Elk Grove Action Group Minutes
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Location: Jack & Lisa Williams Residence 9055 Richborough Way
Attendees: Dale Bell, Laurie Bell, Mark Nemmers, Cara Valentino, Dan Redfearn, Bill Scherrer, Bertha Scherrer, Robert Coleman, Mary Jane Peterson, Jeanne Nelson, Julie Green, Jack Williams, and Lisa Williams

1. Microcredit Bank – The group discussed three directions

A. OEF – Help, International have had great difficulty getting reports from OEF (El Salvador) and Acidico (Guatemala). It is not a matter of confidence in the organization but in their reporting. HELP does not have time to address this issue. Jennifer Boehme, Help Director, suggested we go through Kiva (check them online at kiva.org) to fund banks. Our group consensus, however, was that they liked funding a complete bank. Kiva loan recipients are part of a bank and these loans supplement their loans, but are very small (around $25).

B. Bwafano is a microcredit bank in Zambia. Our associate that traveled to Lusaka, Susanne, says it is a good organization but not very organized in its reporting method and needs mentoring. 90-95% repayment rate but didn’t know if this was rate on last payment or the entire time.

C. Mothers Without Borders - Mike Headlee heads the micro credit banks currently and loans to individuals. He spends a great deal of time with business training. The loans are large ($500 to $1000). Mike is leaving to serve a mission for his church in March and will turning the microcredit business over to two individuals. He may be able to check on the program every quarter. This program is fairly new so no track record is available.

GROUP DECISION: The group decided to hold off on microcredit loans to Zambia until they are confident in the NGO they will be working with.
We will contact the president of the board at OEF, Ildiko de Tesak, who speaks English, and try to remedy the reporting problem. We will offer to take over the task of receiving and translating reports and still have HELP transfer our donations. We will contact Jennifer to see if Help is agreeable to this arrangement. Another solution is have OEF register with Kiva.

2. The Lusaka University Hospital Neonatal Center – Providing Supplies

A. Jack met with Charity, the head of the neonatal center, during his visit last year. Because of the shocking conditions he saw, he asked Charity to send us a wish list, which she did. I forwarded this list to members of the EG Action Group a few months ago.

B. We contacted Cathy Headlee, head of Mothers Without Borders for advise on shipping supplies or funds. Her organization won’t be shipping again until late 2009. If we pay shipping cost of $10,000, she can fill a container (40x8x8) and have it shipped this year. She can obtain much material for free or at great discounts.

C. Things to consider: Mothers Without Borders can ship $160,000 worth of donated supplies in a bin. This will leverage our money; Buying a refrigerator here is cheaper than buying one in Zambia. A fridge in Lusaka can cost $1500 and only last a couple years; Shipping it by Mothers would be duty-free, saving us an additional 27%.

GROUP DECISION: The group would like to help but don’t want to contribute the entire $10,000 for the container. They suggest asking Cathy if there is some other group that might help with the cost.

3. Teen Center

A. During Jack’s visit to Zambia, he met with Mr. Safali, who wants to build a teen center in Zambia where teens can use computer, television, and board games for entertainment and education.

B. Cost is $16,000 but the business will be built in stages. Teens will pay for use of the center. This will be a business loan that will be paid back.

C. Things to Consider: With low employment rate in Zambia, teens need constructive ways to occupy their time; Some university MBA programs require their graduates to provide mentoring so we may be able to provide Mr. Safali this help without any cost to us; Other NGO’s in Africa have funded similar computer center businesses in Africa; Some organizations require the borrower’s to come up with 10% of the cost.

GROUP DECISION: This project is low on our priority at this time.