Micro loans help move lives into a brighter future

Introduction || Rationale || What Your Loan Does || What Loans Fund || You Receive
Program Successes || How to Begin

SHAMA, Inc. makes grants to designated non-profit organizations in India for disbursing and administering loans under the WELL program. See information about the partnerships that SHAMA, Inc. has with other organizations.

KUDOS:  The government of India selected 200 villages out of 600,000 for their work in improvements in sanitation and hygiene. Adivali is one of those 200, and it has achieved this through SHAMA's village development program. This is the second village (after Mhaskal's award in 2008) to receive national recognition. Kudos to all SHAMA, Inc. workers.

---

 The following pictures were taken in 2005 in Mhaskal village. Several women were given loans in 2004 for goats or cows; these pictures are of the women and their animals.

Click on thumbnails for larger pictures.

2004 loan recipient with new kids.

Woman proudly repaying loan for goats.

Healthy cow, purchased with 2004 loan.

---

Introduction

SHAMA, Inc. happily continues a program of interest-free micro loans ($180) to women in India, to enable them to begin self-employment endeavors.  When the woman repays the loan, the money is passed on to a second woman to help her begin a self-employment venture, creating links in a chain that continues to grow.

This program enables us to empower each other, through building a global community of committed individuals who would like to create a healthier world by touching and transforming each other's lives--one woman at a time. These loans create a legacy which passes on from woman to woman, their families, communities, and connects back to the world.

Click here for a list of what SHAMA WELL loans fund.

The first loans were made to women in 2006, and by February 2007 about half of the total amount had already been paid back. One had been repaid in full. Since then, many more women have received loans, funding their ability to support their families through a wide variety of ventures.

SHAMA WELL has begun collaborating with other charitable organizations working in India. Click here for more information.

---

Rationale

Women are thought to make better borrowers than men, as more timely repayments are likely. Initiatives like ours have a "phenomenal repayment rate, an average of more than 95%, better than the best commercial banks in the world." (New York Times, 4/12/04)

Microfinance investments can be an effective tool for fighting poverty and an avenue of empowerment for women, by allowing the poorest women with means "to build a livelihood for themselves and futures for their family." (Pro Mujer Loan Fund)

Muhammad Yunus is the man credited with beginning microloans to women in developing countries. In this article from the Wharton School of Business. he tells how he began making these loans and their phenomenal success. SHAMA WELL follows his example; however, we do not charge interest, and when the loan is repaid, the money is passed on to another woman instead of being returned to the donor.

---

 What your ($180) SHAMA WELL loan does

Your contribution of $180 goes through the SPRJ Kanyashala Trust, whose staff identifies the recipient based on need. The money you provide...

• Gives one woman start-up investment capital, determined on an individual-need basis. This a chance to succeed in life, for her community, her family, and most of all for herself.

• Provides vocational and self-help training for small business management.

• Creates one link in a chain lifting families out of poverty to self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and empowerment.

• Builds a long-lasting network connecting communities, individuals, and families for self-employment.

• Sustains individual and family entrepreneurship in a wide variety of endeavors.

• Your generous donation changes the community, breaks the cycle and chains of poverty, creates new societal traditions, and moves toward sustainable community and family empowerment.

• We have sponsored women in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Mhaskal, and Delhi.

Such initiatives would otherwise be impossible, as banks do not give such tiny loans, especially without collateral, and they charge interest.

---

What SHAMA WELL loans fund

SHAMA WELL loans have funded the following things:

We have sponsored women in Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Mhaskal, and Delhi.

Click here to read about the positive effects SHAMA WELL loans have had.  Click here to see a list of women who have received loans and what those loans were for.

---

You Receive

• The option to establish communication with your loan recipient.

• A letter from the loan recipient on or near the beginning of the year.

• A picture of the woman who receives your loan.

• Personalized dedication of your loan in the name of a loved one, if you desire.

---

How to Begin

1. Choose a woman to whom you wish to give the loan from these pictures:
   (Page 1 (through ADIRE) and Page 2) (through READ).

2. Fill out and submit the printed version of form in mail)
   to select the woman to whom you wish to  loan the money

3. Come back to this page.

4. Choose a payment option.

5. If you use a printed form, mail it to the address listed on it, with your payment.

Information about women who have received loans through SHAMA WELL

Web design by Lynn Kirby, 2008