Women's Microfinance Initiative

Global Giving's matching day for donations was June 16th. Thanks to your support, the donations came flooding in and WMI raised $11,855 from its worldwide supporters. Global Giving matched 50% of that amount, resulting in additional funding of nearly $6,000, bringing WMI's total donations for the day to $17,532! This was a wonderfully successful event and we greatly appreciate your continued support!

WMI IS TOP-RATED!

It's official: WMI has been certified as a Top-Rated Women's Empowerment Nonprofit, according to Great Nonprofits. WMI made the list with 153 other nonprofits that target both domestic and international needs of women in their communities. To check out the WMI profile or write a review, please visit http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/profile2/womens-microfinance-initiative-corporation. The complete list of the Top-Rated Women's Empowerment Nonprofits is available at http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/issues/women.

THANK YOU TO THE ARCHER SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN LOS ANGELES FOR THEIR DONATION:

The high school seniors at The Archer School for Girls had spent most of the school year studying the basics of microfinance, and later teaching what they had learned to middle school students. The girls chose WMI as their donation recipient because WMI's objective "aligns with our knowledge that enabling a woman's financial independence can truly change both her life and the life of her community." We'd like to extend our thanks to the girls and The Archer School for their support of microfinance initiatives and WMI. Receiving a check for $300 was really wonderful.

MEET THE BETHESDA SUMMER INTERNS:

These fabulous college students (and two recent graduates) are compiling survey data from the past year and undertaking extensive statistical analysis of the information gathered. They are using the SAS JMP software, graciously supplied gratis by SAS in Cary, NC. This year SAS has provided WMI with professional staff support, including a custom tailored webinar where all of the interns could view and manipulate the data. In addition, the interns are updating the web site, improving WMI's photo and video files and creating new media layouts, linking to social media, organizing foundation information, preparing grant applications and reaching out to other non-profits. WMI is extremely fortunate to have such a talented, productive and committed summer intern staff. We are grateful for all of their hard work.

Alex Chernow (Bethesda, Maryland):
Alex is a rising sophomore at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she is concentrating in Cultural Analysis and Travel Writing. Alex will be studying in Ghana during the fall semester of this year and will write about her study abroad experiences in the NYU paper.

Laura Esposito (Bethesda, Maryland):
Laura will be entering her senior year at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. She is concentrating in International Development and studied in Madrid, Spain this past semester. Last summer, she traveled to El Salvador for a week-long service trip and participates in NYU's Habitat for Humanity and Journal of Global Affairs.

Ellen Janssen (Noordwijk, Netherlands and McLean, Virginia):
Ellen will be a rising junior at UVA, majoring in Economics. She is interested in development studies and spent this past spring semester in Pune, India. At UVA, Ellen is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega community service fraternity, the UVA ballroom dancing team, and the Cinemateque Committee, which hosts movie screenings on campus.

Valerie McDonald (Herndon, Virginia):
Valerie is a rising junior at the University of Virginia, majoring in International Economics and minoring in Global Culture and Commerce. She plans to go into microfinance as a career-her favorite part of microfinance is that although it is an economic process, it addresses many other problems in developing countries indirectly. In her spare time, Valerie participates in ballroom dancing at UVA and enjoys reading and horseback riding.

Glynnis McIntyre (Raleigh, North Carolina):
Glynnis is a rising junior at American University in Washington, D.C., with a major in International Studies, concentration in International Development, and minor in Global Health and Development. She is the Fundraising Chair for AU's St. Jude's Up 'Til Dawn event and Vice President of Panhellenic for AU's chapter of Delta Gamma. Glynnis plans on studying abroad in Paris during the spring semester and hopes to work for an organization that provides development projects for underdeveloped countries in the future.

Alex Meyer (Hong Kong, China and Bethesda, Maryland):
Alex will be a senior at Walt Whitman High School this fall. He is a writer and Assistant Production Manager for Whitman's paper, The Black & White. This summer, in addition to creating videos and managing other media for WMI, Alex will be traveling to Buyobo, Uganda for three weeks to assist with the Internet Café and computer training.

Kelly Parshall (Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania):
Kelly graduated from Elon University in May with a major in English and a minor in African Studies. She was a member of Elon's Periclean Scholars and helped to build a health care center in rural Ghana. Kelly has tutored African refugees, served as a teaching assistant for an African politics class, and studied abroad in Tanzania for a semester.

Laurel Rigsbee (Woodbury, Minnesota):
Laurel will be a senior at Occidental College in Los Angeles this fall, majoring in Economics with a minor in Russian. Laurel has played both softball and rugby at college and she spent the fall of her junior year studying in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is interested in developmental economics and intends to pursue a career that would allow her to work internationally.

Montana Stevenson (Bethesda, Maryland):
Montana just graduated from UVA, with a major in History and a minor in Economics. This is her third summer interning at WMI and she likes that the WMI model provides the borrowers with the ability to control their own economic opportunities. Montana helped issue the first WMI loans in 2008 and will lead the Walt Whitman High School Internship trip this summer. She'll return to Uganda in the fall to conduct a joint WMI/PostBank rural banking study and prepare transition guidelines for borrowers graduating to independent banking. She enjoys swimming and basketball, and is a coach for the Carderock Springs Swim Team.

Victoria Stevenson (Bethesda, Maryland):
This fall, Victoria will be a sophomore at Tufts University in Boston. She traveled to Buyobo in January 2008 to help issue the first set of loans to WMI borrowers and hopes to return this coming winter. She is also a swim coach for the Carderock Springs Swim Team, trains for the Tufts Boston Marathon Team and writes for the Tufts Daily News Paper.

WALT WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL INTERNSHIP UPDATE:

They did it! In our last update, we mentioned that the high school interns traveling to Buyobo this summer had a fundraising goal of $2,000. These wonderful students have far surpassed that mark and have raised over $4,000 to build a foundation for three new classrooms for Buyobo Primary School.

In addition to launching the internet café, bringing the laptops donated by Discovery Communications, and providing computer training for the women and students in Buyobo, the interns will also launch a Buns and Tea Program for the teachers at the school. In order to motivate and energize the teachers, the interns will start a program to provide buns and tea every morning before school for the teachers to enjoy before they start teaching.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!

Social media and networking is an important part of reaching new supporters for WMI's mission. WMI's intern has created two new pages on Facebook, filled with updates, pictures, and links! Please take a minute to log on and become a fan of the WMI cause and help it go viral! Our fan page provides information about WMI and its many outreach efforts. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-Microfinance-Initiative/133030916722839?ref=ts to access our page and become a fan. Our second page is a Facebook Cause, entitled "Microloans for Impoverished Women in rural East Africa," which allows you to donate online and monitor the donations. Go to http://www.causes.com/causes/496355 to join our cause. Also, please recommend and share our fan page and cause with all of your Facebook friends!

WMI EXPANDING THE LOAN PROGRAM TO KONOKOYO:

WMI has recently partnered with the Bududa Development Center Limited (BDCL) to provide loans for women living in another village in the mountainous rural region of Bududa, Uganda. BDCL has established the local Bududa Vocational Institute in Konokoyo village and now wants to support the launch of a WMI loan program. BDCL also supports 150 local orphans through its Children of Peace Program. BDCL's mission is: To promote the empowerment of children, women, and young adults through the integration of education, health and social welfare, skills, entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on sustainable practices.

The WMI loan program for Konokoyo is set to launch in October, with BDCL providing financial support for the initial loans. WMI will provide training, supervision, and support for the women in the loan program. WMI is looking forward to expanding the loan program to Konokoyo and is looking forward to making a difference in these women's lives.

Recently, WMI's Local Director, Olive Wolimbwa, along with two WMI trainers, traveled to Konokoyo to meet the local group organizers and survey the site of the new program launch. They brought clothes to contribute to the relief effort for villagers who were displaced by mudslides in April - last month WMI in Buyobo sent grain to the relief effort.

In late summer, women from the loan program in Buyobo will travel to Konokoyo again to train the new loan recipients in record keeping, business management, budgeting, and saving.

Please feel free to contact any board members with your input. Thank you so much for your ongoing interest and support. We are all helping change the face of poverty, one loan at a time.