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Cashpor Micro Credit Reaches Record 100,000
Clients in One of India's Most Challenging Regions 
The poor in one of India's most challenging regions have
renewed hope for escaping poverty. GFUSA partner Cashpor Micro
Credit, which operates in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar, has crossed the historic 100,000 client mark. While
it is still small in comparison to microfinance institutions
(MFIs) in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Cashpor's feat is
significant as it is the only microfinance institution operating
in that region.
Undeterred by a lack of infrastructure and difficult working
conditions, Cashpor chose to operate in eastern Uttar Pradesh
and western Bihar because of the extremely high poverty rates in
that area. In 2003, it pioneered a new partnership model with
ICICI Bank, India's largest bank. This model, which allows MFIs
to expand more rapidly with more funds for microloans, has now
been widely adopted by banks and MFIs in India.
GFUSA has supported Cashpor's growth since 2000, and last
November the MFI became the first GFUSA partner to receive an
equity investment from the organization. Leading Silicon Valley
venture capitalist Vinod Khosla joined with GFUSA to invest half
a million dollars ($250,000 each) that will provide much-needed
working capital and help Cashpor leverage additional commercial
financing. The investment, together with a recent multi-year
working capital guarantee from GFUSA to provide funds for
microloans, will facilitate Cashpor's continued expansion. This
and other guarantees in the works support its goal of reaching
500,000 poor households by 2010.
Marie-Claire Ayurwanda:
Overcoming
HIV and Building Her Community
One of
GFUSA's first Village Phone Operators in Rwanda rises above the
odds
Contributed by Tamara Plush
Building on the momentum of GFUSA's Village
Phone program in Uganda with over 2,000 microfinance clients
operating village phone businesses, the Grameen Technology
Center initiated a Village Phone Rwanda pilot project with 50
phones; all indications from the pilot point toward long-term
success in Rwanda. 
Village Phone Operator Marie-Claire Ayurwanda stands on the
rock foundation of the house she is building in Setwara, Rwanda,
and looks at the progress. "I want to finish building this house
for my children before I die," she says with resolve. As a woman
living with HIV/AIDS, the weight of her words is heavy with a
history of struggle and challenge. Yet when she talks about her
present and future, her smile is light and her laughter comes
easily.
The years have not been easy. She had a son 17 years ago and
then took in her brother's two children when he was killed in
the 1994 genocide. Her husband died in 2003 of an unknown cause.
She then remarried and had a daughter. After learning that her
new husband drank took too much, she left him. Then, she
discovered she had, as she calls it, "the Virus."
After her husband died, Marie-Claire decided to start a
business and took a 20,000 franc ($40) loan from Village Phone
microfinance partner URWEGO to open the Isimbi Restaurant. The
profits from the restaurant help support the four children in
her household and pay school fees.
Set against the backdrop of the rolling Rwandan hillside,
Marie-Claire serves goat brochettes (skewers) and Irish
potatoes. Her laughter bounces off the bright blue walls of the
restaurant as she talks with her customers and employees. And if
a customer wants to make a phone call, she proudly takes them to
a separate, private room where she has set up her Village
Phone.
Continue
reading Marie-Claire's story >
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New on gfusa.org and the
Web 
GFUSA has recently developed a lens dedicated to
microfinance. Hosted by startup Squidoo.com, the new online
"lens" medium is a window on a certain subject. On gfusa.org,
the Post-Tsunami
Microfinance Initiative page has been updated with our
latest progress and a client story to commemorate the December
26 anniversary of the South Asian tsunami. Meanwhile, GFUSA's
video, Breaking
Through, is now available in Arabic to introduce GFUSA
to the Middle East, where we are achieving substantial program
growth. Finally, GFUSA's new brochure is now available as yet
another way to spread
the word. |
GFUSA Publishes First-Ever Review of the
Impact of Microfinance
Over the past decade, there has been much debate among
researchers about the best way to measure the impact of
microfinance, with two clear camps emerging: those who favor
quantitative techniques, and those who champion "social
performance management." To provide a look at some of the
alternatives, Grameen Foundation USA recently published the
first comprehensive literature review of existing research on
the impact of microfinance around the globe.
Written by Nathanael Goldberg, Measuring the Impact of
Microfinance: Taking Stock of What We Know provides an
interesting guide on the effectiveness of microfinance programs
and the divergence in opinion among experts. It examines roughly
100 impact evaluations released since 1986, including
Reaching the Poor with Effective Microcredit, Mahabub
Hossain and Catalina P. Diaz's report on Grameen-style
microfinance in the Philippines, and Microfinance and
Poverty, a new study published in 2005 by Shahidur
Khandker.
The full
report, complete with links to the original studies, is
available online. We have been encouraged by the hundreds of
people who have downloaded the paper so far, and look forward to
your input.
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