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Questions and Answers

 

1. Is Hands with Hands (HwH’s) a registered charity in Australia?

A: No but it is a registered charity in Germany, Austria and Holland.

 

 

2. Are donations raised in Australia for HwH’s microcredit or other projects claimable for tax purposes?

A: Donations made to HwH cannot claim tax deductions in income tax returns.

 

 

3. Who are the initial co-founders and current co-founders of HwH?

A: Initially: Kira Kay and Dipendra K.C. Nepali national. Kira regularly visits Nepal to oversee HwH’s projects and is the International President of HwH.

Currently: Rafael Sebastion Ebner; Coen Volker & Nina Cejinar.

All of their activities are carried out pro bono.

 

 

 

4. HwH’s connection to Australia?

 A: Kira completed her business degree at Curtin University in Perth Western Australia and has extended family ties here.She holds retreats in Byron Bay NSW at various times but is based in Germany.

Kira was asked to speak at Leadership WA’s Signature 10 month Program while visiting  WA in 2009. She spoke on Grass Roots Leadership.

i. Viti Simmons first met Kira at one of the above programs events.

 

 

 

5. What year was HwH’s – a small NGO established in Nepal?

A: In regards to the Microfinance Cooperatives Kira and Dipendra implemented a pilot in a rural village in Chitwan District 2005. Since the success of this pilot HwHs has established 3 cooperatives in this area

 

 

 

6. What is microcredit?

A: HwH’s have replicated Professor Muhammad Yunus’s model of microcredit known as the ‘father of microcredit’ and founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

Definition of microcredit, ‘…programs that extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families.’ (http://grameen-info.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=viewed&id+32&Item=91 accessed 21 December 2012)

 

 

 

7. What are Microfinance Cooperatives?

A. “The importance of cooperatives in addressing the lack of access for loans by millions has identified that women were most likely to pay back the loans’ and ‘ Yunus realised that the formation of group membership – or a cooperative – creates group support: with that comes group pressure which smooths out behaviour patterns and makes the borrow more reliable.” (Yunus & Jolis, op.cit., 1998, p.105)

 

 

 

8. Why Viti Simmons become an Ambassador for HwH’s?

A: When Viti heard Kira present at the 2009 Leadership WA on Grassroots Leadership she was taken with HwH’s philosophy. When communities apply for access to loans for community projects they are asked:

 

i. What are you going to contribute to the project; and

 

ii.How do you plan to make it sustainable - became the hook.

 

 

 

9. What pro bono activities has Viti contributed to HwH since 2010?

a) Established communication with Kira Kay through technology once she graduated from the Leadership WA program end of 2009.

 

b) Undertook Microfinance Fieldwork in Jutpani V.D.C.4, Chitwan District on behalf of HwH’s early 2011.

 

c) Produced report end of 2011 after completion of Post Graduate Certificate in Social Impact undertaken at the University of WA Business School – Centre for Social Impact. 

 

d) Self- Published, A tree needs water to bear fruit: enterprising women creating reservoirs for poverty alleviation in 2013. This resource also captures Viti’s honorary fieldwork undertaken 2003 – 2005 with University of Western Australia Centre for Women and Business. This was made possible by integrating this project with personal travel and involved interviewing rural, regional, remote and provincial (RRRaP) women operating small business enterprises.

 

e) First Giving Circle Trial was conducted in 2013 for HwH training needs.

 

 

 

10. What was the motivating factor for Viti to undertake the Australasian Fieldwork?

a) During Viti’s Post Graduate Certificate studies on business management it became evident in 2002 that the contribution of women in small business in RRRaP areas to the national economy and communities was sparse.

i.2006 ‘Enterprising Women in Rural, regional and Remote Australasia’ article was initially presented at the SEAANZ conference in Armadale in 2005 and was recipient of a best paper award. It has been subjected to further peer review and revision and published in the Small Enterprise Research – The Journal of SEAANZ Volume 14, Number 1 – 2006 (Still, L.V. & Simmons, V).

 

b) By-products from the above fieldwork included: 

i. The establishment of Bear Fruit as a Social Business.

 

ii.Production of music CD capturing some of the women interviewed interwoven with original music.

 

iii. Workshops and customised training for developing business ideas to start-up.

 

 

 

11. What was the learning and hypothesis that arose when Viti merged her Australasian fieldwork with the Microfinance Fieldwork in Nepal?

a) The learning’s were that immaterial of the business model there are numerous ‘sharedexperiences’ of women in enterprise in the developing and developed world.

 

b) Therefore, Viti’s hypothesis consists of three questions:

i. What type of ‘scaffolding’ will need to be built to bring business women from the developing and developing world closer together?

 

ii.How can their awareness of one another be heightened-encouraged?

 

iii. And what will emerge when their ‘shared experiences’ meet?

 

 

 

12. Viti’s responses to questions 11a. i & ii was the concept of Philanthropic Franchaising – Giving Circles which evolved from writing her book. Potentially she sees women operating small businesses forming their own Giving Circles as part of the scaffolding to bring women in enterprise closer together.

a) The trials are to refine a ‘giving circle’ framework that women in business can utilise.

 

b) This will be made available when Viti revises her resource book in 2015.

 

 

 

13. Therefore, the 2nd trial is being conducted by John Curtin Leadership Academy - HwH Community Project 1st semester 2014. Their trial will include the following:

a) Raising awareness of the concept Philanthropic Franchaising to women in business.

 

b) Hosting an event to raise donations for HwH’s Microfinance projects.

 

c) The JCLP event will be held on Sunday 18th May 2014.

i. Hands with Hands Microfinance Giving Circle – 2014 (HwH-MGC) will include women in business and those outside of the sector who wish to join this circle.

 

 

 

14. What happens to the donations from the HwH-MGC 2014 event?

a) Viti and two nominated JCLA group members will manage the process and oversee the documentation with three signatures. This governance will remain in place until the HwH-MGC donations are transferred to the HwH Bank in Chitwan District, Nepal.

 

b) Online and cash donations will be banked in Bear Fruit’s Social Division account until transfer.

 

c) There will be a payment/collection period of 5 days from the event date in May 2014.

 

 

 

15. How is the donated money transferred to HwH’s?

a) Viti will make a one off transfer of funds at the end of the payment/ collection period in May. This will ensure that there is only one off transfer payment cost deducted from the HwH-MGC.

 

b) Once completed Viti will contact the 2 JCLA nominated members and Kira Kay that the payment transfer has commenced and Kira will inform Viti when donations have been deposited.

 

 

 

16. How are the donations spent? The (2013 Women in Business giving circle funds were spent as follows – author Kira Kay):

a) “The funds that you had sent have contributed to the advanced cooperative training that the Jutpani members participated in during June/July of this year - which has had significant impact! Plus I used some of the funds for Shila's [Coordinator of the Microfinance Projects] intensive training, which will benefit all members in both groups.

 

b) There is some left over which will be used now for the Shivanagar group to participate in basic cooperative training. These trainings we are seeing are having a big impact on what the women can see of their own potential plus what they can onwardly develop.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

”Viti is planning to return to Nepal in October/November 2014 to spend time with Kira visiting a number of HwH’s projects including their Microfinance projects in Chitwan District.

 

Training needs are invariably determined by communities.

 

 

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