May 14

Published on Amazon: Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda and Zambia Experiology

Big News!

Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda and Zambia Experiology is ready for sale!  Get your copy today & Support FINCA…

Have you ever wanted to travel and meet FINCA clients?  Well now you can journey with us as we recount our 2011 visit with FINCA’s clients in Uganda and Zambia.  Experience their fantastic success stories and read how FINCA’s small loans have made such a big difference in their lives.

Our book, an Experiology, is a mixture of poems, photos and prose that takes you on our adventure to Africa. Meet with FINCA’s micro finance clients, see their businesses and hear their stories.

100% of the profits from the sale of Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda and Zambia Experiology will be donated back to FINCA to continue the Big Changes From Small Loans work that FINCA does.

Here is the link to Amazon to purchase your copy of Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda & Zambia Experiology and support FINCA:

Want see a book trailer? Click on this picture below.

 

Love FINCA and want to lend your support? Please consider a donation at our FINCA team page: Our Team Page

Follow us on Facebook and keep up with FINCA’s micorfinance work: Our Facebook Page

May 05

Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda & Zambia Experiology

We are getting closer and closer everyday to publishing Global Voices: A FINCA Uganda & Zambia Experiology as an e-book is going through another lap editing.

We know you are all excited to buy the ebook so we made a book trailer to keep you entertained while you wait.

Thank you for your support,

Apr 28

A Fundraiser For FINCA

Hello Everyone;

We are launching our fundraising campaign for FINCA this year with an open house featuring James Semakadde from Uganda.

We met James in 2008 and were immediately in love with his demeanor and his passion for FINCA.

Like us, James is very much about empowering other people. In his home in Uganda he serves on boards for a few schools, supports many business, and with his wife has created a culinary school near Entebbe. James is constantly looking for ways to empower his fellow Ugandans and his country in general. His passion and fire for life is infectious.

As our friendship has grown James asked us to come to Uganda to see the culinary school, to meet the students, and to offer some advice (as Kristin has a culinary degree). We had a great time as you can read in some of our earlier posts. (We have even written an ebook, that we will also be launching very soon, about some of the FINCA clients we meet in Uganda while we were there.)

Now James is coming to KC to help us raise money and awareness for FINCA. We could not be more excited.

We know that those of you in the KC area will love to meet him too.

Please follow this link  to find out more about our open house or to donate to FINCA through our event.

Thank you,

Apr 23

Interview: Bob Hatch on FINCA

Hello Everyone;

Kristin’s dad, Bob Hatch, was asked to give a presentation about FINCA  and micro finance by his alma mater, Tuck School of Business.

Though wanted to share with you the interview that Tuck conducted. Enjoy:

Thank you for supporting FINCA’s mission of empowerment,

Mar 28

Trust

FINCA Zambia group “Trust” singing their appreciation to FINCA

Mar 27

Finca Uganda – Jinja

Hello Everyone;

While Kristin and I were in Uganda James arranged for us to go see the bank and meet a client in Jinja where FINCA Uganda originated seventeen years ago.

Before I introduce the amazing client we met, I wanted to explain the FINCA Uganda banks for a moment. The FINCA Uganda banks were the first we have seen to operate as regular banks as well as loan establishments. This allows FINCA Uganda to offer a place were even non-FINCA clients can use the bank to cash checks and send money to family members. The best advantage of this in my mind is that FINCA has more exposure as a financial institution in Uganda; thus allowing the loan client base to grow and the poverty level to shrink.

Way to go FINCA Uganda!!!

After we visited Jinja’s bank we went seeking clients. We drove out to meet one of the first FINCA Uganda clients.

When she started with FINCA she was struggling to put food on the table and feed her children. Her first loans from FINCA allowed her to develop an animal husbandry business. Today she still continues the animal husbandry business but she spends most of her time with her lucrative salt fish export business. She buys the fish from the fisherman, salt-drys the fish, and then crates and exports the fish into the DRC.

Because of her determination and FINCA she has been able to send her children to school, exponentially improve her and her family’s quality of life, and employ around twenty people.

Take that poverty!!!

Mar 27

FINCA Uganda

Hello Everyone;

There is so much to tell and talk about since FINCA’s 25 Anniversary Gala.

Kristin and I had the wonderful pleasure of going to Uganda, in January, to visit one of the FINCA Board of Directors – James Semakadde. James, in addition to devoting his time and energies to FINCA, is dedicated to empowering Uganda’s youth and enterprise. One way James is making a difference in Uganda is through a culinary and tourism school Entebbe School of Culinary Arts and Tourism (ESCAT) that he and his wife started. As Kristin has a culinary degree and we have both worked in food service James asked us to come with some fresh ideas for the school.

While we were there James took us to Kampala to visit some of the FINCA banks and clients. Kristin and I both jumped at the opportunity to see the banks and meet some of the FINCA Uganda clients.

We met a FINCA client that sold used clothing that she bought in bundles and sold in one of the larger market centers in Kampala. She had been with FINCA for years and due to her FINCA loans she was able to buy a house, send her children to school, and hire an employee.

We also met a new FINCA client that had was only two months into his loan. He sold bulk and bagged grains such as millet and cassava.

Both of these clients used their FINCA loans to buy more product so that they could sell more and make a better living and improve their quality of life.

It was truly great to walk inside James’s favorite childhood market and meet people that were able to take action and change their quality of life because of FINCA.

Nov 20

FINCA 25 Ann. Gala~ New York City!

On Thursday, November 18, 2010 FINCA celebrated its 25 year of changing lives around the world with a wonderful GALA event in New York City!

The event was held in a beautiful venue, The Capitale

This was just a wonderful place to hold such an event. The building had a lot of charm and fun details and had plenty of space to accommodate such a large group. In the entrance area, there were large touch screens that held client stories by region. So you could walk up to the Middle East screen and click and drag boxes around to learn more about the FINCA clients in the area.

Beyond the grand entrance area, there was a huge dining room with a stage on one end. (I really liked the giant screen with the FINCA logo for a back drop!)

FINCA Gala Music

Great Music From Around The World

We listened to a variety of wonderful music from around the world.

We heard from an enthusiastic group of FINCA supporters that included Hillary Clinton, Natalie Portman and Soladad Hurst as well as FINCA founders Rupert Scofield and John Hatch. There were even two FINCA clients who spoke about their FINCA businesses and how FINCA loans had really changed their lives!

FINCA client from Haiti

FINCA client from Haiti

The whole evening was just magical! Having so many people in the room who were FINCA supporters…. it was incredible!

Natalie Portman, FINCA Ambassador of Hope

Natalie Portman, FINCA Ambassador of Hope

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that supports FINCA! Without everyone working together, FINCA would not be celebrating this wonderful 25 years of making changes around the world.

So again… THANKS!

Oct 26

Why Support FINCA? WHY NOT!

When I tell folks that I am raising money for FINCA, sometimes I get some blank looks and some odd -to -me questions like “why give money somewhere else, when folks here need it too”.

While I don’t deny that there are many people in the United States that could use a hand, I also know that in many cases, the “poor” here have a lot more going on for them that many in the developing world.

Let’s compare education-

In the US you can send your children to school for free… and they can even eat 2 meals during school. If you don’t have the money for supplies or uniforms there are a number of different organizations that can help you out.

In the developing world, you have to pay the school fees for each of your children yourself. You also must buy the books, paper and pencils and uniforms that the school requires.  Sadly you must also calculate if you can afford to let your child go to school, instead of work to earn money to support the family.  To me, this must be one of the hardest decisions a parent has to make.

So the bottom line in a developing country is….. fewer students getting an education in the schools and instead must go to work early.  Without an education, they cannot get a better job and the cycle of poverty continues…..

I know that parents in developing countries truly want their children  to attend school and get an education. That is one of the first things that families do with the extra $$ that comes in from the expansion or creation of their business.

So the next time someone asks why….. you can clearly say WHY NOT!

I am so happy and grateful for all the support I have received while raising 1 Million 4 FINCA! Can you join us today?? THANK YOU!!

http://budurl.com/1M4FINCA

Oct 21

FINCA Guatemala- Making A Difference

Here is another great story from the FINCA website about how one woman (with 8 children) have changed their lives as a result of their FINCA loan and a lot of hard work. Here is the story from the FINCA.org website:

FINCA GUATEMALA

Doña Blanca, who lives in Barcenas, started a small bakery in hopes that she and her husband would be able to send their eight children to school and improve their diet.

Though her delicious bread became very popular, Doña Blanca lacked the working capital to expand the bakery and improve her family’s income level.

In 1999, Doña Blanca took out her first FINCA loan-Quetzales 800 (US$99)-and it changed her life. During five years, she has used 13 loans to expand her business, purchasing molds, trays, a kneading machine and raw materials. Her bakery now has four outlets and employs nine bakers. With her most recent loan, she bought another kneading machine and hopes to open a second bakery.

Her success has greatly benefited her family and friends. Her supplier’s wholesale business has grown and now provides raw materials for other bakeries in the area. Doña Blanca now earns enough to send her younger children to school while her older children work in the family business.

When you read how this whole families life has changed it makes you happy you are a part of FINCA, right? I also loved how other people around the town benefited from the expansion of this ONE business…. I wonder about the  other members of her FINCA Village Bank – what changes are going on as a result of those business expansions??

THANKS for your support!

Please Consider Donating to FINCA today at:

http://budurl.com/1M4FINCA

You CAN be the change you want to see in the WORLD with FINCA!

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