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in
this section:
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SafeSave
Members
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| SafeSave
is a registered Co-operative and is owned by its Members, of whom
there are thirteen at present. Three new Members - Mark Staehle, Sakeba,
and S M Rahman - were admitted to membership at the member meeting
held in Dhaka on 3rd January 2004. A fourth, Dr Zia Ahmed, was admitted
at the meeting of 8th April 2004. |
The
Members of the SafeSave Co-Operative
asterisk indicates membership of the Executive
Committee |
| Stuart
Rutherford |
*Chairman
and co-founder - Stuart is a microfinance practitioner, researcher,
writer and researcher |
| Rabeya
Islam |
*Vice-Chairman
and co-founder - Rabeya is a Dhaka housewife with lots of experience
of running savings clubs among the poor |
| S
K Sinha |
*Secretary
- Sinha is Stuart's research assistant and it was Sinha who
brought Stuart and Rabeya together, during a research project |
| Mosharoff
Hussain |
*
Mosharoff is the Financial Director of BURO, Tangail, a leading
large MFI in Bangladesh that has always been interested in savings |
| Dr
Ahsan Ali |
*
Ahsan is an anthopologist, and the founder and Director of Ashrai,
a major NGO that brings financial and social services to Bangladesh's
indigenous peoples |
| Javed
Sakhawat |
*
Javed is the founder and Director of ADI, a managment consultancy
company based in Dhaka but working worldwide |
| Dr
Maniruzzaman |
Manir
is a an economist specialising in researching social and economic
development |
| Edward
(Mac) Abbey |
was
Bangladesh Country Director of PLAN (and now works for them
in the Dominican Republic), a major NGO that is SafeSave's
main investor: Mac joins as an individual, not as representative
of PLAN |
| Firoza
Begum |
Firoza
is a SafeSave Collector: see the item about her, below |
| Dr
Imran Matin |
Imran
is Director of Research at BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, and
was formerly with CGAP: he has researched and published widely
on microfinance and poverty issues |
| Mark
Staehle |
Mark
is our Technical Adviser: see the item on him below |
| Sakeba |
Sakeba
is a software writer and adviser. She knows SafeSave's
work well, having been involved in advising on the Palm Pilot
and other software work for SafeSave |
| S
M Rahman |
S
M Rahman is well known in Bangladesh and internationally as
an author and independent consultant in microfinance |
| Dr
Zia Ahmed |
Dr
Zia is a microfinance practioner and writer who is currently
heading a major microenterprise development initiative in Dhaka. |
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One
of our Best Fieldworkers
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Firoza
Begum took up her post as
a Collector in Kalyanpur slum in October 1997, reporting to
the Shamoli Branch. By end December 2002 she was looking after
204 clients who had 594,150 taka (about $10,400) deposited
in SafeSave as savings. She is the first Collector
to have mobilised a savings balance of half a million taka.
Her clients held loans with a total outstanding balance value
of 569,955 taka, a little less than the savings deposits.
Total interest income collected from these borrowers in the
month of December 2002 by Firoza was 21,490 taka (about $380).
Total branch operating and financial costs in the month came
to 83,785 taka (about $1,470), of which Firoza's 'share' -
as one of ten Collectors in the branch - was 8,375 taka. Firoza
thus contributed a surplus of 13,115 taka (about $230) in
the month to SafeSave's profit and loss account.
Sadly,
Kalyanpur slum was demolished by bulldozer in December 2003.
Firoza was transferred to Kurmitola branch, where she had
to learn to use the Palm Pilot computers in the field. She
is doing well there.
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Our
Technical Adviser
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| In
May 2003 Mark Staehle, an American citizen, won a contract from the
Swiss Development Agency to
provide technical assistance to SafeSave for two years up to
mid-2005. This is a natural step for Mark, who from mid 2001 for two
years had served SafeSave in the half-time, limited-term position
of Interim Director, financed from the CGAP
research contract (see that item). Mark's duties as Interim Director
included overseeing the development of the Palm Pilot trials (see
the item on the CGAP contract). He has also been succcessful in ending
SafeSave's 'experimental' phase, by standardising the products
and delivery methods, by expanding the branch network in the Dhaka
slums, and by professionalising SafeSave's systems and procedures.
As Technical Advser, he advises Director Nipun Sangma (see below)
on all aspects of SafeSave's work. |
Our
Director
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| On
November 1st 2003 Nipun Sangma joined as Director. Nipun, married
with two daughters, joined us from Koinonia, an NGO. Nipun holds a
Masters in Commerce from Dhaka University, and a Diploma in Social
Development from the COADY International Institute in Nova Scotia,
Canada. Thirty-nine years old, and from north-central Bangladesh,
Nipun has many years of experience in microfinance, and has also benefited
from training at the Boulder, Colorado MicroFinance Training Course,
and at Southern New Hampshire. |
Our
General Manager
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| SafeSave's
General Manager is Hossin Islam ('Ripon') who joined SafeSave
in 1997 and has overseen the growth of SafeSave almost from
the start. Recently, he has been under training from Mark Staehle,
and he will go on benefiting from Mark's help now that Mark is to
continue with SafeSave as our Technical Adviser. In May 2003
Ripon was married, and we wish him and his wife Moushumi well. |
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