The Kindred Project Micro finance initiative believes that charity is not an answer to poverty; we offer a “Hand-up” not a “Hand-Out”. Hand-outs create a culture of dependency and take away individuals self – respect and initiative to break through the wall of poverty. In the words of Professor Yunus of Grameen Bank, “Unleashing of energy and creativity in each human being is the a of the UN Millennium answer to poverty”
The fund is managed by students of Sotogrande International School in Spain, aged 14 – 15 in partnership with The Kindred Project. The operating budget is currently limited to 1, 000,€. Our driving mission is to help disadvantaged young people to help themselves overcome poverty.
The Kindred Project delivers very small loans to young borrowers that live below the poverty line and do not have access to other formal financial institutions. The loans are not based on any collateral or legally enforceable contracts; they are based purely on trust.
The Kindred Project gives special emphasis on building social capital and protecting the environment.
In 2010 the Micro-credit Summit Campaign reported that more than 128 million of the world´s poorest families received micro-credit. Assuming an average of five persons per family, this means that loans to 128 million poorest clients affected some 641 million family members, which is greater than the combined population of the European Union and Russia. These micro-loans were used to help people living in poverty start or expand a range of small businesses, such as selling basic staples, producing handicrafts and delivering cell phones to remote villages.
We are proud to be part of that mission.