Local students building bridge to African entrepreneurs

REDMOND, Wash. - Students at several schools across the Puget Sound region have started a very unique service club. They're raising money to help finance the businesses of women in Africa.

The club, Bridge to Self-Sufficiency, started after several students at Redmond High School learned about microfinance and how it effectively raises people out of poverty.?

"We thought, 'Hey, wouldn't this be a great idea,'" said Taylor Love, a senior at Redmond High School. "Students could really get excited and involved in this."

The club has grown to 60 kids at nearly a dozen schools. So far, they've raised $7,000 through car washes to t-shirt sales to even digging a trench for a $500 donation.?

"If you're having fun," said Love, "it's not even work."?

All of the money will be loaned out through The Village Net, a non-profit specializing in microlending in Africa.

"The microfinance entrepreneur of the year started with a $30 loan for a sewing machine," said Patricia Colleen Kelley, Executive Director of The Village Net. "She now has eight divisions and has trained 22 young ladies to start their own sewing businesses. That kind of impact is just unbelievable."?

The money goes to women who want to expand their businesses or have very feasible business plans. Some women The Village Net has helped include a woman who started selling soda at a kiosk and is now a Coke-Cola distributor, a woman who charges cell phones for people without electricity, and a number of artists who make jewelry.?

"We have an almost 100% repayment rate - on time," said Kelley.

The students won't just send the money - they will actually get to meet the women. Over Christmas break they will go to the women's African villages to work on projects like digging wells and painting schools.?

"I'm most excited to go to Africa and help people," said Alana Curtis, a senior at Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien. "This has been one of my dreams. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."?

"The village women are thrilled," said Kelley. "They've already started making gifts for them."?

The students say on their trip they really will be building a bridge, seeing first-hand how a little bit of money here can change families thousands of miles away.?

"You can get lot accomplished," said Kelley. "If you are of good will and hard working like these kids are."

This Saturday, the students will be holding a big charity dinner and auction as a fundraiser, you can learn more by .

To learn more about The Village Net's microfinancing projects,