| Boond Projects |
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1. Boond Shrimp Fisheries
Boond extended a 5% interest loan for six months to NGO Antadaya Anath Ashram to create and operate shrimp fisheries in the village of Paushi in East Medinipur, West Bengal, India. The loan amount which was utilized to prepare three lakes as fisheries was of Rs. 2 lakhs (~US$ 5,000) and has been repaid in full by the recipient. The fisheries gave a return of nearly Rs. 3,20,000 (US$ 7,400) which the NGO utilized for its operations after paying back Boond.
The general rate of interest for loans from money lenders in these areas are around 20-25% and micro finance institutions also charge about 15-18%. Hence the Boond loan was the cheapest source of funding available that the NGO was happy to utilize. Boond plans to continue funding such high return labor intensive projects for a low costs in the remote rural areas after proper assessments and research about the model and technology.
2. Boond Supported School
The Tribal School in Litam, Manipur operates partially on grants and commission income from Boond products being sold in the region. As per our local commission based model, we share 1% of every product sold with the NGO providing marketing and warehousing, which in Litam, Manipur is utilized for teacher salaries and school maintenance.
3. Boond Education Scholarship
Boond provides education scholarships to students who are good performers and wish to go to the local college and complete their higher studies.
Presently, Pushpendu Parua from the village of Baribarh, Bengal is a recipient of this scholarship. He is completing his graduation in Geography honors and receives Rs. 750 every month. Pushpendu is from a family whose income is below $50 a month and he is the first member of his family to go to college. This scholarship is for six months and renewable based on the academic performance of the student.
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