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‘Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime’
- Chinese Proverb
I walked into the bank looking for a loan, having seen an advertisement boasting 0% interest for students. I was quickly ushered into a room – ‘Someone will be with you in just a moment’. I began to wonder how I was going to convince them to give me a loan to travel and to ignore the fact I had no job to come home too. Before I could even formulise my thoughts, in rushed a young staff member – ‘The full €7500 I presume?’
But not everyone gets it so easy.
Take Ghana for example. In a country where most rural people and small businesses do not have a bank account, nor assets to put up for security, the dream of a loan to grow their business is just that – a dream. If a loan is available, it can demand interest rates of 250% (your 9% doesn’t sound that bad now)
On the 21st of July, I will be flying out to the Cape Coast in Ghana to join a micro-financing project for 4 weeks. The project is divided across two locations. The first is a village that was set up for people who are suffering from leprosy and who remains ostracised in the mistaken belief that it is highly contagious and an ill omen. The project aims to facilitate the camp to become more independently sufficient - providing capital and business education.
The second is a fishing village that suffers from its seasonal nature. The project aims to help women in the community to set up their own fishing related business with a small fund and advice.
Through the project, participants receive a loan with 0% interest and are put through their paces in intensive courses aimed at improving their knowledge in accounting, marketing, supply chain management and many other areas. With my degree in Business and Law, and my breif experience in start-ups, I want to help with this programme, and I need funding to do this.
I have set a target of €5000 – a big ask. Despite the free time of volunteers such as myself, there are still costs associated with running the project: insurance; supplies; transport within Ghana; food; and the seed fund that finances the aid. The minimum requirement is €3,500, but I want to achieve more.
I cannot stress how far your money will go. In the West, we often associate the word ‘entrepreneur’ with hot products, large rounds of funding, and a CEO that is akin to a 1960’s rockstar. These people may not be aspiring to build the next Snapchat, but their ambition to be self-sufficient, maybe to employ an extra staff member or grow to help others earn a living is just as important.
For other information regarding the project, you can check out this link below:
https://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/news/?content=2017/new-funding-opportunities-ghana/
You can either donate through this GoFundMe or through the Facebook fundraiser:
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like more information or for any other reason you can think of.
Thanks in advance,
Stephen
- Chinese Proverb
I walked into the bank looking for a loan, having seen an advertisement boasting 0% interest for students. I was quickly ushered into a room – ‘Someone will be with you in just a moment’. I began to wonder how I was going to convince them to give me a loan to travel and to ignore the fact I had no job to come home too. Before I could even formulise my thoughts, in rushed a young staff member – ‘The full €7500 I presume?’
But not everyone gets it so easy.
Take Ghana for example. In a country where most rural people and small businesses do not have a bank account, nor assets to put up for security, the dream of a loan to grow their business is just that – a dream. If a loan is available, it can demand interest rates of 250% (your 9% doesn’t sound that bad now)
On the 21st of July, I will be flying out to the Cape Coast in Ghana to join a micro-financing project for 4 weeks. The project is divided across two locations. The first is a village that was set up for people who are suffering from leprosy and who remains ostracised in the mistaken belief that it is highly contagious and an ill omen. The project aims to facilitate the camp to become more independently sufficient - providing capital and business education.
The second is a fishing village that suffers from its seasonal nature. The project aims to help women in the community to set up their own fishing related business with a small fund and advice.
Through the project, participants receive a loan with 0% interest and are put through their paces in intensive courses aimed at improving their knowledge in accounting, marketing, supply chain management and many other areas. With my degree in Business and Law, and my breif experience in start-ups, I want to help with this programme, and I need funding to do this.
I have set a target of €5000 – a big ask. Despite the free time of volunteers such as myself, there are still costs associated with running the project: insurance; supplies; transport within Ghana; food; and the seed fund that finances the aid. The minimum requirement is €3,500, but I want to achieve more.
I cannot stress how far your money will go. In the West, we often associate the word ‘entrepreneur’ with hot products, large rounds of funding, and a CEO that is akin to a 1960’s rockstar. These people may not be aspiring to build the next Snapchat, but their ambition to be self-sufficient, maybe to employ an extra staff member or grow to help others earn a living is just as important.
For other information regarding the project, you can check out this link below:
https://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/news/?content=2017/new-funding-opportunities-ghana/
You can either donate through this GoFundMe or through the Facebook fundraiser:
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like more information or for any other reason you can think of.
Thanks in advance,
Stephen