Harshavardhan Jegadeesan's

Social Impact of Microcredit - RangDe's Field Visit to Vandavasi

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 8:58 PM

I have been a micro lender with Kiva and more recently with RangDe. I've always believed that grassroutes entrepreneurship coupled with access to affordable capital is the key to poverty alleviation and a better standard of living for millions of Indians, especially in the rural hinterland.

RangDe is India's largest peer-to-peer lending platform and has doled out micro loans close to INR 8 million in a short span of 2 years. As I wanted to do something more than just micro lending, I joined them as a volunteer. Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to see how micro credit really works. I along with 7 RangDe volunteers from the Bangalore Chapter went on a field visit to villages around Vandavasi to meet borrowers and the field partner agency - ASSCOD. The goal of the field visit was two-fold. Firstly, we wanted to see for ourselves the impact that the loans were making to the community. Secondly, we wanted to conduct a social audit on the field partner and the effectiveness of the loan disbursement and the repayment processes.

Elzhumalai, the local ASSCOD coordinator joined us in Vandavasi. Sivagami was the first borrower we met. Sivagami and her husband set up a small eatery and when they had begun to do well, her husband passed away. After the initial shock, Sivagami was forced to take charge and be the sole bread winner for her family. Her eatery serves snacks for breakfast and simple meals for lunch. She is assisted by her 2 daughters before they go to school. Her son who is studying in an ITI is planning to join her in the eatery business after his studies. Sivagami took a small loan of INR 10,000/- from RangDe to buy utensils and a gas stove to expand her business. She quickly repaid the loan with 8.5% interest in 12 months. She acknowledged the huge impact the micro loan had made on her life and was really thankful to RangDe for providing her access to affordable capital. We left her eatery wishing her and her son best of luck!

Our next borrower was Fathima and her daughter Muneera. They are part of the Muthamizh self-help group (SHG), a group of 20 muslim women who engage in tailoring and hand embroidery. Muneera(18) really impressed us with her enterprise and confidence. She has formally undergone training in hand embroidery and is the local garment designer in Vandavasi. She trains other women in tailoring and employs them in her business. Fathima borrowed INR 15,000/- to buy a sewing machine and is repaying very regularly. The mother and daughter duo now want to buy a embroidery machine to grow their business. A lot of these women have to overcome social conventions and community customs to take part in the SHG. We were all overwhelmed by the spirit, enterprise and the positive attitude that these rural women exhibited.

Next in our list of borrowers was Fyrose Banu. Fyrose has 2 children. Fyrose is in the mat finishing business. Vandavasi is famous for its mats and a lot of people in and around Vandavasi are involved in this business. Fyrose's husband buys unfinished mats in wholesale; Fyrose stitches up the mats and they sell the finished mats to nearby villages. Fyrose took a loan to buy a mat making machine. She has repaid the load and is looking for a loan to buy a motorized vehicle to transport her mats to far off villages and towns.We took the opportunity to visit a mechanized mat making unit and see how mats were being made. I also bought a few mats from Fyrose, for which she reluctantly took money.

The last borrower in our list was Boopalan. Boopalan’s life presents a classic example of what can be achieved by sheer will power and hard work. Over the last 14 years Boopalan has grown from being a mere daily wage earner to a micro entrepreneur employing 3 persons in his own establishment. The secret of his success is dedication, sincerity and an iron resolution to excel. Initially Boopalan was employed as an operator in Southern Polymers where he learnt the tricks of making plastic goods. Soon Boopalan launched his own establishment to make a variety of goods like jewel boxes, plastic dolls, gift items, devotional gifts etc. Boopalan took a loan of INR 125,000/- to buy an automatic moulding machine to make plastic boxes. He is confident of expanding his business and employing more locals. He told us that he was deeply indebted to RangDe for providing him a loan and changing his life beyond his imagination.

As we were meeting borrowers, I couldn't help but think how small amounts of money we lend was make a tangible and real difference to people. I could really appreciate the power of micro lending and its profound social impact in a community. Earlier each of these borrowers had to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates from local money lenders. Banks did not lend unsecured loans. Now with access to micro credit through peer-to-peer lending platforms like RangDe, coupled with hard work, enterprise and self-belief, a mini revolution has started in our rural hinterland.

Make a difference today, invest in India's future: visit RangDe.org now!

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My Diwali in Chikkasugur - a village affected by flash floods

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 10:24 PM

In October this year, the water level in the Krishna river (the longest river in south-central India) rose to its 100-year high due to incessant rains. The resulting flash floods demolished villages and towns in Andhra and Karnataka washing away crops and cattle and rendering thousands homeless. Parts of North Karnataka that were suffering the worst draught were suddenly affected by these devastating floods in the same year.

All my life I've seen a lot of news, video footages and pictures of catastrophic damages caused by natural calamities. I've empathized, most often written a cheque and cribbed about govt. inaction and inadequate relief efforts and moved on.

This Diwali for the first time I saw it all live! Along with 8 other CLEAR PURPOSE (SAP's CSR team) volunteers I was in Chikkasugur, a village (not seen in Google maps, but existing) in North Karnataka and on the banks of river Krishna. Chikkasugur is a small hamlet with a population of 3000 people in the Raichur district, 14 KMs from Raichur.

Our goal was to assess the damages first-hand and decide how SAP could be involved in the rehabilitation efforts along with our field partner HOPE foundation. What I saw there was overwhelming and beyond my imagination. With houses reduced to rubbles, the villagers are living in makeshift accommodation, or in remaining parts of the houses. All the crops were damaged, leaving farmers penniless. The govt. has provided immediate cash relief with compensation between 2,000 - 12,000 based on the extent of damage. The govt. compensation is peanuts compared to the real losses. However, I am not blaming the govt. machinery. From what I heard, the govt. officers are doing their best and supporting locals and NGOs involved in relief efforts. I'd guess that the govt. has too much to handle and stretched too thin beyond their capabilities. Added to this, the village was strongly divided on lines of caste - hindus, muslims, the scheduled castes and tribes. Villagers were complaining of biases in distribution of compensation and were not willing to clear the rubble waiting for inspection from officials.

Under these circumstances, HOPE foundation was doing a commendable job. Prabhu Kumar (Sr. Director) and his team were working and still continue to work at a phenomenal speed to do all they can to put Chikkasugur back on its feet. I along with other volunteers was involved in talking to the villagers and conducting a survey to understand the extent of the damage and what we could do in a sustainable manner to help them. The immediate need was housing, followed closely by primary education and skills development to improve employability of the youth. Though we were met with initial skepticism, the villagers soon realized that we are genuinely and wholeheartedly trying to do our bit and helped us in every possible way. We also helped rebuild the village primary school. We replaced the roofs, cleaned the school premises, planted trees and were also successful in engaging the children in all these activities. SAP will now work with HOPE foundation to improve the primary and high schools in Chikkasugur. Also we'd like to start a skills training center to impart basic computer skills (DTP), spoken english and tailoring skills to the youth.

Looking at all the good work that a lot of NGOs, including HOPE foundation are doing - so selflessly, I wonder what a tiny drop I've been in this big ocean. However I am really happy being this small drop, after all small drops add to make a mighty ocean! If you are looking to help or donate, you can do it through HOPE foundation here.

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Empowering Entrepreneurs at the Bottom of the Pyramid through Micro Lending

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 10:46 AM

In my opinion, the most audacious goal for the world in the 21st century is to alleviate poverty, a global problem that is ubiquitous and enduring. Extreme poverty is a result of a complex inter-play of various social, economic, political and historical factors. Poverty translates to lack of education, basic sanitation and health care facilities in large communities across the globe, leading to a huge economical disparity in the society. Till now, the solutions to alleviate property have had little impact to say the least. A concerted effort from government, non-governmental agencies, for-profit corporations and individuals, coordinated by UN agencies is required to address the problems of global poor.

There are complaints that for-profit corporations are busy chasing profits, but that's what they are incorporated for, exist for. CK Prahalad's book "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" has shown the way to alleviate poverty through profits. Muhammad Yunus's Grameen Bank through its financial innovation - "microfinance" - has showed that microfinance and entrepreneurship at individual communities can be an effective tool to address poverty.

I truly believe that micro loans - loans of small amounts made to a borrower with no collateral and credit worthiness - along with grassroots entrepreneurship is the way forward to alleviate poverty. At least it is much better than short-sighted subsidies doled out by politicians to garner votes among rural and urban poor. While the governments, NGOs and businesses have a part to play, can you and I do something?

Yes we can. We can make a difference by lending to entrepreneurs in a community to create small businesses. Micro lending platforms such as Kiva, RangDe and DhanaX have made social lending easy. Agreed that the loans have no guarantee of repayment and there is a risk of capital loss, but the total loan is raised through aggregated borrowing from various lenders, substantially reducing the risk.

Make a difference, give them a chance!

I am inspired by the "Starfish Story"
Checkout my Kiva lending profile: http://www.kiva.org/lender/harshjegadeesan

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Send a Child to School in 2009!

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 1:16 PM

This New Year I am running the Times of India Bangalore midnight half marathon (January 10, 2009) to support a millennium goal - Universal Primary Education in India.

Join me in sending a child to school in 2009!

Running a marathon is both physically and mentally demanding, especially when one is not in good shape .. like myself! So you might ask why am I doing this? I am doing this because I feel so strongly about the cause, about educating a child. This gives me the required mental strength to attempt the half marathon.

I, like so many of you, have had the very good fortune to be educated by my parents. Our parents put us through good schools and for so many of us Right to 'Good' Education was a given! Education has empowered me, it has enabled me to make a honorable living, so is the case with most of you. Let's do our bit, let's educate a child in 2009!

My goal is to send a 100 children to school in 2009!

I will not be able to do this alone, I need your support! If each of us pledge to send a child to school in 2009, we would have made a difference! The cost to educate a child through the SOS children's village, India for a whole year is INR 6,000 (USD 120) . Worldwide, SOS villages provide a family atmosphere and long-term care for orphaned and abandoned children.

Let's send a 100 children to school in 2009! Want to send a child to school? Send me an email.

Thanks for your support!
In order to send a child to school, click on the logo:

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A different Christmas!

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 11:31 AM

Christmas this year was different! My wife Gayatri, her sister Sindhu (currently on her vacation) and I decided to celebrate Christmas and share our plum cakes with the kids in the SOS Children's village of India in Bangalore. The children's village, which is a part of SOS Kinderdorf International, provides a home, a mother, a brother and sister to young abandoned and orphaned children.

The SOS children's village in Bangalore, located on Bannerghatta road is a green 6-acre campus. The village has 16 homes with 8 - 10 children aged between 3 - 14 yrs along with their adopted mother. Each child is put through school and / or is given vocational training to provide skills for a sustainable future.

At 11.00 AM, we met one of the resident staffs of the village, Vinay. Vinay, who holds a master's in social work, started working with the village 5-months back. Vinay explained to us the concept of the SOS village and took us to Chetna - a home where Christmas was celebrated. This year the celebrations was low key to mourn the recent demise of their president - J N Kaul. Vinay knows all the kids by their names, and that reflects the warmth the kids receive in the village. We got introduced to the kids and we met the mother of the home, Shantamma. I bought a small basketball for the kids and I got to dribble a bit with them. We then shared our plum cakes with the kids and got to interact with them a bit more.

In Chetna, we met Roslyn, a former member of the house who came to the village as a toddler. Roslyn now has a university degree and works with a HR consulting firm in Bangalore. She was there to spend the Christmas with her family. We also met Arvind, the facilities manager of the village. Arvind told us that he was from a SOS village in Assam. After getting a polytechnic certificate in plumbing and electricals and working for a decade in Orissa, he has now come back to his home, to try to give back in his own way.

The stories of Roslyn and Arvind overwhelmed us. We have now decided to adopt this home in the SOS village, go there every Sunday to teach maths and english to the children. I have also decided to setup a computer center to teach basic computer skills to the children.

Currently the kids speak the local language, Kannada. Since we do not speak Kannada, we are a bit nervous, hopefully we will learn some Kannada as we go! If you are in Bangalore and would like to spend 1-hr (3.00 - 4.00 PM) of your Sunday with the young children teaching and playing with them, you are welcome to join us. You can send me an email.

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Child Rehabilitation Center, Ampara, Sri Lanka

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 4:13 PM

As an UN online volunteer, I started working with the Child Rehabilitation Center, Ampara - a non-political, non-religious, not-for-profit working in the eastern province of Sri Lanka in Ampara. CRC is run by Chamila Kodagoda and supports rehabilitation and education of children from the war torn areas of Sri Lanka.

I support in the setting up of a computer training center to teach basic IT skills to the war affected children. Apart from providing technical assistance in the curriculum, I support them in forming alliances with NGOs, positioning them with donors to raise funds for the computer training center.

If you know of an NGO which would like to collaborate with CRC or if you are interested in supporting the CRC, Ampara by donations, please drop me an email.

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Volunteer with the UN, work for the Millennium Goals

Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 3:46 PM

Today I signed up to be a UN Volunteer. I enrolled to be an online volunteer for UN supported development agencies. As an online volunteer I would engage with and strengthen grass routes agencies and international NGOs involved in human development, under the UN mandate, to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs).

The eight millennium goals have to be achieved by 2015 to counter world's important development challenges. The goals are no doubt audacious, but have to be achieved nevertheless for sustainable human development. I think it is the responsibility of each and every world citizen to contribute to achieve these goals.

I have decided to contribute in my own way to the MDGs. I adopted Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education. I am currently pursuing volunteering opportunities in agencies working on children empowerment through education. I encourage everyone to choose their MDG they would help to achieve and sign-up to volunteer with the UN.

So what's your MDG?