27 June, 2006

Benita Singh and Ruth DeGolia win Newsweek Award

Young social entrepreneurs, Benita Singh and Ruth DeGolia, have been lauded as part of "15 People Who Make America Great."

Benita Singh, an Indian-American girl studying in Yale university has made it to Newsweek's "15 people who Make America Great" list. She was one among the 15 people chosen by Newsweek magazine for "Giving Back Awards" in recognition of their "bravery or generosity, genius or passion and devotion in helping others."

According to Newsweek, Benita Singh and Ruth DeGolia both undergraduate students of international studies, have been working for the rehabilitation of poor women artisans in a village on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala for the past three years. When Benita and Ruth were working on their senior theses they visited the village where many women widowed in Guatemala's civil war had settled since the 1980s.

Benita and Ruth then carried back artefacts created by the village women and sold out all of it at a 300 per cent mark up.

Spurred by success, Benita and Ruth formed Mercado Global, a company dedicated to bring the benefits of globalisation to poor and remote communities. They then organized 15 to 18 cooperatives in remote villages with the help of a start-up grant from Echoing Gren, a "social entrepreneurship" foundation.

The members of cooperatives produce produce textiles on backstrap looms, hand-painted ceramics and jewelry for the export market, says Newsweek. Last year, the two made about $75,000 last year in retail, online and catalog sales. This year, their company expects to raise $600,000 which will be used to send Guatemalan children to school.

The company is in talks with a major chain about carrying their hand-painted coffee mugs.

Benita Singh and Ruth DeGolia will be sending a computer, this year, to each of the cooperatives so the women can keep their books.