Dispatch from the Field

"Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost" Welcome! Dispatch from the Field is a direct look into the work of the Whole Planet Foundation Field Team. We travel around the world supporting solutions to poverty. Here we will share our experiences from both a personal and professional perspective. If you love to travel, believe in a better world, and think it is all possible; you have come to the right place. Whole Planet Foundation was born out of Whole Foods Market's Core Value - "Caring about our Communities and Environment". Our mission is to alleviate poverty in Whole Foods Market communities around the world through entrepreneurship and the support of microcredit.

[dispatchfromthefield]

In Egypt learning about the impact of leveraging businesses linked together in a supply chain through Global Widow Fund and Future Eve Foundation’s work empowering households run by widows by increasing incomes through coordinated duck supply chains. Sa’adya in these photos takes an enterprise loan from Future Eve Foundation to make food for ducks and raise chicks to be sold onwards to other borrowers selling ducks in wholesale, selling eggs or running a duck butchery. This helps build lucrative local markets for all involved! Similar coordination can be done for those interested in raising and selling chickens. Brian

[ckelly88]

Infographic: Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018 - Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle

World Bank poverty status infographic & new poverty lines.  

[dispatchfromthefield]

Riding the new high speed train in Morocco to Tangier! Though getting to the rural communities still difficult as it took over an hour on dirt roads to reach just one client served by ATIL microfinance. Brian

[dispatchfromthefield]

After about an hour and a half driving on a precarious mountain road in northern Morocco I met ATIL microfinance borrower Hassan who is using an enterprise loan of about $300 to invest in his farm activities including growing wheat, growing pasture for animals, harvesting figs and other fruits. On the side he also makes shoes for mules and horses.

He showed us his traditional wheat mill to make flour and was kind enough to offer us a Moroccan tea with some traditionally harvested honey and homemade butter from his farm to have with bread (also homemade!). Brian

[dispatchfromthefield]

Visiting rural farm clients outside Oued Laou, Morocco such as Mohammed here taking enterprise loans through a group solidarity loan model managed by our local partner ATIL microfinance. Mohammed is raising goats and growing cabbage for market with a loan of about $300 repayable over 9 months. He didn’t have external guarantees for his loan so he partnered with another farmer he knows and trusts to co-guarantee each other! Brian

[ckelly88]

Cecilia del Castillo, Corazon Henares and Suzzette Gaston: A Team of Microfinance Revolutionaries in the Philippines - Women's World Banking

Compassion for the vulnerable and marginalized people of the Philippines brought three women together many decades ago, determined to find innovative solutions for the impoverished. Known as the “pillars” of Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. (NWTF), Cecilia del Castillo, Corazon Henares and Suzzette Gaston knew early on that the power to effect change in the community lay in the hearts and hands of Filipino women.

NWTF Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Cecilia del Castillo, has recently passed away.  This link is to an inspirational feature about the origins of a Grameen replication program and how the services were expanded and deepened to meet the needs of women in the Philippines under her leadership.  

[ckelly88]

Did Demonetisation Accelerate Financial Inclusion?

The claim that removing cash would improve financial access for the poor has become a fallback argument for demonetisation, despite notebandi failing to achieve its other objectives. Like many other arguments made for abolishing cash in favour of digital payments, this claim does not stand up to scrutiny.

Interesting article about the demonetization approach in India and its effects on digitization and financial inclusion for the poor.  Overall the authors find that while “account ownership rose rapidly between 2014 and 2017, the more meaningful metrics of account usage, saving behaviour, and non-cash payments suggest that financial inclusion decelerated in the 2014–17 period.”

In general, people in India still report major barriers to access finance such as, “having insufficient funds for an account (54%), services being too expensive (27%), living too remotely (23%) and lacking the necessary documentation (23%). Twenty percent reported having insufficient trust in financial institutions. However, one voluntary reason was also offered: “someone in the family has an account” (52%).”

However, is it fair to reach the conclusion that because demonetization was not effective towards the government’s goal of advancing financial inclusion, finding ways to meaningfully advance financial inclusion itself is not worth prioritizing?  

[ckelly88]

WPF’s partner, Mekong Plus administers their lending program through Anh Duong NGO in the Hậu Giang Province of Southern Vietnam. Located in the Mekong Delta, travelling around this area requires constantly crossing short bridges across the network of rivers. In fact, building such bridges together with community involvement was how Anh Duong first started working with the community. This week we took a bicycle/moto ferry across one river - didn’t even have to get off the bike!

[ckelly88]

Agriculture training and Loan disbursement at Mekong Plus’ Anh Duong organisation. The days topic was preventing and treating livestock diseases, with a special emphasis on ducks which are commonly raised in the area. In addition to interest-free Loans, Borrowers in the very poor program receive feee vaccinations from Anh Duong for up to 4 pigs and 200 chickens or ducks.

[dispatchfromthefield]

With operations manager Abdou (for Reliance Financial Services) in The Gambia on the way to meet a group of borrowers on the other side of the river (Gambia is divided by The Gambia River)- our vehicle had to cross on a car ferry we had to pull ourselves using a steel cable attached to the boat and both shores. The three of us (with the driver) managed to pull ourselves across. The alternative for those without cars were small row boats. Brian

[dispatchfromthefield]

While visiting our Gambian partner’s branch in Wassu I had the chance for a quick visit to the Wassu Stone Circles which are believed to be funerary sites from around the 3rd century BC and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Beautiful megaliths arranges in circles a bit further than halfway up river in The Gambia. Brian

[dispatchfromthefield]

Visiting Women Finance savings and loan groups in The Gambia with our partner Reliance Financial Services which launched this rural microloan and saving promotion programme in 2015. Each group has a maximum of 75 entrepreneurs who receive small business loans (on average about $125) and access to a group savings account they can use to save business profits for future personal or business needs. The groups meet monthly headed by their elected management committee and a Reliance Credit Officer. Brian

[dispatchfromthefield]

Beautiful Bangladesh 

[jpkloninger-blog]

@parkdalecentre for Innovation, “An Inclusive Centre in Parkdale, Toronto to model accessible, local, innovation-economies.” Energetic and inspiring Founder and Executive Director Rusul Alrubail has just opened this strategically located community-building facility for workshops, co-working, art, music (including an old bank safe converted into a recording studio!), and much more. Over 37% of residents live below the poverty line in this southwestern area of Toronto. To address unfortunate realities such as this one, in January Rusul and team are launching a “Women in Leadership” program joining forces with Whole Planet Foundation’s microfinance partner Alterna Savings*, which offers products such as the Income Builder Loan providing low-interest, simple-access microloans to women members of the Centre.

Congratulations and best wishes to the Parkdale Centre, to Alterna Savings microfinance team, and to the Greater Toronto Area community at large!

#parkdalecentre #alternasavings #wholeplanetfoundation

* www.alterna.ca/AboutUs/Community/EconomicDevelopment/MicroFinanceProgram/ (at Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpsaRglngHW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j5i2e257hglt

[jpkloninger-blog]

‘twas a great day of witnessing microfinance in action in Toronto, Canada. The diversity and creativity of the businesses of the entrepreneurs I met is fascinating and inspiring, and the value of microloans to help build and sustain their businesses was certainly underscored today. Leah was able to acquire a tablet device to accelerate her independent business of image consulting for men (www.transformyourself.ca), and Tammy will be applying for an Alterna Savings microloan to jumpstart her theme-party planning startup. Those are just two examples of what the entrepreneurial spirit of the underbanked can do with just a small bit of credit.

At Toronto Employment and Social Services in the Scarborough area of the city, these creative, enterprising folks are learning about microfinance and how it can help them in their busineses of fashion design, health and beauty wellness center, electronics repair, “mentortainment” for girls’ self-expression through art, etc. etc. etc.! #alternasavings #microfinance #wholeplanetfoundation (at Greater Toronto Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bppoq0WnZDX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=dy3i0dct42u

[zsowpf]

Postcards from two weeks in Madagascar

[ckelly88]

Saturday morning breakfast in Sri Lanka ☕️ (at Colombo, Sri Lanka) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpJAcOwHjwqlKkg7v3JxXPPw3YSWxTt4z0FVbw0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=84knt8jblazh