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| Houston Based Hashoo Foundation USA and Owl Microfinance Announce Partnership to Empower Women and Alleviate Poverty |
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| Hashoo Foundation Contact: |
Cristal Montañéz Baylor
Executive Director
Phone: (713) 483-4990
Fax: (713)759-0112
hashoofoundation@aol.com
www.hashoofoundation.org |
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HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 2009 In a unique effort towards women’s empowerment and economic development in impoverished countries, Owl Microfinance (OMF) announced its commitment provide $4,200 in microloans to Hashoo Foundation’s Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project “Plan Bee” – Winner of the World Challenge 08 Award. The announcement was made during the “Pastries Against Poverty” fundraising event held at the Rice University Grand Hall.
The partnership between Owl Microfinance and Hashoo Foundation USA will be based on a resource sharing approach. Owl Microfinance will provide a “revolving fund” for microloans and Hashoo Foundation will implement the proposed project according to Credit and Enterprise Development (CED) criteria, conduct baseline surveys to identify beneficiaries, provide loans based on Group Lending Methodology (GLM) similar to a hybrid of the Grameen Bank and BRAC Models of Bangladesh, and provide in-kind infrastructure and technical support through its regional offices in Gilgit, Chitral, Mansehra and Islamabad.
More than 100 leaders from Houston’s business, non-profit, and academic communities joined Owl Microfinance and the Hashoo Foundation USA for the official launch of their partnership. Guests included the Honorable Mayor Bill White and Andrea White, Shirley Brooks, Regional Director of ACCION Texas, Dr. Saleha B. Khumawala, Professor at UH Bauer College of Business, John Collier, President of Caring Friends, Inc., among others. Serving as keynote speakers, Janie Barrera, Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCION Texas and Cristal Montañéz Baylor, Executive Director of Hashoo Foundation USA addressed microfinance in the US and Pakistan respectively.
“The event marked a milestone for Owl Microfinance, a budding student-run non-profit organization, as it expanded the scope of its commitment to Hashoo Foundation’s Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project - Plan Bee” adds Cristal Montañéz Baylor. “On February 9, 2009, Houston Chronicle journalist Jeannie Kever reported in her article Students learn global lending can bring sweet success that the Owl Microfinance Team ...agreed to raise $270 for the Hashoo Foundation -- enough to buy three beehives ”[1] (to help a woman entrepreneur in the Northern Areas of Pakistan increase her honey production). Today, OMF committed to raise $4,200, which translates into loans for 24 women entrepreneurs. Every $350 loan will provide training, three (3) beehives, and the basic equipment a new beekeeper needs to initiate her own enterprise.”
“Pastries Against Poverty” was Owl Microfinance’s first major fundraising event for this year. Elena White, Vice-President of Owl Microfinance, said, “Everyone at the event seemed to have a genuine interest in microfinance as a way of alleviating poverty. We raised over $2,600 from the silent auction and donations, which means we only have a couple of thousand dollars more to raise before we've met our goal of $10,000 for 2009. Hundreds of people will benefit from the money raised at this event because it will be continuously recycled through loans to deserving individuals worldwide.”
University of St. Thomas Micro-Credit Program (UST MCP) students collaborated with OMF and supported the event. UST MCP is also joining forces with Hashoo Foundation on the development of coordinated social entrepreneurship projects in the region, with the objective of improving honey production and marketing techniques, which translates in better standards of living and long-term business sustainability for the women entrepreneur beneficiaries of their loans.
Montañéz Baylor commended the Owl Microfinance Team’s efforts to give entrepreneurs, especially women, the opportunity to improve their lives. She stressed “that by providing these loans, the students are helping parents provide for their kids, so they not only give them an education, but the tools to survive. This way, they see that making a better world is not just theoretical, it's tangible." (…) "they see the return on their loans.[2] |
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[1] Houston Chronicle Mon 02/09/09 City &State Students learn global lending can bring sweet success by Jeannie Kever http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6253299.html
[2] Houston Chronicle Editorial Thu 02/12/2009 B8Lending a hand / Houston students make microloans, gain a personal stake in global issues. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2009_4700596 |
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| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |
| Hashoo Foundation USA/Owl Microfinance Partnership: |
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| How the Partnership Works and its Benefits - Proposed Credit and Enterprise Development (CED) Project |
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The ultimate goal of this two year partnership is to deploy 24 women beneficiaries and their estimated 192 dependents[3] in honey |
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bee farming. |
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After completing the first cycle of Owl Microfinance loans to 12 women in one year, the outreach will expand to other 12 beneficiaries |
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with the same loan amount of $350 per family returned from the first cycle of beneficiaries. |
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Consequently, the project will provide a long term, sustainable means through a “revolving (microloans) fund” of $4,200 expanding the |
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project with gradual increase. |
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The women will be selected on the basis of baseline surveys undertaken by Hashoo Foundation. |
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The project will help facilitate expansion in terms of scale as well as geographic coverage. |
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The project will mobilize and organize communities into workable cluster based groups, increase the outreach and productivity, provide |
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training in bee farming ensuring quality honey through improved processing facilities and related infrastructure, and facilitate marketing linkages for the sale of honey at higher competitive prices. |
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| More about the “Pastries Against Poverty” Event |
| For the silent auction and dessert buffet, the students secured in-kind donations from successful entrepreneurs in the Houston area, including Polo Becerra of Polo Signature Restaurant and Paola Zampella of La Galleta. Additionally, students displayed silent auction items from micro-entrepreneurs in Mexico and Pakistan with whom they had developed relationships. “Our organization's success is dependent on the enthusiasm of the Houston community, especially those with international ties” said Elena White. Co-President, Josh Ozer, added “We are extremely happy with the turnout of the event. Being part of Owl Microfinance has been a fantastic experience. I am lucky to be surrounded by a dedicated group of students who genuinely care about global issues and would like to make a difference in the world. They put the event together, organized it well, and made my job extremely easy. Without the hard work of these students, the event would never have happened.” |
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Owl Microfinance has recently been chosen as one of twelve commitments honored by President Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference. “We have made eight loans to individuals and small businesses in developing countries through kiva.org and wokai.com and have committed to making at least 50 loans by the end of 2009 as well as teaching business training to members of the Houston community” informs, Elena White, Vice President, Owl Microfinance. Pastries Against Poverty kicked off meaningful relationships not only with the Pakistani and Mexican communities, but also with University of St. Thomas and the Rice community. |
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| Pastries Against Poverty |
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| TV Asia/Lights Camera Action News/Feature by Journalist Ruchi Mukerjee. |
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| 3 Average size according to Census organization of Pakistan exceeds 8 member per family |
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Hashoo Foundation USA is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization chartered in Houston, Texas in 2007 with the mission of alleviating poverty through economic self-sustenance and education. The Women Empowerment through Honey project is one of various strategies that are being developed to fulfill the founding philanthropic principles of the Hashoo Foundation in Pakistan and beyond.
http://hashoofoundation.org
Hashoo Foundation's Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming Project is a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) "Featured Commitment"
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative..org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2759&srcid=2762
Rice University Owl Microfinance is student-run non-profit organization. The goal is to fundamentally improve the lives of entrepreneurs both locally through business training and abroad through microloans. We aim to promote tangible student activism among the Rice student body through both the facilitation of such loans and outreach to the broader community. Additionally, we hope to inspire the broader Houston community to take part in collaborative action towards furthering microfinance.
www.owlmicrofinance..org
The World Challenge 08 is a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. World Challenge 08 is sponsor by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell, and is about championing and rewarding projects and business which really make a difference. Hashoo Foundation's Women Empowerment Honey Bee Farming Project - "Plan Bee" is the Winner of the BBC World Challenge 08.
http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/2008-winner.php |
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