Ielts S3 Reading 1 – READING PASSAGE 1 Micro-Enterprise Credit for Street Youth _I am from a large, – Studocu

READING PASSAGE

1

Micro-Enterprise Credit for Street Youth

I am from a

large, poor fa

mily and for m

any year

s we have d

one withou

t breakfast. Ev

er since I joine

d the Street K

ids Internatio

nal program

I have been

able to buy m

y family su

gar and bu

ns for

breakfast. I have als

o bought myself decent s

econd

–

hand clothes and shoes.’

–

Doreen Soko

“We’ve had bus

iness experience. N

ow I’m confident to ex

pand what we

‘ve been doing. I’ve learn

t cash managem

ent, and the wa

y o

f

keeping money so we save for re

–

inves

tmen

t. Now bus

iness is a part o

f our lives. As w

ell, we didn

’t know each

other before

~ now we

‘ve

made n

ew fr

iends

.’

–

Fan Kaoma

Participant

s in the

Youth Skill

s Enterpri

se Initi

ative Progr

am, Zambia

Introductio

n

Although small

–

scale business training an

d c

redit programs have become more c

ommon throughout the world,

relatively li

ttle attent

ion has

been paid to the

need to direct such

opportunities t

o young people. Even less

attention has been

paid to childr

en living on t

he street or i

n

difficult

circumstances.

Over th

e past

nine yea

rs, St

reet Ki

ds Int

ernati

onal (S.

K.I.)

has bee

n worki

ng with

partner

organi

sations

in Af

rica,

Latin

Ame

ric

a and India to

support the economic lives of street

children. The purpose of this paper is

to share some of the lessons S

.K.I. and our partners ha

ve

learned.

Background

Typically, c

hildren do not

end up on the st

reets due to a

single cause,

but to a combinat

ion of factor

s: a dearth

of adequate

ly funded

schools, the demand for income at home, family breakdown arid viol

ence.

The street

may be attracti

ve to childr

en as a place t

o find

adventurous play and money.

However, it is al

so a place where some chi

ldren are exposed, wi

th littl

e or no protecti

on, to exp

loitative

employment, urban crime,

and abuse.

Children

who work o

n the

streets

are generally involved in unskilled,

labour

–

intensive tas

ks which

require lon

g hours, s

uch as sh

ining

shoes, carrying goods, guarding or washing cars, and i

nformal trading, Some may also earn income through begging, or through

theft and

other illegal

activities.

At the same time,

there are street

children who take

pride in supporti

ng themselves and thei

r families and who

often

enjoy their work,

Many children may choose ent

repreneurship because i

t allows them a degr

ee of independence, is

less exploi

tative than

many f

orms of

paid

employ

ment,

and i

s fle

xible

enough

to a

llow

them t

o part

icipa

te i

n other

acti

viti

es su

ch as

educat

ion an

d

domestic

tasks.

Street Busine

ss Partnerships

S.K.I. has

worked with

partner or

ganisations

in Latin

America, Afr

ica and

India to dev

elop innov

ative

opportunities for

street children

to earn

income.

•

The S.K.I. Bi

cycle Courier

Service first

started i

n the Sudan. Part

icipa

nts in t

his enterprise were

supplied with bi

cycles, which they

used to deliver

parcels and messages, and

whi

ch they

were requi

red

to pay for gradua

lly from their w

ages. A sim

ilar program

was

taken up in B

angalore, In

dia.

•

Another succes

sful proj

ect, The Shoe

Shine Collect

ive, was a

partnershi

p program wit

h the Y.W.C.A.

in the Dominica

n Repub

lic.

In this proj

ect, participants were l

ent money to purchase shoe

shine

boxes. They were als

o given a safe plac

e to store thei

r

equipment, and facil

ities for

individual savings

pl

ans.

•

The Youth Skill

s Enterprise i

nitiative

in Zambia is a

joint program wi

th the Red Cross

So

ciety and t

he

Y.W.C.A. St

reet youths

are

supported to start their own small

business through business training, li

fe

skills trai

ning and access to credit.

Lessons learned

The following l

essons have emerged fr

om the programs that

S.K.I. and

partner

organisat

ions have

created.

•

Being an entr

epreneur is

not for

everyone, nor

for every

street c

hild. Idea

lly, pote

ntial part

icipants

will

have been involved i

n the

organisation’s pr

ograms for at least

six months, and t

rust and relati

onship

–

building wi

ll have already been

established.

•

The involvement of

the partici

pants has been essenti

al to the

development of rel

evant programs.

Wh

en ch

ildr

en ha

ve ha

d a ma

jor

role in determining p

rocedures, they are m

ore likely to abide by

and

enforce them.

•

It

is critical f

or all loans to be l

inked to traini

ng programs that i

nclude the development of

basic business and l

ife skill

s.

•

There are tremendous

advantages to invol

ving parents or

guardians

in the program, w

here suc

h rela

tionships

exist. Home

visits

allow staff

the opportunity t

o know where the parti

cipants live,

and to

understand more about

each individual’s

situation.

•

Small loans

are provided

Initial

ly for

purchasing fi

xed assets

such as bicyc

les, shoe sh

ine kits

and

basic

building material

s for a

market

stal

l. As

t

he entrepr

eneurs gain experience,

the enterprises

can

be gradually expanded and

consideration can be

given to

increasin

g loan am

ounts. Th

e loan am

ounts

in S.K.I. p

rograms

have ge

nerally ran

ged from

US$30

–

$100.

•

All S.K.I

. programs h

ave charg

ed Interest on

the loans, prim

arily to get th

e entrepren

eurs used to

the

concept of paying interest on

borrowed money. Generally t

he rates have been modest (

lower than

bank rates

).

Conclusion

There is a need

to recognise t

he importance of ac

cess to credit

for impoveris

h

ed young people seeking

to fulfill

economic needs.

The

provision of small

loans to support

the entrepreneuri

al dreams and ambitions

of

youth can be an ef

fective means to help

them change their

lives. How

ever, we b

elieve tha

t credit

must be

extended in asso

ciati

on with other types of support that hel

p participants develop critical

life

s

kills

as well as

productive businesses.