Credit Women's Initiatives

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Summary

With a loan of $50 to $200 plus training, a poor rural woman can start her own business selling organic vegetables, sewing saris, or supplying milk to dairy processing facilities among many other type progress reportread updates from the field

How Donors Like You Helped

Thanks to donors like you, a total of $200 was raised for this project.

Received $200 from 2 donations from people like:

Eleanor
(Anon.)

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More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

Many rural families and communities lack banking services, possess little collateral to obtain credit, and live far from commercial centers. Women typically are heads of households as men migrate to cities or mines in search of work, but they struggle to make ends meet. With a loan at a fair interest rate and technical support she can start and scale-up income-generating activities that will support a balanced diet, schooling for her children, and eventually durable housing.

Activities

1000 women will take small loans ($50 to $200) to start businesses. In conjunction with the loans, they will receive technical support on building and scaling up businesses. Groups of 10-20 women will share ideas and support each other’s ventures.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: $200

Funding Information

This project is now in implementation and no longer available for funding. Received funds will be used to accomplish concrete objectives as indicated in the project's "Activities" section. Updates will be posted under the "Progress Report" tab as they become available.

Donors' contributions and pledges to this project totaled $200.  The original project funding goal was $100,000.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

With repayment rates routinely reaching 98% an original loan fund is “recycled” yearly to new women. Wealth accumulation builds local economies. Women also discover their own potential, educate their children, and break out of dire poverty.

Project Message

“The milk and income from the buffalo have helped us survive this terrible drought. I have already paid off the loan and have bought a second buffalo.”
- Hiri Bai, Participant in a microcredit project in India

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Balu Iyer,
IDEX Asia Program Director
IDEX
827 Valencia Street, Suite 101
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States
415-824-8384
Email:

Project Sponsor

International Development Exchange (IDEX)

Organization

International Development Exchange (IDEX)
IDEX
827 Valencia Street, Suite 101
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States
415-824-8384
http://www.idex.org

Learn more about International Development Exchange (IDEX) and the project team.


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Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Bangladesh and can also be found under Economic Development.

For more information about Bangladesh, read the Human Development Report on Bangladesh or the Wikipedia entry for Bangladesh.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on March 26, 2007.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on August 24, 2006.

Latest Update from the Field

March Update

By Katherine Zavala - Asia program Director, March 26, 2007 05:44 PM

The story of Hiridevi Dangi – Rajasthan, India

Mrs. Hiridevi wanted a microcredit to increase her family income. Having to pay back the credit in installments would be a big help to her. She planned to use the credit for raising two buffalos for milk production. At the beginning, her husband denied her to become a member of self-help group (SHG). SHGs are informal groups of 10 to 20 members who save and give credit within (and among) groups on a rotational basis. She continued her effort to convince her husband and was successful.

With her microcredit, Mrs. Hiridevi purchased two buffaloes, fodder and feed to take care of the buffalos. With this, Mrs. Hiridevi was able to sell milk and the buffalo’s dung (as organic fertilizer) and made a profit of $300. As a result, she has become more self-confident as she realizes her capability to help generate income for her family. As she feels more empowered, she has developed her leadership in her SHG and is motivating others to take a microcredit to manage their own income-generating project.

“Women are not considered creditworthy, but this process has improved the situation.” – Hiridevi Dangi.

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