Spain: The Orbayu Foundation is one year old
- More than 100 micro-credits granted in Latin America.
- Micro-credits between €75 and €1,000 in projects for people with no access to traditional financing.
- Start of activities in Africa.
The Orbayu Foundation, which is sponsored by representatives of the insurer Aviva, ESIC and the missionaries of the congregation of the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (SCJ), was created a year ago with the objective of promoting economic and social development in some of the most impoverished areas of Latin America, by granting micro-credits.
Over the past 12 months, this non-profit-making Foundation has financed more than 100 business projects in South America; it has broadened its scope by starting activities in Africa; it has also made special donations in emergency situations such as that of Haiti, in the wake of the earthquake it suffered in January.
The micro-credits granted in 2010 fluctuated between €75 and €1,000; investments have been made in agriculture-related projects (land leasing and purchase of agricultural property), food, catering and packaging.
Most of the money lent has already been paid back, and it is to be invested in fitting out a reception house in Bahía de Caráquez. Within a week, the centre will house 20 students of the rural areas of Bahía, so that they can access the university studies or professional training offered in the city.
According to Ignacio Izquierdo, managing director of Aviva in Spain: “It’s impressive to think that with €75 we can contribute to the well-being of a family of seven, such as that of the farmer Juan Quiñones in Ecuador, who needs this sum in order to buy seeds and cover cultivation costs”.
Izquierdo commented: “We were enthusiastic about this collaboration with ESIC and the SCJ, due to the trust that both these institutions inspire, and the focus of the project. Orbayu goes much further than helping the needy; it’s a way of driving forward personal and community development for those who lack resources, from their own personal effort.”
Simón Reyes Martínez Córdova, director general of ESIC, says: “We're very satisfied with the work carried out this year and for the good reception that we have had, both among collaborators and among the people who have been able to access the micro-credits of Orbayu. We have set up a collaboration strategy which, on the one hand, allows those receiving the financing to develop on their own, and on the other hand, allows the values of those who collaborate to grow, so that this can be possible.”
What is a micro-credit?
They are small loans linked to business projects, for poor borrowers with no access to traditional financing. Micro-credits allow many people without resources to finance employment projects that yield them an income. Anyone who applies for a micro-credit must have a humble and simple business project, but one that is realistic and capable of generating significant changes in their living conditions.
The process of Orbayu micro-credits
This is structured into two phases as follows:
- The congregation of Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (SCJ) identifies the beneficiaries, while ESIC and Aviva contribute to finding the funds.
- SCJ has the amount delivered, follows up the business and controls the return of quotas.
Each request of micro-credit is loaded onto the Orbayu website www.orbayu.org, so that any internet user can get to know of all the projects that seek financing, help those that they find most attractive by means of their contributions, and check their development.
At the end of the year, the amount that the borrowers pay back is invested in major projects (construction of irrigation dams, schools, sewage grids, libraries etc), always at the request of the communities that received the micro-credits. On this occasion, the amount will be allocated to the reception house that we mentioned earlier. The intention of Orbayu is to gratify the entrepreneurial spirit, benefit the communities whose members fulfilled their commitments, and improve the conditions of the community, to enhance the possibilities of success of new entrepreneurs.
Why are initiatives such as Orbayu necessary?
- At present, more than 1,000 million people in the world go hungry, and more than 2,000 million have no access to water (UNO).
- 1400 million people live in dire poverty on €1 per day (UNO).
- 800 million people in the world are illiterate (UNESCO).
Location of the actions of the Orbayu Foundation
Quito (Ecuador)
The Orbayu Foundation is located to the south of the capital of Ecuador, in a district of a very simple population originating from the countryside. The monks of the SCJ perform pastoral and social assistance work there. Their presence is recent, but they are committed to this needy reality.
In March 2010, Orbayu started to provide financing to those applying for micro-credits in this area.
Bahía de Caráquez (Ecuador)
Orbayu is present in Bahia de Caráquez, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in a very poor area repeatedly afflicted by hurricanes and earthquakes. The monks of the SCJ work there in pastoral and social work, in the fields of health, child care, reconstruction of residential areas etc.
Bahía de Caráquez was first granted micro-credits in January 2010, and more than 70 families received the first in a collective delivery. Over the entire year, Orbayu granted 91 micro-credits to the people of this community.
Nkongsamba (Cameroon)
Orbayu has extended its radius of action to take micro-credits to Nkongsamba, a city of 115,000 inhabitants situated in the south-west of Cameroon, where SCJ missionaries have been working for 20 years. In this case, the micro-credits will be granted to people afflicted by motor and visual impairment, and other disabilities.
-ends-
For further information:
Juan Pablo Arrieta
ESIC Communication Director
Telephone: +34 91 452 41 08
Email: juanpablo.arrieta@esic.es
www.esic.es
Laura Villuendas
Aviva Communication Manager
Telephone: +34 91 297 18 17
Email: laura.villuendas@aviva.es
www.aviva.es
Notes to editors:
About Aviva
Aviva is one of the biggest insurance groups in Europe and, in Spain, and one of the leaders in the life and pensions market. Aviva markets its products in Spain through professional brokers (Aviva Life and Pensions) and by means of strategic alliances with some of the major Spanish savings banks (Bancaja, Caixa Galicia, Unicaja, Caja España, CajaGranada and Cajamurcia).
Aviva is the sixth largest insurer in the world; it operates in 27 countries and serves 50 million clients.
About ESIC
ESIC, a private centre founded in 1965 by the Religious Institution of Priests of Corazón de Jesús, Holy Fathers, is the leading business school in training for higher Marketing Studies in Spain, and through all of its different areas of activity (graduate, postgraduate, executive education, publishing and languages), it responds to the current requirements of businesses and their competitive environment, by training professionals capable of analysis, reflection, decision-making and responsible action at all levels of business.
Its centres are located Madrid, Valencia, Murcia, Zaragoza, Pamplona, Seville and Curitiba (Brazil), and it imparts postgraduate programmes with other prestige organisations in Malaga, Santander, Granada, Bilbao, Salamanca and Barcelona.
ESIC is a founder member of AEEDE (Spanish Association of Business Management Schools), an accredited member of the Executive EMBA Council and member, among others, of the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), CLADEA (Latin-American Council of Administration Schools), AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), AECE (Spanish Electronic Commerce Association), FECEMD (Spanish Federation of Electronic Commerce and Direct Marketing), IAI (Institute of Intangible Analyses), AEC (Spanish Association for Quality) and CEG (Management Excellence Club).