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About Hashoo Foundation
The Hashoo Foundation’s vision is of an ethical, equitable, inclusive and progressive society in which people live with dignity and have power over their own lives. HF has an extensive portfolio in the area of socio economic development and poverty alleviation. HF’s mission is to enable and empower communities to be independent by facilitating equitable access to opportunities, through working on programmes that lie within its four core programmatic areas: economic development, education and skills development, supporting people with special needs and providing emergency relief and social welfare. Led by Chairperson Sarah Hashwani, HF is rapidly expanding and is operating in all provinces of Pakistan implementing innovative programmes that are in line with its vision of promoting socio economic development.
HF is registered in three countries: Pakistan, USA and UK – with plans of spreading its network to Canada and Tajikistan as well. The operations in these countries are managed by their respective Boards. Further, with the collaboration with St. Thomas University, Cristal Monatez, Executive Director of Hashoo Foundation represents the organisation on the Board of the honourary committee. HF finds it to be a matter of great prestige to be part of a network that includes Dr. Mohammad Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Bank among its members. HF also runs a Youth Ambassadors Programme, where youth from the developed countries such as the US, UK and Canada visit Pakistan to share knowledge and, at the same time, understand the environment and culture. HF’s Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming project is a featured commitment on the Clinton Global Initiative website. Other partners include Church World Services (CWS), International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Real Medicine Foundation.
HF runs a majority of its programmes in a self-sustainable manner. The beneficiaries are trained and brought up to a certain level where they are in a position to support themselves and also give back to the Foundation for value addition of the project. Details on programmes being run by HF can be found on www.hashoofoundation.org
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Fact: The Northern Areas of Pakistan has the required honey bee flora to accommodate up to one million honey bee colonies (according to the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council).
The concept of bee farming has been present in the Northern Areas of Pakistan for a long time. The only difference between then and now is that women are now actively participating in what was previously a male-dominated occupation. Thanks to Hashoo Foundation’s Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming project, women from the Northern Areas are now rearing bees in their own backyards, producing honey and reaping profits in return.
This innovative idea is Hashoo Foundation (HF) Chairperson Sarah Hashwani’s brainchild. In an area where women are culturally bound to remain indoors and keep house, the need was felt to provide them with an avenue to earn money. Traditionally, women in these areas do embroidery on the side to earn an additional, however meagre, sum of money. Two years ago, the Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming project was launched in Gilgit and Chitral to train women in honey bee farming, so that they could contribute towards achieving a better standard of living for themselves and their families.
Joining hands with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) – which was already involved in providing training for bee keeping in the area – Hashoo Foundation started off the project with around 90 women from different households. After the training period was over and honey was in the production stage, HF further facilitated the beneficiaries by linking them to the market so that the honey could be sold at a certain collection point and they would get their payments up front. The Hashoo Group is presently buying the honey, which is being supplied to its chain of nine hotels in the country. There are plans for expanding into a bigger market, as the project expands with more women being trained resulting in more honey being produced. The 100& pure and organically produced honey will be placed in major stores around the country, with tentative future plans of exporting it as well.
What’s even more interesting is that the Foundation has an agreement with the women on how the money can be spent. Since the project was launched for a certain purpose, i.e. improving the standard of living, the women are legally bound to, first and foremost, send their children to school, and then spend on health, food and other utilities (in that order). A lot of women have invested in mattresses so that they don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore. The average income per producer is Rs. 17000. Looking at how the women are doing so well, a lot of men have given up their jobs and joined the women in honey production.
This project received immense recognition when it won the prestigious BBC World Challenge 2008 global competition. The competition, which is held every year, highlights and rewards a project or small business from around the world that has shown enterprise and innovation at a grass-roots level. After this project had been entered into the competition, it was shortlisted from 750 entries to reach the final 12. A massive campaign was launched so that people would vote for this competition and HF did an excellent job in promoting this project on every platform possible. With the main idea behind the campaign being ‘Vote for Pakistan’, a lot of national sentiments were stirred as 2008 was the toughest year Pakistan had faced in terms of its image being maligned globally. According to Zaviya Mohyuddin, a corporate governance executive at HF, who played a major role in promoting the campaign, this project managed to secure the highest amount of votes ever recorded in the competition!
The project is entering its second phase with over a hundred more women being trained in bee farming. It is definitely buzzing with activity as international interest has been generated and a microcredit scheme is being launched in collaboration with two US-based universities.
Hashoo Foundation has recently launched a microfinance initiative, keeping in line with its vision of poverty alleviation and women empowerment. Dr. Shabbir Hussain, Director Programmes, Hashoo Foundation gives the details about this recent venture launched in liaison with two US-based universities; Rice University and St. Thomas University Microcredit Programme.
How did this microfinance project come about?
Shabbir Hussain: “Hashoo Foundation (HF) intends to expand the honey bee project by scaling up horizontally as well as geographically. Accordingly, with the addition of the microcredit component, the project is moving towards Credit and Enterprise Development (CED). HF has the required expertise available in its Head Office to provide technical assistance to its field offices and coordinate with donors/collaborative partners through HF’s US office.”
Please tell us about the model.
SH: “Under the proposed model, Revolving Fund (RF) will be established in collaboration with partner organisations. After imparting training to the identified potential beneficiaries (through baseline surveys), HF will provide microcredit based on need assessment (ranging from $350 to $500 per beneficiary). After the return of loans by the
first batch over a cycle of one year, the amount will be provided as loan to the succeeding batch of beneficiaries and the process will continue. Over a period of three years, HF plans to provide small loans to 124 beneficiaries with available RF of about $24,200 which is likely to be received from two collaborating universities in the US; namely Rice University (Owl Microfinance) and St. Thomas University Microcredit Programme. The concept papers of the project have been agreed upon and approved by these universities.”
How is it different from other MF models already being implemented in the country?
SH: “The models already implemented in the county are operational with: (1) Credit Only approach, like the First Microfinance Bank, Khushhali Bank, Kashf Micriofinance Bank, Rozgar, Tameer etc.; and (2) Credit Plus approach which is implemented by RSPs i.e. AKRSP, NRSP, BRSP, SRSP etc., under which social sector interventions (health and education) are also envisaged as integrated programmes for social development. HF has planned a unique programme of CED based on the use of Revolving Fund for microcredit.”
What is the area of operation?
SH: “The area of operation may be expanded by replicating the model in other northern parts of the country including Chitral, Kaghan and Muzaffarabad (AJK).”
What are the challenges?
SH: “Major challenges are: (1) acceptance of communities to use microcredit specifically in the rural areas; (2) Social, religious and cultural constraints of using credit on interest basis, although we plan on charging a nominal service charge of 5% but there still may be resistance; (3) Law and order situation/political stability of the country.”
What is the target market?
SH: “Our target market continues to be the women. We have already run a pilot, which was successful in benefiting more than 100 women beneficiaries of honey bee farming. We believe that increased women participation has positive correlation towards success of similar programmes, as it has been seen in the case of Kashf Foundation and other Pakistan- and Bangladesh-based models like Grameen Bank, BRAC, ASA which target women.”
What is the vision for the future? Is there any possibility of it being implemented on a large, nation-wide scale; given that MF has been experiencing success all over Pakistan?
SH: “We have a strong component of skills development through our three Human Development Resource Centers (HDRCs) located in Gilgit, Chitral and Rawalpindi. CED model can be integrated in all the HDRCs in the long run. The model can be replicated nation-wide, if resources permit. Our Chairperson, Sarah Hashwani, has a vision of alleviating poverty through effective and efficient interventions, particularly facilitating income generating activities (IGAs) leading towards economic empowerment of rural women.”
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Naheed’s story
Naheed Akhtar hails from a poor family in Rawalpindi and is visually impaired. Both her parents were illiterate and she grew up in an extremely isolated and unhealthy environment. HF enabled her to discover herself through intensive language and computer skills, research oriented study skills, presentations and group discussions; all of which were missing from her Intermediate studies.
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Dear friends:
Usually it is said that describing and writing about oneself is one of the hardest things to do and I agree with that. However, I will attempt to take on that challenge in the following few paragraphs.
My name is Naheed Akhtar. I am a visually impaired girl and registered as a blind person in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). I belong to one of the traditional families of Pakistan. I have three sisters, two brothers and mum and dad. Since the time I was getting my higher education in Pakistan, I always wanted to do something different and wanted to become someone special. According to my dad, “My daughter Naheed is different compared to the rest of my children and has unique goals to achieve.”
Currently, I am studying in Scotland. I have nearly finished my degree which is Specialisation in Learning Disabilities and Difficulties. I am also working as a Support Officer and undertaking a variety of volunteer roles such as a radio presenter, outreach worker and development officer. I came to the UK in August 2005 when I was offered a scholarship by HOAP Foundation, which is known as Hashoo Foundation nowadays. Hashoo Foundation is one of those astounding organisations which are running different projects based on the issues of disability and poverty in Pakistan, UK and USA.
Historical factors reveal that disabled people confront many barriers in all aspects of their lives due to their additional needs, particularly in developing countries. However, these barriers still exist in developed countries like the UK as well, and disabled people including me tackle with these in their day-to-day lives. I remember when I was in Pakistan, how complicated it was for me to cope with a number of obstacles in all aspects of my life. These obstacles included financial constraints, lack of general, additional and emotional support, lack of consistency in services and discriminatory and judgemental attitude of non-disabled people.
After arriving in the UK, these impediments and hindrances did not vanish and in order to cope with main stream society I still had to face many challenges, especially with regards to employment and education. It was hard for me to facilitate myself in order to meet my additional needs and requirements which I had due to my disability. This whole process was very rigid and stiff and, at one stage, it made me feel that I could not handle it anymore.
Fortunately, the wonderful support of the Chairperson, Miss Sarah Hashwani of Hashoo Foundation Pakistan encouraged me to deal with all the dilemmas and crises in a rational and judicious way. She always said, “Naheed, you are a bold girl. I am proud of your efforts and success and remember that Allah is always always with you.” Miss Hashwani treats me just like a sister and I call her Sarah Apa. Sarah Apa’s support was not only limited to financial assistance, but her friendly approach and emotional support assisted me throughout the whole time I was trying to achieve my goals.
At the moment, I see myself as an ambitious and enthusiastic person who desires to make a big change for people with disabilities in developing countries, especially in Pakistan. I urge that disabled people should be treated equally as other citizens. I want to implement the crucial principles of social inclusion and the practices of equality and diversity in Pakistan. I want the Pakistani Government to polish the existing legislation for people with disabilities and exercise this legislation in order to improve the lives of people with disabilities throughout the whole country. In order to make it happen, I would sacrifice my days and nights Insha’Allah.
