Kevin Bryniczka

Bloomington, Indiana

Passionate About:

Leaving the world a better place than I found it.

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Highlighted Initiative

March 2012 IU Business Brigades



Kevin's Message

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for visiting my personal Global Business Brigades project page. I'd like to explain a little about the project I'm involved with, who I'll be helping in Panama, and how you can make a difference.

I am a member of Indiana University’s chapter of Global Brigades, the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. Global Brigades is made up of nine skill-based programs which benefit more than 130,000 Honduran and Panamanian community members annually.

During this Spring Break, I will spend 8 days in a rural community in Panama. I will be personally teaching low income families how to become financially sustainable by teaching them personal financial and business skills. The average education in Panama is only a 6th grade education.

I'll give you an example of one type of project I could be working on. I can help farmers perform a cost/benefit analysis on which crop would be most profitable for him to grow in the upcoming season factoring in all input costs and the expected profits. Expected profit calculations and even multiplication and division are very difficult for the uneducated farmer and rural families.

I am really looking forward to volunteering and making a difference to this community and world during my Spring Break, but I cannot do it without the support from my friends and family. All contributions are sincerely appreciated and necessary to make this project possible.

Every step towards social change helps make a difference! If you are interested in making a donation to this project and helping me finance this trip, please click on the 'DONATE' button.

Thanks.

Volunteer Activity Description

IU volunteers will spend 8 days in a rural community in Panama to help provide solutions to the community’s economic needs. The target beneficiaries have been previously excluded from formal financial institutions & therefore lacked access to savings and credit opportunities. Beneficiaries tend to have a low level of income, lack of collateral, & low level of education. During the brigade, volunteers divide into small groups to conduct household visits in which they get to know the family, assess each household’s level of financial competency and entrepreneurial aspirations. After the assessments the volunteers provide educational and technical assistance in the form of workshops. Topics range from personal finance to basic accounting and business planning. Additionally, volunteers invest in the community savings and loan (S&L) cooperative by providing seed capital. In turn, the seed capital provides loans to a small business to either expand current operations or pursue a new entrepreneurial opportunity. Working side-by-side with community members affords volunteers the opportunity for cultural exchange, micro-finance, and consulting experience. The households benefit by learning personal financial and business skills and gain access to credit and savings opportunities. Community businesses benefit from the consulting and loans. The community benefits because the profits earned by the S&L stay in the community to be used by the community!

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$1,616.00

of $1,616.00

in donations needed to reach the Initiative Goal


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Thank you for your support!

40% Complete (success)
16

of 40

volunteers needed to reach the Initiative Goal


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Kevin Bryniczka donated $1,316.00 to Kevin Bryniczka 5078 days ago
Kevin Bryniczka donated $1,316.00 to Kevin Bryniczka 5078 days ago
Nancy Amador donated $0.00 to Kevin Bryniczka 5124 days ago
Jane E. Twomey donated $50.0000 to Kevin 5142 days ago
Jane E. Twomey donated $50.0000 to Kevin 5142 days ago
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