a small village in Bangladesh. Women had to take out loans for buying bamboo to make bamboo furniture. They all made a small net profit each on the first loan. This initiative lead Muhammad Yunus to set up the Grameen Bank, which now has over 7 million borrowers worldwide. In 2006, Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize for their work with the poor. What makes Microcredit different? It gives the poorest people access to credit which gives them financial capital to start or expand their business. It is not a gift but a loan that is repaid with interest. Together with health and education initiatives, Microcredit gives a holistic approach which helps many of the world's poorest come out of extreme poverty. The loans repaid are recycled and made available for themselves or others for further lending.
-----------------------
How many people have been positively impacted as a result of Microcredit? In November 2006 at the World Microcredit Summit in Nova Scotia it was announced that over 113 million people now have Microcredit loans. This has impacted on over half a billion people, helping them to live with a modicum of honour, dignity and independence. What Microcredit projects are Sea Change currently supporting? Sea Change is presently funding with Microcredit partners in Thailand (see page one) as well as Haiti and Kenya. In Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Sea Change partners with Fonkoze, Haiti's alternative bank for the organised poor. In Kenya, Sea Change has partnered with Jamii Bora Trust, a local Microcredit organisation set up in 1999 and has since grown into a nationwide microfinance institution with truly ambitious growth and impact plans. Jamii Bora Trusts's financial products include loans for small businesses, land, housing, education and they also offer life and health insurance. Does all money donated to Sea Change go directly to Microcredit projects or are their costs deducted? Yes, as all administration costs are paid by the directors and friends of Sea Change this means that every euro you donate goes directly to the Microcredit projects in the countries we work in. Where can I find out more about Microcredit? Go to the Sea Change Foundation web site www.seachangefoundation.ie Call 1800 938 016 Email paulmitch@sea-change.ie
|
