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Why Focus on Women?
SKI Charities founder Shyam has been asked why it is that the charity focuses exclusively on women. When he visits town halls and communities to tell them about SKIC, plenty of men attend. Some of them jokingly (and others more aggressively) ask him, “Why are we not included? Why do you just focus on women?…
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Why Choose Microfinance?
Founder Shyam K. Iyer discusses the basics of SKIC’s SKImfi program. “The term ‘micro,’ at least to me, connotes community-mindedness. The business efforts of the women we work with aren’t global. They focus on very small economies, on their individual communities, and, if nothing else, SKI Charities is a community-minded organization. We believe that focusing…
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A Conversation with Shyam: Where We Are and Where We’re Going
For our fourth SKI Charities podcast, founder Shyam K. Iyer sits down to discuss why he chose to begin the charity in Mutare, Zimbabwe. He goes on to talk about how he chose the second charity site (Lebu, Chile) and what the similarities are between the two. Listen in on the discussion, and hear Shyam’s…
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Our Project Managers: The Heart of SKIC
Based in New York City, SKI Charities founder Shyam K. Iyer relies heavily on his project managers and field officers in Mutare, Zimbabwe and Lebu, Chile to monitor and maintain the charity on a day-to-day basis. Though he travels to both locations frequently, Shyam emphasizes that it is the project managers who make the decisions…
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A Conversation with Shyam: The Election in Zimbabwe
In the latest “Conversation with Shyam,” we sat down with the SKI Charities founder to talk about the presidential elections that were recently held in Zimbabwe. Candidates Robert Mugabe (Prime Minister from 1980-87 and President from 1987-Present) and Morgan Tsvangirai (Prime Minister from 2009-Present) currently share power in Zimbabwe’s presidential republic. The election for presidency resulted…
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Why Zimbabwe?
When he first began SKIC, Shyam was asked countless times why he didn’t start it in India: “You’re of Indian origin, everybody is already there – why not go there too?” And that’s exactly why he didn’t. Shyam reasoned that, while there is plenty of demand in India, there’s also plenty of supply. He wanted…
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A Conversation with Shyam: Back from Zimbabwe
After his most recent trip to Zimbabwe, SKI Charities founder Shyam was nothing short of inspired. Here, he recounts the stories of SKImfi participants who have invigorated their communities not just with new businesses but with hope. The spillover effect is definitely at play here, with just one woman inspiring everyone from her family, to…
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On the Right Track: Early Stage Scholarships in Zimbabwe
Shyam readily – and fondly – recalls observing young girls in Zimbabwe skipping their way to school at 4:30 in the morning. It’s a memory he can recount in vivid detail – and one that certainly left an impression on him. “There’s nothing like the sunsets and sunrises in Africa. The soil is blood red,…
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What’s in a Name?
SKIpgo Little girls skipped along the side of a dust road as an African sunrise peeked above the horizon, never knowing that the lasting image they created inspired the name of a scholarship program. It was 4:30 in the morning, and Shyam was driving with colleagues through the bush—rural areas—of Zimbabwe. They passed countless children who walked…
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¿Por qué Chile?
Of all the places in the world SKI Charities could extend to, you might be wondering, “Why Lebu, Chile?” In our last blog post, we talked with Shyam about his most recent travels to Lebu, where he discussed the vibrant presence of the indigenous Mapuche culture and his admiration of their hard work. How did…