This is the first blog from Five Talents, a UK based Microfinance Charity. We have joined up with Donation4Charity to bring news about our work as a charity and news from our projects. The idea is to enable people to read about microfinance – a particularly hot topic in the charity world at the moment – and to enjoy stories and experiences from our projects around the world.
As a charity, Five Talents’ mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives. We do this by empowering the poor in developing countries to start or expand a small business, using microcredit and savings programs, business training and support. Our motto is “giving a hand-up not a hand-out”. We currently support projects in 9 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and have three UK volunteers helping our projects in Uganda, Peru and Tanzania. These volunteers are all keeping blogs, and it is here on Donation4Charity that you can hear their latest news first. So, for starters, here’s an introduction :
Simon is our longest serving volunteer, having been at our project in Uganda for over a year now. He used to be a Finance Manager at Diageo in London and decided to do something unusual in Africa instead. The project supports 1,337 poor clients with small loans. In his blog you can find anecdotes about his time in Uganda, including his recent engagement to be married! Look out for his thoughts on Prince Philip, who is coming to Uganda and will be meeting Simon and other Five Talents Uganda staff at the end of this week.
Erik is our man in Lima, and has been working with one of our partners, ECLOF Peru, since giving up his job at Goldman Sachs in London in the summer (crazy?!). In his blog, Erik has been giving a fascinating commentary on the arguments for and against microfinance, and the different types of microfinance currently in operation. He survived the recent earthquake and continues to help over 2,000 people climb out of poverty.
Edd is our newest volunteer, and has taken a year out of his studies to work in our newest “womens only” project in Iringa, Tanzania. This project has only recently started in the last few months and is already helping 156 women. Edd has gone out to help the project get off to a good start making its first steps towards growth and financial sustainability. Edd has only just arrived in Tanzania over the last few days, and you can find out more about his adventures and thoughts on the country and microfinance here.
We hope you enjoy our blog and reading those of our volunteers, and we’ll keep you posted with all news and events.
Five Talents UK
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