Imagine being able to donate to female entrepreneurs on the other side of the world, to actually track where your donation goes and choose which projects to support. Then, after a few months, you will get your full donation back and be able to choose another project to fund.
Nine students and their professor have made this dream a reality through their women’s studies capstone and have created the Sustainable Equity for Women (SEW) Fund.
The SEW Fund lends money to female entrepreneurs in developing countries to aid their business ventures.
“SEW is a movement created by a group of 10 women [nine senior Fairfield students and Professor Gita Rajan] who utilized the benefits of available resources to alleviate those women in need-those women who are not afforded the same resources,” said Kristie Davida ’08, one of the students involved.
The SEW Fund seeks to empower women though micro-lending, one of the new powerful methods in dealing with issues of global poverty. Micro-lending offers people in developing countries with an opportunity to enterprise independently and attain economic stability and growth.
“I think it’s important because not only should these women have the chance to become sustainable, they should also be able to have a say in the work they do for a living,” said Michelle Holmberg ’08. However, SEW does not only exist to benefit women even though that may be its most immediate concern.
“An obstacle we face as a women’s organization is that people think we exist only to benefit women, but we exist to benefit all and use women as our catalyst to do so,” said Lauren Campbell ’08.
“For instance, by investing in agriculture, the microloan will give the recipient the ability to buy supplies for a small garden.
A small garden will then serve a dual purpose first to sell food at the market to create a small income and second to feed her family,” said Campbell.
“When a family’s basic needs are met [such as food and income] the children are more likely to attend school, thus educating members of the community which will ultimately raise the prosperity of the community,” she said.
The money is distributed through Kiva, a non-profit organization that partners with existing microlending institutions. Kiva’s Web site, kiva.org, allows donors to browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to and then make a loan. “Kiva yields results,” said Holmberg. “Their site hides nothing-you see the breakdown by country and by type of work, etc.”
The funds have no interest rates and are given directly to the working poor-not to large companies where money can be lost in transaction. With progress updates from the sponsored women, lenders can participate in their journey to economic independence. Loans are often repaid in 6-12 months, and most donors then choose to have their one-time donation to be reinvested in other business projects. “The Kiva Web site gives us the ability to continually update our donors about not only the individual their money is supporting, but will also ultimately allow donors to view all the individuals benefiting from SEW,” said Campbell. The women established the fund as part of their women’s studies capstone seminar, Global Feminisms, taught by Rajan. “Our original assignment was a 20-page paper, but we said ‘let’s actually get in the field’,” said Davida. The students discussed many avenues to create a sustainable program and the SEW project was the final one the class decided upon during a lengthy class debate. “The goal of the class was to give students the tools to imagine global advocacy work in the realm of gender, and to do so through an awareness of being global citizens,” said Rajan. The group’s goal was to raise $1,000, which they have recently surpassed. They have all networked individually though friends and family and also promoted their cause on campus. “Our main objective is to increase awareness on campus,” said Davida. The Office of the Academic Vice President has been one of the supporters that have become involved in SEW. “The important aspect to me is that the students, working with the professor, have investigated issues of poverty and have adopted a strategy of empowerment rather than simple charity,” said Academic Vice President Orin Grossman. “Charity, while important and necessary, is to my mind second in importance to efforts to give people more control over their lives, and that is ultimately what this project seeks to do,” said Grossman. Rajan is not a bit surprised at how successful the project has been thus far. “They are amazing young women,” said Rajan. “The group of truly gifted scholars, energetic women who take on the world with grace, they are focused on setting and achieving goals, and they work with a mutual respect for each other,” she added. The nine girls involved in the SEW fund include Kathryn Barry, Lauren Campbell, Davida, Holmberg, Stephanie Lauto, Farrell Lewis, Brett Maron, Maeghan McLoughlin and Caitlin Rose. To donate to SEW, interested parties can drop off donations via check, made out to Sustainable Equity for Women, or cash in an envelope to the English department secretary Linda Miller in DMH 130.
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