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Faces of SKImfi: Prudence K.
When Prudence and her SKImfi group members gather for business meetings, they begin each session with a chant: “High high, it lifts you high. SKImfi lifts you UP!” Prudence K., a 30-year-old mother of three, launched an electrical supplies business after attending a Selection, Planning and Management workshop with SKImfi Zimbabwe. She accessed a $100…
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A Conversation with Shyam: How We Find Talent
“Everyone has talent, but not everyone is given the opportunity to take advantage of it,” says SKIC founder, Shyam K. Iyer. Though SKIC chooses participants selectively, beneficiaries end up being role models for their friends, families, and communities at large. Listen in to hear about how important talent is to SKIC, and how the gifted…
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Why Early-Stage Scholarships? (Part 3)
In parts 1 and 2 of this series, we reported that investing in early-stage education makes social and fiscal sense for both the recipient and the community. In this post, we’ll explore how, relative to later interventions, early-stage intervention is remarkably more effective and much lower in cost. Policies that aim to repair educational deficits…
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A Conversation with Shyam: Building Our Network
After returning from a recent trip to Lebu, Chile, SKIC founder Shyam got to thinking about how it is that we build our cohort of program participants and project managers. Listen in to hear about the people he met and how these connections enable the SKIC team to grow.
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Why Early-Stage Scholarships? (Part 2)
Early-stage scholarships offer tremendous benefits, not only for recipients, but also for their communities. In Part One of this series, we explored the direct benefits for early education scholarship recipients, including reduced criminal activity, fewer teenage pregnancies, and better employment rates. These outcomes create a more sustainable and healthy community environment. By investing in youth, SKIpgo is investing in everyone. “The young ladies of…
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Why Early-Stage Scholarships? (Part 1)
Shyam is often asked why SKIpgo focuses on early childhood education instead of adolescent or college education. SKIpgo focuses on making the largest impact by investing its resources in opportunities that will have the most long-term results possible. By offering early-stage scholarships for girls ages three to five years old, SKIpgo ensures that this investment…
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A Conversation with Shyam: Re-Cap of 2013
2013 was a productive year for SKImfi beneficiaries: SKImfi expanded to 2 rural regions outside of Zimbabwe’s capital Mutare, and SKImfi Lebu celebrated its first full year of operation. In this podcast, SKIC founder Shyam explores some of the data trends that were prevalent over the course of the year. These observations are further fleshed…
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Why females? Finance as empowerment
Citizens of many developing countries—in particular Zimbabwe and Chile—have experienced oppression in various forms, ranging from repressive regimes to political isolation. With some exceptions, women and children are hurt most by these periods of suppression. During these times, power is defined by firing a gun, a role that females are typically excluded from. Instead, they…
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In This Together
One of the main problems facing aid in the developing world is anonymity. Organizations that provide aid to “the children” or “the hungry” fail to specify whom, precisely, are the recipients of that aid. While these regions often desperately need aid, the blanket statement of “the hungry,” for example, diminishes the individuality of countless people…
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Through Stickers: Around the World in 2013
[slideshow gallery_id=”3″] SKIC stickers made their way around the world in 2013. Here’s a glimpse of where we’ve been. To get some stickers of your own, please email info@skicharities.org. Payment isn’t required – but a photo of your posted sticker is! The more ground we cover, the greater the chances we can spread the word…