My dear friends,
I am really happy to connect and update you about the BRIDGE activities since my last mail a little over a month ago. I hope all of you are doing well and keeping yourself safe from the pandemic.
I am happy to share the good news that three girls from our BRIDGE family have found their match and we have provided them small financial assistance for their weddings. Covid curbs have helped them limit their expenses. Let’s all pray and wish them happiness in their married lives.
I am also pleased to share the news that BRIDGE has helped two of our beneficiary families start small ventures during this lockdown period and these families are able to generate regular income, albeit small. One has started a small chicks farm where the family breeds chicks and sells them at various stages. If things go as planned, they will be able to expand slowly and generate enough income to sustain themselves. Another family has started a goat farm on similar lines with our help and hope to make both ends meet from the expected income.
Two more of our families whom we have been providing subsistence support have managed to stand on their own feet as their children have secured jobs and are earning enough to sustain themselves. BRIDGE has therefore withdrawn our monthly support to these families. As a policy, BRIDGE will support families only till they are able to stand on their own feet. We can be proud that we have been successful in this endeavor. God bless them and bless everyone who supports our initiatives.
Women Rising
Friends, in view of the success of the business assistance initiative mentioned above, I am thinking of extending this to more families where we can assist women to move from crisis to self-sufficiency with BRIDGE help. The initiative, which we wish to call ‘Women Rising’, aims to assist women and their families to achieve self-sufficiency and lead fulfilling lives. As part of this scheme, BRIDGE will provide an interest-free loan of up to Rs 50,000 to widows who wish to start small business ventures. The loan would be released only after assessing the viability of the planned project and doing due diligence by our BRIDGE team. The beneficiary will have to start paying back the loan in small installments of Rs 2,000-3,000 a month after six months of availing the loan. BRIDGE will assign individual volunteers to monitor the progress of each venture.
Since BRIDGE does not have the wherewithal to pull it off on our own, I wish to approach a few corporates to support this initiative by sponsoring a few applicants. I guess since BRIDGE would be monitoring the progress, corporates would be comfortable signing on. I would like to hear your opinion on this new initiative of ours. I also request you to use your good offices to get corporates to sign on.
Since I do not want to take more of your time, I shall wind up, for now, promising of course another mail shortly where I will share the details of the new BRIDGE family members.
Thank you so much
Shibu