Village Phone Rwanda's "Tel'imbere" Launches to the Cheers of Hundreds of Villagers

It was a beautiful mid-June day for the two-hour drive to the rural village of Gashora, Rwanda and the launch of Village Phone Rwanda's "Tel'imbere" service. The lush green countryside and friendly waves from Rwandans bustling along the road showed the country's welcoming face. Yet Rwanda, known as the land of a thousand hills, suffers severe poverty. With more than half of Rwandans living on less than a dollar a day, the constant struggle to survive preoccupies all too many families.

Grameen Foundation USA's Village Phone is an innovative program that connects rural villages to the world via mobile phone. Housed in local microbusinesses, the mobile phones are operated by the shop owner, who serves as the Village Phone operator (VPO). The VPO charges the customer for the phone time, making it a profitable microbusiness as well as a means of vital communications for the village.

GFUSA joined with MTN Rwanda, the country's largest mobile network provider, to form Village Phone Rwanda. This joint venture will be rolling out 3,000 phones over the next three years via partnerships with three Rwandan microfinance institutions (MFIs) -- Urewego, Vision Finance and CARE. These MFIs provide microloans to local clients to establish the Village Phone businesses.

The launch was held around a stage at the village center, where more than 500 villagers were joined by local, national and international dignitaries and guests. It soon transformed into a village celebration with traditional drummers and dancers, world beat music, and actors demonstrating the many uses of a village phone.

Surrounded by excited children, Rwandan government minister Protais Musoni placed the first call in the small bike repair shop that now houses Gashora's first Tel'imbere. Shop owner Pierre Bizimana beamed with satisfaction as Rwanda television cameras recorded his new business venture. "This is so important to my business and my village," said Pierre. "It is good for us to make progress. We will be able to live better."

Learn more about the Village Phone Project

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Microfinance Spells Crossword Success in New York

Since he was a child, Kevin Dunn has had a knack for crossword puzzles. He never imagined he would be able to turn this talent into a business. Yet, for the past two and a half years, that is exactly what he has achieved. He has started and sustains his business, InVision Publications, with the help of Project Enterprise, a GFUSA MFI partner based in New York City.

In 2002, Kevin was left unemployed after the corporation he worked for outsourced his database management job. With no income or insurance, and no career opportunities on the horizon, his hope began to dwindle. That's when Project Enterprise offered him the chance to start his own business. Their combination of credit, training and business development assistance gave Kevin the chance to realize his dream.

Read more about Kevin

New partner in Pakistan to increase access to microfinance for poor women

An UPAP client in her shop

Grameen Foundation USA welcomes our newest partner, the Urban Poverty Alleviation Program (UPAP), a project of Pakistan's National Rural Support Program. With the addition of this new partner to our network, GFUSA now supports two of Pakistan's top microfinance institutions (MFIs).

Statistics illustrate the need for larger microfinance programs in Pakistan. Almost one third of Pakistani households live in abject poverty, and women are the most afflicted group in the country. The total demand for MFI services in Pakistan is estimated at 6.6 million families; however, less than 10% are currently being served. GFUSA recognized this need, and decided in 2005 to build upon our partnership with Kashf Foundation and reach out to additional MFIs in Pakistan.

UPAP, started in 1996, is the right fit for our expansion in Pakistan. It focuses primarily on women and currently provides credit to more than 34,000 clients. Over the next three years, they have a goal of reaching more than 100,000 poverty-stricken families by providing loans to women to start small businesses.

GFUSA is providing a mix of financial and technical assistance to assist UPAP in reaching its goals. We are working to help UPAP expand its funding sources by building relationships with commercial banks in Pakistan. Through our growing partnerships, we look forward to empowering hundreds of thousands of Pakistan's poorest people in the years to come.

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In this issue

GFUSA launches Village Phone Rwanda

Client Profile: Crossword Success in New York

New Pakistan partnership reaches more poor women

Newsbriefs

Grameen Bank Spotlight - Grameen Kalyan: Grameen Kalyan, an initiative of Grameen Bank, has been providing affordable healthcare to Grameen Bank members and non-members since 1996. Kalyan was created to serve the rural poor, a traditionally underserved population in Bangladesh. It offers neo-natal care, disease prevention, vision treatment, and more. The program has treated more than 243,503 patients at special events, health centers, and satellite clinics across Bangladesh. They also provide free services to the beggar population of Bangladesh. As part of the Grameen family, Kalyan strives to adhere to Professor Yunus' goal of providing services to the poorest of the poor.

GFUSA forms alliance with Global Partnerships: GFUSA and Global Partnerships (GP) have joined forces to support emerging microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The alliance will give MFIs in the region access to funding from global capital markets, as well as technical assistance, to boost their outreach to the poor. GFUSA began working in Latin America in 1999, while GP entered the region in 1994. Together, both organizations reach 250,000 clients. Over the past two years, GFUSA has worked with GP to prepare six MFIs for investment and high growth by providing assistance with business plan development and strategic planning.

Mifos begins field testing at Grameen Koota: Mifos, GFUSA's pioneering open source microfinance software, will start on-the-ground testing at a branch of MFI partner Grameen Koota (GK) in Bangalore, India in the coming weeks. Branch staff will be using the system with "live" microfinance client and portfolio data, giving the Mifos software development team real-world feedback. Once testing is complete, GK will be among the first MFIs to roll out Mifos organization-wide, improving their operational capacity and giving them a long term solution to their information management needs - technology that they not only benefit from, but contribute to, improve and own.

The PLAN Fund launches new entrepreneur program: The Dallas, Texas-based PLAN Fund, a GFUSA partner since 1999, has formed new strategic partnerships that expand its ability to serve low and moderate income entrepreneurs. On June 1st, the PLAN Fund started its third new entrepreneur program at the MEED Center, a local Business Assistance Center. These centers focus on providing one-on-one consulting and affordable space to entrepreneurs in low income communities of Dallas. In addition, the PLAN Fund is collaborating with ACCION Texas to serve poor Dallas residents that traditional banks consider "unbankable." In celebration of this progress, the PLAN Fund has unveiled a new website and newsletter (PDF).