January 21, 2010
January 2010-Queens--After two intense
semesters, 
GLOBE, a student-managed academic program at The Peter J.
Tobin College of Business, distributed its first four loans to
entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Africa. The selected candidates, all
women, were Emela Romia, Blessing Sunday, Blessing Omotayo, and
Uche Muomah. All candidates were native Nigerians who requested the
loans to start businesses that would help lift their families out
of poverty and offer the possibility of education to their
children.
One of the loan recipients, Emela Romia, is a widow with
six children from Ute Oheze Village, Edo State, Nigeria. She
struggles to take care of her family due to the hardships they have
faced economically and physically. Three of her children have
severe cases of congenital cataracts. Emela needs to start a
business to be able to provide her children with medical check-ups
and treatment so they may continue to retain their vision. She
plans to use the loan of 25,000 Naira ($163 USD) to create a new
petty trade business selling fish and other items.
Other stories are shared within the Entrepreneurs’ section
of the newly launched GLOBE website found at: www.stjohns.edu/tobin/globe. GLOBE’s
mission is to help alleviate poverty in developing countries by
providing small business loans to entrepreneurs in impoverished
areas who would otherwise not have access to
credit. Simultaneously, GLOBE students learn about the
intricacies of microlending policies in the developing world and
the value of helping the poor to help themselves.
Through GLOBE, students manage all aspects of the microloan
program including: vetting loan applications and setting loan
terms, marketing the program, tracking funds flows, fundraising,
providing technology to the field, social networking, and measuring
program success. In turn, student management permits a low-cost
administrative structure with very little overhead costs, allowing
nearly 95% of all donations to go directly to the
borrower.
An established partnership with the Daughters of Charity,
numbering over 25,000 worldwide, has enabled GLOBE to have a
network of international, active field partners who identify worthy
loan candidates, make recommendations, disseminate funds and
collect loan repayments in an ongoing effort to reduce poverty and
distress in the communities in which they work. GLOBE currently
operates in 7 countries: Kenya, Bolivia, Nigeria, Ghana,
Mozambique, Thailand, and Madagascar. Students enrolled
in the GLOBE program also have the opportunity to apply to be a
Student Fellow.
In the Student Fellow Program, one or two students are selected
annually to travel to a destination where micro loans are
distributed. This April, two student fellows will travel to
Nairobi, Kenya with Dr. Linda Sama to attend the Microcredit Summit
Campaign annual meeting. While in Kenya, student fellows will have
the unique opportunity to meet with microfinance experts, attend
lectures pertaining to micro credit, and participate in organized
field visits to rural borrowers’ communities to witness first-hand
the impact that Microcredit programs have on the
poor.
Since its launch in Spring 2009, GLOBE has raised over $55,000
and will coordinate another fundraising event on
campus this Spring 2010 semester.
For more information, please explore the GLOBE website www.stjohns.edu/tobin/globe,
or contact GLOBE at tcbglobe@stjohns.edu.