microfinance
Community Friends has developed a program for self-empowerment through micro-entrepreneurship: giving girls the opportunity to receive the training, encouragement, mentorship, technical assistance and most importantly the seed capital to turn their dreams into reality.
The mission of Community Friends is connecting communities in need and people who can help. With Sri Lanka, help means building a learning center where the young micro-entrepreneurs begin their journey toward self-sufficiency. In order to build and operate this Center, Community Friends is raising capital by offering an innovative investment vehicle called the Community Friends Social Investment Fund: very simply these are loans that Community Friends uses for its start-up capital. We will operate programs that generate revenue and profits which eventually will reach a level to pay for all the activities of Community Friends in Sri Lanka.
Self Empowerment through Micro-Entrepreneurship
Just as we insist that our operations become self-sufficient and generate their own cash through programs, the Micro-Entrepreneurship Program will assist the teenage girls to become self-reliant and aim high in life. Every aspect of their experience will prepare them for taking greater control over the outcome of their lives: from learning about sustainable living practices, to mentorship with experienced entrepreneurs, to personal health choices, and personal development workshops. We will also strongly encourage participants to become mentors themselves, creating a pyramid of teachers propagating self-empowerment and better lifestyle choices throughout their communities. Such work is aimed at undoing cultures of dependency and self-perpetuating practices that undermine the potential of young adults in otherwise impoverished areas.
Through the Micro-Entrepreneurship Program, we are using micro-venture capital to create micro-entrepreneurs. Like all investors, we expect to have our principal paid back at some point; however, we are not placing the additional risk and burden of a maturity date or interest rate on the capital provided to women. In this way women can participate in our program without any risk and with greater chances for success with their enterprise.
Community Friends Micro-Enterpreneurship Program is unique in providing access to capital that would otherwise be unavailable and focusing on a segment of the population that would be overlooked by other programs. And most importantly, this segment is also the most vulnerable.