Empowering Individuals in the Global Community Through Entrepreneurship
Microfinance Institution Partner's receive grants from Whole Planet Foundation to establish and run microlending programs. In some cases Whole Planet Foundation funds the loan pool of an existing MFI.
Grameen Trust, a sister organization to Grameen Bank, is a registered non-profit NGO in Bangladesh, established in 1989 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of microcredit, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Grameen Trust was designed to promote the Grameen principles of extending collateral free microcredit to the poor to alleviate poverty. Grameen Trust provides technical assistance, training, funding and other support to 138 partners in 37 countries, including directly implemented BOT (buy, operate and transfer) projects in seven countries. Whole Planet Foundation is partners with Grameen Trust in Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Indonesia and Turkey.
Grameen Trust Models
Grameen Trust supports local organizations to implement their microcredit programs. But in special situations, Grameen Trust goes for direct implementation under its Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. A Build - Operate - Transfer (BOT) / Build - Operate - Manage (BOM) / Build - Operate - Own (BOO) project is a direct implementation approach to set up a microfinance program following the credit delivery and recovery mechanism of Grameen Bank in a specific location. Grameen Trust has introduced BOT/BOM/BOO programs with a view to establish sustainable microcredit programs in situations where many poor people need to be served and the prevalent environment is not quite friendly to establishing this kind of programs. This program has proved to be effective as it significantly reduces the time of establishment and implementation of the program while maintaining cost effectiveness simultaneously. GT deploys its experienced staff to set up BOT/ BOM/BOO programs that drastically lowers implementation time as well as training cost. Whole Planet Foundation supports Grameen Trust on BOT projects in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia and Turkey, a Grameen Trust BOM project with Grameen America in Queens, New York, United States, and a Grameen Trust BOO in Kerala, India.
Whole Planet Foundation expresses our deepest condolences to Grameen Trust, Banrural, and the friends and family of Md. Ali Akkas. Below are letters from Steve Wanta, Executive Program Director for Whole Planet Foundation and Lic. Samuel Colocho Director of Microfinance for Banrural
Dear Professor Latifee,
It is with deepest sympathy that I offer my condolences to Grameen Trust, Banrural, and the friends and family of Md. Ali Akkas, especially his wife and two children.
Akkas touched my life deeply. He had a genuine smile that was followed with a laugh that forced you to be happy. I had the pleasure to visit a number of Akkas’ centers in Guatemala. The women and Field Officers of Grameen Guatemala respected him but the connection reached to a deeper level because of Akkas’ sincere concern for the lives of his members. Despite any language barrier, Akkas’ sincerity and caring for others was clear.
In 2006, Akkas accompanied a group from the United States, including Vidar’s daughter Kristen to take photos of borrowers and capture their stories. It was at that time that Akkas shared with us his seemingly endless knowledge of US pop culture, he actually educated us on our own history. It was at that time that I got to know Akkas as a friend away from his life’s work of alleviating poverty as he spoke of his wife and two children. He joined Grameen not as a banker but as a Social Worker that aspired to help people live a life of dignity.
Please share with Akkas’ family the attached photos of Akkas. I feel blessed and humbled to have met Mr. Akkas and have been touched by his dedication to a higher purpose.
Steve
Dear Mr. MD. Latifee,
I never thought I would have to write to you to express my deepest sorrow for the loss of our dear friend and work fellow MD Ali Akkas.
For us, it is an act of heroism that Bengali staff cross the continent to work hard in providing opportunities to poor rural women of my country Guatemala to fight against poverty.
The example that Md. Ali set for us Guatemalan people is great and makes us feel how little we give for the benefit of our own Guatemalan people. I used the word little because Md. Ali gave his life so that others could live better.
Infinite thanks Mr. MD Latifee for the Bengali people you have sent to Guatemala. That act itself manifests love to others regardless of race or religion.
There are no words that can express our appreciation because it is endless.
Banrural sympathizes with Grameen Trust, Grameen Bank, MD Ali Akkas’s wife, his children, his parents, his relatives and friends, who will be in our hearts forever.
My sincere condolences,
Kindly,
Samuel Colocho
Grameen America is a microfinance organization established in 2008 whose mission is to help alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship by providing loans, savings programs, credit establishment, and other services to the working poor, especially women, in the United States. Grameen America is built upon the success of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, joint winners of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Grameen America provides loans at reasonable rates enabling borrowers to avoid predatory lenders whose extremely high interest rates deny the working poor the full benefits of their labor. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Grameen America in Queens, New York City.
Adelante Foundation's mission is to improve the standard of living of extremely poor women living in Honduras. Since 1999, Adelante has provided small loans so these women can start and grow their own small business. Over time, the women use their profits to buy better food for their families, improve their homes, buy medicine when necessary, send their children to school, and to plan and save for the future. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Adelante Foundation in the departments of Choluteca, Colon and Atlántida in Honduras.
Fonkoze is “Haiti’s Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor.” The formation of Fonkoze has been guided by support from Grameen Trust and Grameen Foundation USA. It is the largest microfinance institution (MFI) in Haiti, serving more than 55,000 women borrowers, most of whom live and work in the countryside of Haiti, and more than 175,000 savers. With its network of 37 branches covering every region of Haiti, it is also the only MFI that is truly national in scope.
Moreover, Fonkoze is one of the few MFIs in Haiti that is truly grass-roots. Fonkoze was founded in 1994 by a Haitian Catholic priest who started the institution with little more than a vision: a vision to provide the means for all Haitians, even the poorest, to participate in the economic development of the country. His target group was women, because as he declared, “Women are the backbone of the Haitian economy and the doorway into the family unit."
Fonkoze is Haiti’s alternative bank for the organized poor. In fact, it is a family of three institutions working together shoulder-to-shoulder towards a single compelling mission: building the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. This mission is reflected in their name, Fonkoze, which is an acronym for the Haitian Creole phrase “Fondasyon Kole Zepòl” meaning “Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation.” Fonkoze sets its sites clearly on the poorest and aims to reduce poverty substantially and to demonstrate that poverty can be eliminated entirely.
Jamii Bora Trust is a microlending organization which seeks to assist its members in getting out of poverty and building better lives for themselves and their families. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Jamii Bora Trust operates in more than 62 branches across the country to reach its 200,000 members with financial and social products and services. At the core of Jamii Bora Trust is a fundamental belief that any family, however poor or hopeless, is capable of getting themselves out of poverty. Jamii Bora Trust takes a uniquely comprehensive approach to helping strengthen and utilize all the skills, determination, and hard work of the people of Kenya to build a better nation through better families. Jamii Bora Trust is one of the fastest growing MFIs in Kenya and has ambitious plans to reach half million people by the end of 2009. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Jamii Bora Trust and Unitus in the Nyeri province of Kenya.
Moris Rasik (MR) is a microfinance program, which has been operating in East Timor since November 2000 and follows a modified version of the Grameen Bank methodology of microfinance. MR is the largest and most effective microfinance program in Timor, in outreach, portfolio size and portfolio quality. MR had an active client base of over 10,000 at the beginning of 2008. Its portfolio was $2.24M and it held over $780K in client savings. In August 2007 it broke even for the first time, and ended 2007 with an operating profit of $22,000. MR is having a macro impact on the East Timorese economy, and is instrumental in stimulating the overall development of its rural economy. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Moris Rasik in various regions of East Timor.
Pro Mujer was founded in 1990. Pro Mujer Nicaragua is the second organization developed by Pro Mujer, a microfinance network dedicated to empowering Latin American women to lift themselves out of poverty through access to microfinance and health services and training. With operations in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru, the network serves an estimated 202,000 women, and over one million children and extended family members. In Nicaragua alone, Pro Mujer currently serves more than 27,000 clients. Whole Planet Foundation currently partners with Pro Mujer in the Esteli-Condega region of Nicaragua.
Ed Bland, President & COO of UnitusBy working together, Whole Planet Foundation, Unitus and Jamii Bora Trust can help spur the development of innovation in the (microfinance) field and ensure the power of microfinance reaches those who need it most.
