Gratitude

I have especially enjoyed working with young girls in the slums of Delhi. They are living well below the poverty line but still have smiles on their faces. They are easily excited by pictures of Bollywood stars and will giggle uncontrollably for the simplest of reasons. In India it becomes painfully apparent that we do not chose to whom or where we are born. These girls have so much potential, but are limited by their circumstances.

I loved learning about the power and opportunity that microfinance creates for the working poor. Upon my return to San Francisco, I will continue volunteering my time with an MFI. 

I have visited India so many times, but I feel like this was my first immersion into the soul of India. I am grateful for the experience, touched by the people, and leave with fond memories. 

Jasmine Espresso Presents to SVCL

Today Jasmine Espresso (my consulting team) presented our recommendations to SVCL. Here is a link to our presentation with our analysis and recommendations.  

Chris and Sudhakar were incredible team mates. We enjoyed working together learning the in's and out's of Microfinance in India. Now that we have completed this project, Team Jasmine Espresso is working with Bankers Without Borders to identify an organization where we can add value through a board member position. 

Chak de India!

I had an incredible weekend in Amritsar starting with a visit to the Harmandir Sahib or commonly called the Golden Temple. There are four entrances to the Golden Temple, symbolizing the openness of the Sikh religion and welcoming people of all backgrounds. 

After receiving blessings at the Golden Temple, we made our way to the Wagah Border. The India/Pakistan border is one of the most contentious borders on earth and is lit so brightly it can be seen from space. Every evening there is a changing of the guards ceremony on both the Pakistan and India sides with thousands of people cheering and a huge display of nationalism. The energy from the crowd and the guards was contagious making for an extremely memorable experience. 

MAD: Make A Difference

Twice a week, I have been volunteering at Arya Anathalya, an orphanage in Darya Gang, Old Delhi. An organization called MAD (Make a Difference) has a Library Project at the orphanage where volunteers work with kids on English reading and comprehension. The Library Project is run completely by an impressive group of dedicated college age volunteers. These volunteers are engaging and really inspire the kids. 

Every session starts with a presentation showcasing someone who has over come adversity (ie. Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank) encouraging the kids to dream big. We then form smaller groups where volunteers help the kids read and understand story books. The kids are engaged and excited for their turn to read. I am impressed with the kids level of English and their curiosity. Initially, I definitely did not give them enough credit. They ask great questions and are eager to learn. The level of respect the kids give the teachers is really touching. I will miss being called Sonia Ma'am!

Mobile Banking - Keep it simple

The population of India is 1.2BN with 800MM people living under the poverty line. Poverty has not stopped a staggering 80% of India's population from owning a cell phone. As of July 2012, there are 929MM active mobile phone subscribers. Most subscribers use a post pay model, where users visit corner markets to 'top-up' cell phones on a regular basis. 

Eko is a company that leverages existing retail shops, mobile connectivity, and banking infrastructure to extend financial services to the poor. Customers can go to an Eko certified retailer to open savings accounts, make deposits/withdrawals, send money to any part of India, and receive money from any part of the world. All transactions are made through mobile phones via text messaging and USSD technology, which enables basic feature phones to make a transaction.

The business model is simple:  The mobile connectivity partner charges the end user a fee of roughly 2% per transaction. The connectivity partner provides Eko with a revenue share percentage of ~0.7% which is used to cover costs including payment to the retailer. 

To date, Eko has processed $30MM in transactions with just 1600 locations. Most transactions are sub INR 10,000. Eko has aggressive goals for 2013 to increase the number of retail outlets - a huge win for individuals who otherwise wouldn't have access to financial services. 

Hindi Lessons

Seemapuri is a slum in Delhi where we are volunteering with Pardarshita, an NGO focusing on empowering the poor. As part of their mission, Pardarshita has weekly sessions for volunteers to teach slum kids. During my trip to Seemapuri, we did a tour of the slum, which was eye opening. These people are not only poor, but living in terrible living conditions that are crowded with sewage, garbage, and other filth everywhere. It was also loud, with bells ringing, kids playing, machinery being run, and god knows what else going on. Despite the horrible living conditions, the children still seem to be happy and made us feel very welcome. They seemed proud to give us a tour of their home. 

 After the tour, I lead a group of 4 girls in a basic computer literacy session. It felt odd to be focusing on computer literacy when kids living in the slum lack things that I take for granted like sewage and clean water. The girls in my group spoke zero English which gave me a great opportunity to practice my Hindi. I had them create a presentation with an introduction of themselves including their favorite color, what they want to be when they grow up, and of course their favorite Bollywood stars. The girls presented in front of the larger Pardarshita program participants. I think more than computer literacy, these girls gain a huge amount of confidence from the weekly volunteer sessions. 

The Village People

Today we visited Harpur, a village in Uttar Pradesh that is 60 km outside of Delhi. We witnessed the disbursement of funds to two women's groups funded by SVCL in addition to seeing the application process. It was so nice to meet enterprising women including Sheela Devi who is taking a loan to buy sewing machines to make and sell clothes, Virwati will be starting a corner store, and Babita is buying a rickshaw for her husband to drive. The women were shy at first, but quickly opened up and shared their hopes for the future.  

The women were incredibly warm, and one invited us into her home. Kavita had 3 buffaloes outside, 150 square feet of living space with clay floors and 50 square feet dedicated to the Mandir. She lives here with her 3 children. 

My favorite part of the village visit was definitely the children. They ran around after us all day playing, singing songs and laughing hysterically for no reason at all. It was especially touching when one of the girls asked me to promise to come back!