December 2004
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Table of Contents

- From Jozoor to Shurush: same roots, different name
- Shurush receives 501(c)(3) status from the State of California
- Shurush’s mission: transparent microfinance | proactive employment
- Shurush issues first microloans
- Say marhaba to Shurush’s first three clients
- Join us in welcoming Shurush’s first COO, Amanda Fazzone
- Seed money: fundraising goals to plant Shurush’s roots
- About our angel donor
- Happy New Year: The U.N.’s International Year of Microcredit has begun
- Thank-you note: Shurush benefits from Microsoft’s Employee Giving Campaign
- Shurush goes to Harvard: MBA students to serve as volunteer consultants
- In the next issue of "The Roots Report"

From Jozoor to Shurush: same roots, different name
The Shurush Initiative, established in 2003, is an organization previously known as Jozoor Microfinance. Changing our name to "Shurush" -- which means "roots" in both Arabic and Hebrew -- reflects our focus on working directly in partnership with Palestinian microfinance groups to plant the roots of economic and social prosperity. Although the organization’s name was changed to The Shurush Initiative in 2004, the organization’s financial assets, marketing materials, and legal filings remain with the organization, as do two of Jozoor’s original three co-founders: Bryan Berkett and Uri Pomerantz. Jozoor Ltd. is a separate and unaffiliated entity.
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Shurush receives 501(c)(3) status from the State of California
In September 2004, The Shurush Initiative was granted official status as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations, whether by check or online, are tax-deductible. We will post our annual filings and 990 forms to our website each year for your reference.
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Shurush’s mission: transparent microfinance | proactive employment
The goal of The Shurush Initiative is to ameliorate the grave economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza through transparent microfinance and proactive employment. Shurush works by providing technical and financial support to Palestinian microfinance organizations that offer services including microcredit loans and business training. Further, Shurush works to ensure the transparency of its partner microfinance institutions. Serving as a bridge between concerned citizens of the world and the Middle East, The Shurush Initiative works to renew hope.
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Shurush issues first microloans
We are thrilled to announce that, in August 2004, Shurush partnered with the East Jerusalem YMCA to initiate a pilot Rural Entrepreneurship Loan Program. The program supports small, rural enterprise development and creates job opportunities in the Palestinian small business sector through a commercial loan program for entrepreneurs under the age of 35 in rural areas surrounding Bethlehem and Ramallah.

The goal of our inaugural microloan program is to stimulate long-term, self-sustaining jobs and micro/small enterprise development among vocational graduates/workers in the vocational industrial sector of the West Bank and Gaza. The program’s primary goals are to provide more accessible opportunities to: (1) start-up micro-enterprises; and (2) develop small businesses in targeted vocational fields in order to achieve self-sustaining income generation.

Shurush’s program with the EJ-YMCA represents a creative joint partnership and an expansion of the YMCA Small Enterprise Development and Job Opportunities Program (SEDJO).
Shurush’s partnership with the EJ-YMCA would not be possible without the efforts of the EJ-YMCA’s Amjad Ghosheh, based in Ramallah, who is the architect and supervisor of our pilot program. Further, Shurush would like to express our appreciation to the program’s field workers, who place themselves in great peril when conducting site visits and meeting with potential clients, due to the checkpoints, military activity, and other dangers characteristic of the rural areas of the West Bank.
Visit the East Jerusalem YMCA’s website: http://www.ej-ymca.org
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Say marhaba to Shurush’s first three clients

Join us in welcoming Shurush’s first COO, Amanda Fazzone
After a nationwide search, Shurush welcomed the organization’s first chief operating officer, Amanda Fazzone, in November. Amanda, a 1997 magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, comes to Shurush with several years’ experience working as a professional journalist and at a variety of nonprofit organizations, from start-ups to well-established institutions. Amanda resides in Washington, DC, where she regularly attends lectures, seminars, documentary films, and conferences on the Middle East; she is currently studying Arabic at the Middle East Institute, of which she is a member. In December, Amanda traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to represent Shurush at the second-annual conference of Sanabel, the microfinance network of Arab countries (http://www.sanabelnetwork.org). In the next issue of "The Roots Report," you can read about Amanda’s experience at Sanabel -- from the latest trends in microfinance to the unique challenges faced by microfinance institutions in the West Bank and Gaza. Amanda looks forward to hearing from Shurush donors, allies, and potential partners about your ideas for and interest in Shurush. Her e-mail is info@shurush.org
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Seed money: Development goals to plant Shurush’s roots
While Shurush has already disbursed three $3,000 loans through our joint partnership with the EJ-YMCA and has provided funding for two more loans, dozens of potential Palestinian entrepreneurs were turned away. In order to meet the existing demand for microloans and to build on the word-of-mouth momentum, Shurush needs your help. In order to continue our current microloan program and to launch new initiatives, our goal is to raise $30,000 by the close of 2004 to help cover our operating costs for the next six months
(January 2005 – June 2005):

• $15,000 for COO salary

• $10,000 development expenses
(e.g., print and Internet marketing; travel to meet with potential donors and partners; membership to The Foundation Center’s "The Foundation Directory")

• $5,000 for virtual office supplies and administrative costs
(e.g., phone, online database, payroll service)

As you complete your year-end giving plans, please consider Shurush. The Shurush Initiative is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which means that your donation is tax-deductible. Just visit http://www.shurush.org and click on "Contribute and Support" to make a secure online donation via Network for Good, the Internet’s leading charitable resource. Network for Good allows you to donate to Shurush as a holiday gift or to honor the memory of a loved one; further, you can specify how you would like your donation to be used. If you prefer to write a check, our mailing address is:

The Shurush Initiative
914 Westwood Blvd.
#568
Los Angeles, CA 90024

To thank you for your support, we will list our donors’ names on our website. If you prefer that your name *not* be included on our website, just let us know. Thank you!
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About our angel donor
Shurush is grateful to the generosity of our angel donor, who wishes to remain anonymous. Our angel donor, who has pledged to match donations to Shurush up to a total contribution of $30,000, chose to support Shurush by means of a matching program in order to encourage individual donors like you to contribute to Shurush.

With our angel donor’s matching funds, your $100 donation is like $200 to us, and a $1,000 donation is like $2,000. But don’t worry if you can only contribute a small amount. If you can spare $10, that’s $20 to us. And with so many concerned citizens like you across the United States and around the world, our financial goals -- and, in turn, the financial goals of our Palestinian clients -- can be achieved.
If you are interested in becoming an angel donor, please contact Amanda Fazzone via email at info@shurush.org or by via phone at 1.888.Shurush (1.888.748.7874).
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Happy New Year: The U.N.’s International Year of Microcredit has begun
On November 18, 2004, the United Nations officially proclaimed 2005 to be the International Year of Microcredit. Shurush will build on the momentum of the U.N.’s education efforts, the increased media coverage of microcredit initiatives, and the escalating interest of the public in microcredit as a creative solution to poverty.

From U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s November 18 launch message:

"Microfinance has proved its value, in many countries, as a weapon against poverty and hunger. It really can change peoples’ lives for the better -- especially the lives of those who need it most.

"A small loan, a savings account, an affordable way to send a paycheck home can make all the difference to a poor or low-income family. With access to microfinance, they can earn more, build up assets, and better protect themselves against unexpected setbacks and losses.

"They can move beyond day-to-day survival towards planning for the future. They can invest in better nutrition, housing, health, and education for their children. In short, they can break the vicious circle of poverty. …

"Let us be clear: Microfinance is not charity. It is a way to extend the same rights and services to low-income households that are available to everyone else. It is recognition that poor people are the solution, not the problem. It is a way to build on their ideas, energy, and vision. It is a way to grow productive enterprises, and so allow communities to prosper.

"Where businesses cannot develop, countries cannot flourish. Let us use this International Year of Microcredit to put millions of families on the path to prosperity."
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Thank-you note: Shurush benefits from Microsoft’s Employee Giving Campaign
Through its matching contributions program, Microsoft allows its employees to direct corporate contributions to thousands of nonprofit organizations working to improve lives in the United States and around the world. Shurush co-founder Uri Pomerantz, the Business Development Manager at Microsoft New England, has encouraged his colleagues at Microsoft to donate to Shurush through the Employee Giving Campaign. Between now and the close of 2004, their donations to Shurush will be matched dollar for dollar by Microsoft, up to $12,000 per employee. Shurush thanks Microsoft and Uri’s colleagues for their generosity in helping Shurush to provide microloans for Palestinian entrepreneurs.
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Shurush goes to Harvard: MBA students to serve as volunteer consultants
The Shurush Initiative is a proud participant in Harvard Business School’s 2004-2005 Volunteer Consulting Organization (VCO) program. VCO matches a team of three to five MBA students with nonprofit agencies to address mission-critical strategic issues and provide free consulting services over the course of four to five months. In November, Shurush COO Amanda Fazzone traveled to Boston to attend the VCO Client Fair at Harvard Business School’s Spangler Center to communicate Shurush’s mission and goals to interested students.

Shurush’s four-member HBS VCO team has professional experience in microfinance industry, a commitment to working for peace in the Middle East, and an enthusiasm for Shurush’s mission of transparent microfinance and proactive employment; our partnership with HBS VCO will no doubt benefit Shurush for years to come. In the next issue of "The Roots Report," you’ll meet Shurush’s VCO team.

In the meantime, Shurush would like to thank the entire VCO 2004-2005 board for their assistance, encouragement, and commitment to serving others, especially co-president Chris Chang, VPs of client relations Mimi Feldman and Janet Smith, and VP of training Manish Goyal.
Visit the Harvard Business School Volunteer Consulting Organization's website at http://www.hbsvco.org
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In the next issue of "The Roots Report"
Shurush’s year-end donation campaign: Our goal is to raise $30,000 by the close of 2004 ($15,000 from donors; $15,000 in matching funds from our angel donor).

Insights from Cairo: Read about Amanda’s experience at the Sanabel Microfinance Conference -- from the latest trends in microfinance to the unique challenges faced by microfinance institutions in the West Bank and Gaza.

Client update: A report on the progress of Shurush’s first three loan recipients.

Ear to the ground: What are the current conditions in which Shurush’s clients are starting their new businesses?

Shurush goes to Harvard, part two: Meet the team of Harvard MBA students who are volunteering their time to meet Shurush’s strategic needs through the Harvard Business School Volunteer Consulting Organization.

Loan officer confidential: An interview with one of the East Jerusalem YMCA’s dedicated microloan officers.
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Questions and answers
Q: What does "shurush" mean?
A: Shurush means "roots" in both Arabic and Hebrew. We hope to work with you to plant the roots of economic opportunity in the West Bank and Gaza, bridging the economic and opportunity gap between Palestinians and the rest of the world.

Q: What is microfinance?
A: From The Microfinance Gateway’s "Frequently Asked Questions" (http://www.microfinancegateway.org/section/faq):
"To most, microfinance means providing very poor families with very small loans (microcredit) to help them engage in productive activities or grow their tiny businesses. Over time, microfinance has come to include a broader range of services (credit, savings, insurance, etc.) as we have come to realize that the poor and the very poor who lack access to traditional formal financial institutions require a variety of financial products."

"Microcredit came to prominence in the 1980s, although early experiments date back 30 years in Bangladesh, Brazil and a few other countries. The important difference of microcredit was that it avoided the pitfalls of an earlier generation of targeted development lending, by insisting on repayment, by charging interest rates that could cover the costs of credit delivery, and by focusing on client groups whose alternative source of credit was the informal sector. Emphasis shifted from rapid disbursement of subsidized loans to prop up targeted sectors towards the building up of local, sustainable institutions to serve the poor. Microcredit has largely been a private (non-profit) sector initiative that avoided becoming overtly political, and as a consequence, has outperformed virtually all other forms of development lending.

"Traditionally microfinance was focused on providing a very standardized credit product. The poor, just like anyone else, need a diverse range of financial instruments to be able to build assets, stabilize consumption and protect themselves against risks. Thus, we see a broadening of the concept of microfinance -- our current challenge is to find efficient and reliable ways of providing a richer menu of microfinance products."

Q: How can I learn more about microfinance, transparency, and economic development in the Middle East?
A: We recommend the following links:

Microfinance
Grameen Bank, the originator of microfinance: http://www.grameen-info.org
The MIX Market: http://www.mixmarket.org
Sanabel, the microfinance network of Arab countries: http://www.sanabelnetwork.org
United Nations Capital Development Fund: http://www.uncdf.org/english/microfinance/

Transparency
CGAP: The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor: http://www.cgap.org/
MFI Rating Fund: http://www.ratingfund.org/
PlaNet Finance: www.planetfinance.org

Microfinance Gateway articles on microfinance in the Middle East
Microfinance In the Arab States: Building Inclusive Financial Sectors:
http://microfinancegateway.org/content/article/detail/21781
Benchmarking Arab Microfinance:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/content/article/detail/14260
Understanding Microfinance and its Contribution to Economic Growth:
http://microfinancegateway.org/content/article/detail/14310

 

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