Prometheus Siddique :
Early rays of the sun had started peeking through the roofs of houses in the neighborhood. Rowena was, as usual, the first to walk through the street. The shutters in her stall were up, the fire lit and oven roaring before the first workers arrived. The landscape has changed significantly since she first started business here. From morning till late afternoon Rowena would have had customers gathered around her stall munching on savories and sipping cold drinks. The area was abuzz with construction workers toiling away to complete their chores, but as more houses were built she was finding customers were less frequent. She barely made 10 dollars a day. Her husband also worked in the area and both were struggling to make ends meet; getting a full meal a day for their daughters was becoming a daunting task, and with the soaring prices of commodities things were looking desperate.
This is a story familiar to the local representatives of Grameen Australia, who channel Australian donation into creating sustainable small business to lift people such as Rowena out of abject poverty. One day a friend dropped by and informed Rowena of an institution that was giving out collateral-free loans at affordable rates, and they would enable her to develop her business and adapt to the changing area. Rowena didn’t believe she was in a position to take on the responsibility of a loan, and that there could still be room for potential growth and savings. That all changed when Rowena met with Leo, the local representative in charge. He boosted her self-confidence and offered her support as a guide and business mentor. Rowena finished a business training module facilitated by the institution and she was given her first ‘micro-loan.’ There was no looking back. Rowena was able to identify the right location and scale to operate successfully and has had the funds made available to support the development and growth of her small business. Today her daily income stands at approximately 38 dollars. This is the story of Rowena Rocaberte from Silanganan, Metro Manila, Philippines and the social business hub Grameen Australia Philippines.
Grameen Australia Philippines Social Business Hub is one of the wholly owned subsidiaries of Grameen Australia, an Australian not for profit and charity founded in 1998 that applies the Grameen Social Business and Microfinance models to alleviate abject poverty. Grameen Australia is inspired by the work of microfinance pioneer Professor Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. At the heart of Grameen Australia’s work lies the principle of sustainability. It uses a ‘non-loss, non-dividend’ business model that targets socio-economic problems. At present its footprint spans the South East Asian countries of Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Philippines. The organization strives to give the philanthropic and corporate community in Australia an alternative to the typical charity practice in overseas aid and support commitments.
Grameen Australia believes that a charity dollar has one life but a dollar invested in a social business to help disadvantaged communities has many lives, as its gets recycled and used over and over.
Grameen Australia is developing social businesses for sustainable, long-term poverty eradication as an innovative addition to traditional approaches government and not-for-profit organizations take in tackling social problems. Particular focus is on training and mentoring individuals to realize the full potential of the poor to be financially independent and provide services (e.g. assistance with market linkage) to connect to sustainable markets for their products. Grameen Australia aims to play a key role in fulfilling Professor Muhammad Yunus’s dream of ‘creating a world without poverty’ (also title of a New York Times bestselling book authored by the Nobel Laureate).
Speaking to the Country Manager of the Manila operations, he explained that many of Grameen Australia’s beneficiaries are amazed how their stories are carried all the way across the Pacific to people who barely know them or can relate to them. Yet these compassionate people committed to making a difference, donate their money to empower them to lift themselves out of poverty. Through this process, the entrepreneurial capacity of these groups is recognized and supported through financial inclusion and social protection to create a solution to poverty that is long lasting and sustainable. A briefing paper depicts that to date; in Philippines alone the organization has provided 26,600 loans to 8,000 entrepreneurs impacting 40,000 lives through past projects and pilots.
Operations in Metro Manila commenced last year. According to field staff in under a year, 446 loans amounting to 68,000 dollars (sizes ranging between 110 dollars and 6,500 dollars) have been given out, and quite extraordinarily to date a hundred percent repayment rate has been maintained.
Training has been extended to 854 entrepreneurs. The Board members of Grameen Australia, who come from illustrious business and professional backgrounds, believe technology will play a key factor in the success of its initiatives. Borrowers in Manila are mostly women who have previously not had any access to financial services. Bankcards and mobile banking facilities have been given to the beneficiaries and Grameen aims to make the collection process cashless in future. The mobile banking facility also allows all members to make money transfers, bill payments and other services from accessible outlets. Grameen Australia uses cloud and mobile technology to ensure data transparency, paperless transactions, and controls.
Grameen Australia promotes businesses that provide import-export replacement, bringing new income into communities. They believe in increasing community involvement, fostering local ownership, and promoting environmental awareness. Leveraging these strengths, Grameen Australia plans to reach out to at least 5000 people by 2017 in Manila. And impressive task for a small dedicated team based over 6000 kilometers away.
Grameen Australia’s scope and ambition goes beyond the micro lending model, as they have also commenced businesses in the areas of rag making, shirt making and soap production in Manila. These new business are employing a large number of people, with the profits made being recycled back into the businesses to scale upthe operations. All donors of Grameen Australia have the provision to take back their initial investment but thus far all have committed otherwise. In addition to the individual and private philanthropists, support has also been mobilized from leading Australia companies such as QBE, Cardno, Oceana Gold, and NRMA to name a few. And their work is not only based abroad, in addition to fund raising, Grameen Australia also promotes social business among youth in Australia. University of New South Wales (UNSW) has so far sent close to 20 interns to Manila to support these budding entrepreneurs, to assist them in business planning and marketing initiatives.
Grameen Australia has also set up and facilitated social businesses in Cambodia and Bangladesh in the areas of Livestock and Automechanic training to address poverty issues. The organization also recognizes the growing socio-economic challenges in Australia and aims to start on-shore projects in the near future. Grameen Australia’s reach and impact continues to grow internationally.
Chairman of Grameen Australia, Peter Hunt AM believes that Australians are gifted with a vast land and abundant resources and it’s a matter of human responsibility to reach out to those in other parts of the world who need our help. In doing so, sustainability must be at the forefront of an approach that recognizes the true potential of human beings.
Early rays of the sun had started peeking through the roofs of houses in the neighborhood. Rowena was, as usual, the first to walk through the street. The shutters in her stall were up, the fire lit and oven roaring before the first workers arrived. The landscape has changed significantly since she first started business here. From morning till late afternoon Rowena would have had customers gathered around her stall munching on savories and sipping cold drinks. The area was abuzz with construction workers toiling away to complete their chores, but as more houses were built she was finding customers were less frequent. She barely made 10 dollars a day. Her husband also worked in the area and both were struggling to make ends meet; getting a full meal a day for their daughters was becoming a daunting task, and with the soaring prices of commodities things were looking desperate.
This is a story familiar to the local representatives of Grameen Australia, who channel Australian donation into creating sustainable small business to lift people such as Rowena out of abject poverty. One day a friend dropped by and informed Rowena of an institution that was giving out collateral-free loans at affordable rates, and they would enable her to develop her business and adapt to the changing area. Rowena didn’t believe she was in a position to take on the responsibility of a loan, and that there could still be room for potential growth and savings. That all changed when Rowena met with Leo, the local representative in charge. He boosted her self-confidence and offered her support as a guide and business mentor. Rowena finished a business training module facilitated by the institution and she was given her first ‘micro-loan.’ There was no looking back. Rowena was able to identify the right location and scale to operate successfully and has had the funds made available to support the development and growth of her small business. Today her daily income stands at approximately 38 dollars. This is the story of Rowena Rocaberte from Silanganan, Metro Manila, Philippines and the social business hub Grameen Australia Philippines.
Grameen Australia Philippines Social Business Hub is one of the wholly owned subsidiaries of Grameen Australia, an Australian not for profit and charity founded in 1998 that applies the Grameen Social Business and Microfinance models to alleviate abject poverty. Grameen Australia is inspired by the work of microfinance pioneer Professor Muhammad Yunus who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. At the heart of Grameen Australia’s work lies the principle of sustainability. It uses a ‘non-loss, non-dividend’ business model that targets socio-economic problems. At present its footprint spans the South East Asian countries of Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Philippines. The organization strives to give the philanthropic and corporate community in Australia an alternative to the typical charity practice in overseas aid and support commitments.
Grameen Australia believes that a charity dollar has one life but a dollar invested in a social business to help disadvantaged communities has many lives, as its gets recycled and used over and over.
Grameen Australia is developing social businesses for sustainable, long-term poverty eradication as an innovative addition to traditional approaches government and not-for-profit organizations take in tackling social problems. Particular focus is on training and mentoring individuals to realize the full potential of the poor to be financially independent and provide services (e.g. assistance with market linkage) to connect to sustainable markets for their products. Grameen Australia aims to play a key role in fulfilling Professor Muhammad Yunus’s dream of ‘creating a world without poverty’ (also title of a New York Times bestselling book authored by the Nobel Laureate).
Speaking to the Country Manager of the Manila operations, he explained that many of Grameen Australia’s beneficiaries are amazed how their stories are carried all the way across the Pacific to people who barely know them or can relate to them. Yet these compassionate people committed to making a difference, donate their money to empower them to lift themselves out of poverty. Through this process, the entrepreneurial capacity of these groups is recognized and supported through financial inclusion and social protection to create a solution to poverty that is long lasting and sustainable. A briefing paper depicts that to date; in Philippines alone the organization has provided 26,600 loans to 8,000 entrepreneurs impacting 40,000 lives through past projects and pilots.
Operations in Metro Manila commenced last year. According to field staff in under a year, 446 loans amounting to 68,000 dollars (sizes ranging between 110 dollars and 6,500 dollars) have been given out, and quite extraordinarily to date a hundred percent repayment rate has been maintained.
Training has been extended to 854 entrepreneurs. The Board members of Grameen Australia, who come from illustrious business and professional backgrounds, believe technology will play a key factor in the success of its initiatives. Borrowers in Manila are mostly women who have previously not had any access to financial services. Bankcards and mobile banking facilities have been given to the beneficiaries and Grameen aims to make the collection process cashless in future. The mobile banking facility also allows all members to make money transfers, bill payments and other services from accessible outlets. Grameen Australia uses cloud and mobile technology to ensure data transparency, paperless transactions, and controls.
Grameen Australia promotes businesses that provide import-export replacement, bringing new income into communities. They believe in increasing community involvement, fostering local ownership, and promoting environmental awareness. Leveraging these strengths, Grameen Australia plans to reach out to at least 5000 people by 2017 in Manila. And impressive task for a small dedicated team based over 6000 kilometers away.
Grameen Australia’s scope and ambition goes beyond the micro lending model, as they have also commenced businesses in the areas of rag making, shirt making and soap production in Manila. These new business are employing a large number of people, with the profits made being recycled back into the businesses to scale upthe operations. All donors of Grameen Australia have the provision to take back their initial investment but thus far all have committed otherwise. In addition to the individual and private philanthropists, support has also been mobilized from leading Australia companies such as QBE, Cardno, Oceana Gold, and NRMA to name a few. And their work is not only based abroad, in addition to fund raising, Grameen Australia also promotes social business among youth in Australia. University of New South Wales (UNSW) has so far sent close to 20 interns to Manila to support these budding entrepreneurs, to assist them in business planning and marketing initiatives.
Grameen Australia has also set up and facilitated social businesses in Cambodia and Bangladesh in the areas of Livestock and Automechanic training to address poverty issues. The organization also recognizes the growing socio-economic challenges in Australia and aims to start on-shore projects in the near future. Grameen Australia’s reach and impact continues to grow internationally.
Chairman of Grameen Australia, Peter Hunt AM believes that Australians are gifted with a vast land and abundant resources and it’s a matter of human responsibility to reach out to those in other parts of the world who need our help. In doing so, sustainability must be at the forefront of an approach that recognizes the true potential of human beings.
