Karakol Orphanage and Microfinance update
Some of you will know that one of the charities that I support here in Kyrgyzstan is the Karakol Orphanage.
I was introduced to the orphanage by a British (Irish) consultant, Hugh Coulter, who was working on an EU project which was based up in Karakol. You can find out more about how he came across them – and the two Microfinance projects that he supports on the postcard that I wrote about it last year.
There were lots of things about the orphanage that appealed to me, one of them being that they issue a quarterly newsletter giving news about what is happening up there, and about their fundraising efforts and how the money is used.
This week, the latest newsletter arrived in the email – a little late – it was supposed to arrive in September, but there have been a few delays – but as Jean, (Hugh’s wife), says – “better late than never”.
Actually Hugh’s project came to an end and he returned to Ireland earlier in the year and, to be honest, I wondered if that would mean problems for the three Karakol projects that they support. However, he is now back in Bishkek on another project and almost one of the first things he did was to travel up to Karakol to see what was going on.
There are reports about the Orphanage and four of the projects which they have undertaken in order to help make it more self-sustainable – another reason I like this particular project – and some of the improvements which they have been able to implement, as well as news about plans for future projects.
I said that Hugh and Jean also support a couple of Microfinance projects in Karakol. When he first told me about them, a few years ago, I wasn’t so impressed. I suppose it was a combination of my ignorance at the time about Microfinance, and also the fact that helping “kids in need” conjures up more appealing images in the mind than dull and dry “financial matters”.
However, some of the stories that he told me about the help that they have been able to give to individuals up in Karakol got me thinking and I started looking into the subject. I have now become a convert to the idea.
There are a number of funds like these two around the country and they can help a lot of the people in the remote rural areas in ways that the main banks and other lending institutions cannot.
I was so impressed that I asked them to become one of the first projects featured on our sponsored website for “Good causes in Kyrgyzstan”: www.gk.kg.
Click here to see a copy of their latest update, (September 2010), in pdf format.
For those of you on Facebook, they even have a group page: Karakol Orphanage and Microcredit Projects – email: – why not go and check it out? It’s worth a look.
And, no, I have no connection with these projects apart from being one of their supporters.
For the record: amongst the other charities that I support and have written about before, there are: Babushaka Adoption, Pamir Bridges and The Krasnaya Gvozdika Choir … I’ll write about some of the others in later postcards.
Bishkek