Monthly Archives: March 2011

Bijali Brings the Carnival to Her Village

Posted on by
3

Be! Skill: Building, maintaining & using relationships. The power of social connections and networks.

The village of Sambandhpur is buzzing with excitement.

A mela (carnival) is coming to a nearby village and it is all Bijali, age 10, and her best friend Pankhuri hear everyone talking about.

The carnival is what everyone is talking about...

Bijali asks her dadi (grandmother) if she can go to the mela, her dadi agrees but when she rushes to see if Pankhuri can go too, her parents refuse. Pankhuri, like Bijali, does not go to school and has to stay home and do housework. Bijali promises to tell Pankhuri about everything they see at the mela.

Pankhuri is not allowed to go to the carnival

And so Bijali, and a line of women, go to the nearby village.

And it is just as marvelous, magical and wonderful as she could imagine.

The magical, marvelous, wonderful mela

When she gets home she goes straight to Pankhuri to tell her all about the mela. But she realizes telling her friend about it is not enough. Pankhuri is so sad she missed it. Bijali decides if Pankuri can’t go to the carnival, she will bring the carnival to Pankhuri.

Bijali calls him on the phone but he says he will only bring the carnival to her village if 200 people say they will come. He tells Bijali she must bring him proof, which means Bijali needs to get 200 signatures.

Shy Bijali talks to the carnival manager

Broken-hearted Bijali tells her grandmother what the mela manager said. And Bijali’s grandmother answered, “Well then, let’s see how many people you do know!” Bijali’s journey to build relationships begins. She begins with who she knows – her mother, father, grandmother, and who they know. And slowly, one by one, she collects signatures. As Bijali networks her way through her village she becomes more confident talking to people.  All she must do is think of reasons why each person would want the mela to come.

Will Bijali get 200 signatures?

Bijali’s older brother is not happy that his younger sister is going all around the village talking to everyone and he forbids her from leaving the house.

Or will her brother stop her?

Will Bijali get enough signatures before the mela passes by her village?

Will the mela manager keep his word?

Will she fulfill her wish of Pankuri seeing a real carnival?

This delightful tale of stitching social connections together is set in rural Gujarat. The book will be out later this year.

Candles can solve crimes

Posted on by
2

Two weeks ago Pravesh called us because he’d heard the ‘Be! An Entrepreneur’ radio show on All India Radio. Pravesh is 19 years old, lives in a village outside of Delhi and he was calling because he wants to solve the problem of crime where he lives by starting a candle business. We thought Pravesh had a good idea and we wanted to meet this young entrepreneur, so on a foggy morning, we set out from Delhi for his village in Uttar Pradesh.  We got a bit lost and when we finally arrived it was already the afternoon and the entire village had gathered around Pravesh’s home to support him.

Towards Pravesh's village

“The problem is young people are uneducated and unemployed and can’t find work so there is a high crime rate. Many families have migrated to cities in search of job opportunities,” Pravesh explained to the Be! Fund team. He lives with his parents and six brothers and sisters. He finished grade 12 and is one of the few young people in the village who have completed school. After school he took a candle making course, learning how to make candles out of the leftover parts of beehives. Now Pravesh wants to use the skills he’s learned to establish a candle making business in his village to create jobs for at least eight other young people.

Pravesh and his friends

For 12 months Pravesh has been everywhere seeking finance, from banks to micro-credit organizations but no one has given him the amount he needs to start because he doesn’t have any previous experience. Pravesh and the Be! Fund team walked together through the village while Pravesh pointed out the locked doors of homes people have left behind as they migrated to cities in search of work. “My dream is to unlock the doors of all the homes that people have moved out of and bring them back to the village. I want to start a movement of young people in the village – so that they become skilled and can find other employment opportunities in the village besides farming and not have to migrate to the city”.

Pravesh wants to open the locked houses

Pravesh will now go through a series of interviews, and make a business plan that is presented to the Be! Fund Investment Committee.  Joris Hensen, from Deutsche Bank, who is working to design an impact monitoring system for our investments was also present on the visit. As Joris said, “This day gave me valuable insights into what this IT system and measures are going to be used for. It keeps me motivated to develop the system as fast as possible”.

Pravesh's business will mean a better future for his brother

A story of secondhand shoes: it’s all about marketing

Posted on by
2

Be! Skill: Marketing, advertising & the importance of market research

Shoes take you where you want to go. They help you go to school, to your first job interview, to work and to play. When you don’t have shoes you can’t go so far. Many people across India do not have shoes. As Vinod in a small school in India said, “I want to tell you my second-hand shoe story. I want to start a second-hand shoe business for people cannot afford shoes. I will begin by giving away three pairs of shoes free-of-cost, to three different people in three different communities. When they wear my shoes, they’ll talk about my shoes, they’ll buy my shoes.”

Mishti’s second-hand shoe story is inspired by Vinod’s idea of social enterprise.

Mishti is 22 years old and lives in Calcutta. She’s had to drop out of school to go to work looking after her family’s phone booth because her father is sick. Everyday Mishti looks forward to her visit from her friend, 10 year old Biju.  Mishti becomes really troubled when she realizes Biju does not go to school because he does not have shoes to wear.

Biju doesn't have shoes and can't go to school

Ideas begin whirling around Mishti’s head. Why can’t Biju’s family afford to buy him shoes? How much do shoes cost anyway?  And why isn’t anyone selling shoes at a price families can afford?

With Biju as an inspiration, Mishti sets out to conduct market research for her business plan. And with the numbers before her, she realizes perhaps the answer is not ‘new’ shoes, but shoes that have been worn before.  Second-hand shoes can still take people places they want to go—they can take Biju to school.

Mishti does market research - how much do a pair of shoes cost?

Mishti decides she must find out what exactly is the right price for used shoes. Will people want to buy shoes that have been worn before? What stories will she tell to sell her shoes? After her research is complete Mishti must apply what she has learned.

Does Mishti achieve what she set out to do in the beginning?  Does Biju finally get to go to school in a pair of his very own, just as-good-as-new shoes?

Find out when the book comes out later this year!