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“It’s About Trade, Not Aid”
How Micro-Finance Help to Stimulate Communities at Large “Any time I’ve been given something – just given something – I’ve never treated it very dearly or very importantly,” SKIC founder, Shyam, says. “But when I have worked for something and reaped the reward, I feel satisfied, accomplished, and inspired.” A similar pattern follows with SKIC…
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Finance, the Link to Employment & Empowerment
WHEN Shyam decided to create SKI Charities, “finance was going through a really tough reputational period – it’s still going through a tough time.” And yet he stood by the belief that finance can also be really empowering to people. Shyam reasoned that, because people gain confident through employment, finance could be used as a way…
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A Conversation with Shyam: How we Maximize our Impact
In our latest “Conversation with Shyam,” the charity’s founder speaks about how we are able to maximize our impact as an organization. Despite being a small, privately-funded organization, SKIC operates in places where the demand for micro-finance loans are high, but the supply is not there. In both Zimbabwe and Lebu, the interest-level in participating…
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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: The Election in Chile
A run-off election this upcoming Sunday, December 15th, will determine Chile’s next president. SKI Charities founder, Shyam K. Iyer, sits down to talk with us about the political climate in Chile, and how it affects SKIC beneficiaries in Lebu.
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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…