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Business
Experts, Visionaries, Entrepreneurs Needed
If
there is one area Fresh Passion India would like to grow, it is the area of
Economic Development. We are
looking for business people who can work to connect U.S. or Indian employers
with Dalit workers or who can help train Dalit men and women with a marketable
skill or trade or who can find creative ways to jump start the local economies
in the areas around our DEC school hubs.
How
You Can Help: Funding, Financing or
New Business Mentoring
You
can help in a myriad of ways. Here
are just a few ideas to jumpstart your imagination:
Funding
for vocational programs for adults and youth are desperately needed, and in many
cases they can be set up on or near existing DEC campuses where Dalit children
are already attending classes.
Spoken
English Course Centers for adults and youth can be set up for as little as
$1,000 each plus $150 per month operating expenses.
Tailoring
Centers can be established for as little as $500 plus $150 per sewing machine.
Bicycle
repair facilities can be established and run for a full year for less than
$4,000.
Donations
of $12,000 could pay for a computer training center or drivers training school
for 12 months.
Business
people with expertise in the area of importing and exporting are needed to help
Dalit producers of goods find international markets for their wares.
Micro-loans
that can be repaid or recycled to a variety of small business start-ups are
another means of infusing new economic life into a struggling community. Small business loans for as little as $250 per individual (usually made
to groups of three in $750 increments) can actually enable the start up of a
home-based business. Loans for a
herd of buffalo and goats - 500 for $500 - can make a huge difference to
farmers in rural areas. DFN
is researching the establishment of an Indian Bank that can use fair lending
practices to help fund new businesses among the Dalits. Bankers and other lenders or professionals with a background in
international business law may be in a position to help advance this effort.
If
you want to know more about existing economic development opportunities, or if
you have an idea that might help to lift Dalit families or entire communities
out of the hopeless cycle of poverty, contact Doug
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