In February 2017 I was lucky enough to visit our microfinance partner in Pakistan, Akhuwat. Please read my series of blogs to share my experience and insights into this inspiring organisation.
If you are interested in reading more about Islamic microfinance, my colleague Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan and renowned microfinance experience Dr Malcolm Harper will soon publish a book on Islamic microfinance, which contains a chapter on Akhuwat.
Showing posts with label clothes bank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clothes bank. Show all posts
Monday, 13 March 2017
Pakistan blog series | Day 4 - Khana Nou Branch and Delhi Gate Branch: How Lendwithcare works with Akhuwat
In February 2017 I was lucky enough to visit our microfinance partner in Pakistan, Akhuwat. Please read my series of blogs to share my experience and insights into this inspiring organisation.
The borrowers at the Khana Nou branch are also funded by Lendwithcare lenders. During my visit I observed many people either making a repayment on their loan or submitting a new loan application.
The borrowers at the Khana Nou branch are also funded by Lendwithcare lenders. During my visit I observed many people either making a repayment on their loan or submitting a new loan application.
Pakistan blog series | Day 3 - Akhuwat office: are they really as good as they seem?
In February 2017 I was lucky enough to visit our microfinance partner in Pakistan, Akhuwat. Please read my series of blogs to share my experience and insights into this inspiring organisation.
One of my tasks when on an evaluation trip for Lendwithcare is to ask questions from Lendwithcare supporters and potential supporters. Three questions I've been asked about our partnership with Ahkuwat are:
1. As a provider of interest-free microfinance, funded by voluntary donations*, are the donations from borrowers really voluntary or do they affect whether someone gets a loan?
2. Does Akhuwat prioritise Muslim borrowers?
3. The percentage of female borrowers is lower than in other Lendwithcare countries.
*Akhuwat encourages its borrowers to donate to Akhuwat's program to help their brethren once the borrowers themselves have gained through economic stability.
One of my tasks when on an evaluation trip for Lendwithcare is to ask questions from Lendwithcare supporters and potential supporters. Three questions I've been asked about our partnership with Ahkuwat are:
1. As a provider of interest-free microfinance, funded by voluntary donations*, are the donations from borrowers really voluntary or do they affect whether someone gets a loan?
2. Does Akhuwat prioritise Muslim borrowers?
3. The percentage of female borrowers is lower than in other Lendwithcare countries.
*Akhuwat encourages its borrowers to donate to Akhuwat's program to help their brethren once the borrowers themselves have gained through economic stability.
Pakistan blog series | Day 1 - Visit to Akhuwat’s office: so much more than microfinance
In February 2017 I was lucky enough to visit our microfinance partner in Pakistan, Akhuwat. Please read my series of blogs to share my experience and insights into this inspiring organisation.
As part of my job I am privileged to visit parts of the world that I wouldn't do otherwise.
One of the most memorable and inspiring trips I have taken recently was to Lahore in Pakistan. Despite the negative impression of Pakistan that the media sometimes present, it was memorable not because of danger lurking round every corner.
It was because I have never come across a more inspirational group of people than the staff of Akhuwat, led by their founder Dr Amjad Saqib.
The city and airport were much less frenetic that I'd imagined (although perhaps landing in Lahore at 2am had something to do with that!)
I had been to Delhi some years earlier and I still vividly remember how many people were at the airport.
It quickly became apparent that westerners are a rare sight in Pakistan, even in large cities such as Lahore. It took a few days to get used to being stared at, but I soon realised that as soon as I smiled, people would shyly smile back. And it wasn't long (in fact, I think it was the next morning in the hotel lift!) before I was asked for my first selfie - and it wouldn't be the last that week!
As part of my job I am privileged to visit parts of the world that I wouldn't do otherwise.
One of the most memorable and inspiring trips I have taken recently was to Lahore in Pakistan. Despite the negative impression of Pakistan that the media sometimes present, it was memorable not because of danger lurking round every corner.
It was because I have never come across a more inspirational group of people than the staff of Akhuwat, led by their founder Dr Amjad Saqib.
The city and airport were much less frenetic that I'd imagined (although perhaps landing in Lahore at 2am had something to do with that!)
I had been to Delhi some years earlier and I still vividly remember how many people were at the airport.
It quickly became apparent that westerners are a rare sight in Pakistan, even in large cities such as Lahore. It took a few days to get used to being stared at, but I soon realised that as soon as I smiled, people would shyly smile back. And it wasn't long (in fact, I think it was the next morning in the hotel lift!) before I was asked for my first selfie - and it wouldn't be the last that week!
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Tackling gender inequality in Pakistan | The Akhuwat clothes bank initiative
Following his recent trip to
Pakistan, Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan tells us about a very interesting project
implemented by our MFI partner AKHUWAT.
 |
| Guriya, who works in the Clothes Bank |
Transgender persons, or khwaja
siras as they are often referred to in Pakistan, routinely face a high level of
discrimination in access to health, housing, education and employment as well
as ridicule, intimidation and the threat of physical violence. Most khwaja siras are forced to
live at the margins of society and earn an income by dancing at ceremonies such
as weddings and births, and most commonly from begging. In an almost
unprecedented example of positive discrimination Dr Amjad Saqib, the founder
and executive director of Akhuwat, Lendwithcare’s partner in Pakistan, decided
when he established a clothes bank in May of last year to only employ khwaja
siras to sort, repair, clean and pack the clothes. Such regular employment
opportunities are almost unheard of for transgender persons. Akhuwat now
employs six full-time khwaja siras, namely Naghma, Naina, Guriya, Faisal,
Moshin Deedar and Guru Taj, in the clothes bank which is based in Akhuwat’s
head office in Lahore.
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