LIFT A SOUL
We are trying to solve the challenge of financially excluded individuals and small enterprises, starting from the grassroots of IMO state located in the southeast region of Nigeria, the state has the nation's highest misery index and is the seventh poorest state in Nigeria as 63% of persons living within Nigeria (200 million people) are multidimensionally poor.
With DEPRIVATION being the key FACTOR contributing to this problem, these poor hungry villagers have been financially excluded and If we TRULY want to include financially excluded individuals and small enterprises with the tools they need to withstand shock and build wealth, we must first of all, start from the grass root and this mission can be best accomplished by someone who has been in this shoe. I come from Amaku Obeama Nguru, Imo State Nigeria and I say we Go down to the grass root villages, the poor hungry villagers here have been financially excluded and the best way to include them financially is by giving them food to eat first so that they can have strength to stay strong, listen and learn.
Poverty has really reduced the men here to drunks who hide behind the bottle for their problems and IF this problem is not addressed soon, we would start seeing dead bodies on the streets as starvation is on the rise here that You can barely walk the streets without having a soul coming to beg you for money to feed.
you cannot come and start telling a poor hungry man with 5 children who are home while their mates are in school about technology and it's impact, you have to feed him first.
Locate that woman who has 7 children but runs a small business with a capital of 5000Naira and still feeds her family from the same business daily. Looking at the scenario, it is obvious that the woman wants to build wealth but poverty and her limited source of fund and inability to get financial help dwindles her ability to create wealth. This woman can create wealth if given a financial help by taking her family feeding off her shoulder for a specific period of time. she can be lifted by giving her loan to expand her business, equip her with the tools she needs to standout in today's business world, withstand unavoidable shocks and build wealth.
? distribute fliers, run radio jingles inviting five hundred poverty stricken individuals running small enterprises to an empowerment program where they would show their skills or business
? Host the program #Show your business or skill and get fed program# in Amaku Obeama Nguru local government of IMO state Nigeria which will run for 3days
? The lift a soul team (LAS) will go round and evaluate their places of business to fish out the serious ones
? Offer 3 months training on digital marketing equipping them with the technical skills needed to stand shock, expand their business both online and offline, also teach them Basic Cyber security skills to protect their accounts, identity and to also get a good remote job and possibly pursue a career in tech for those who would want to
? Give them a non interest loan with a collateral which is, learn and give back, they will give back to the organization by training another person to prove that they have been well groomed to withstand shock, thrive and build wealth. This will give them a sense of duty and as they repay the loan instalmentally within one and half year repaying only 80% and continue their business
? Monitor them, offer direction and network
? Recover the loans and train another set of five hundred people within 3 months
? distribute fliers, run radio jingles inviting five hundred poverty stricken individuals running small enterprises to an empowerment program where they would show their skills or business
? Host the program #Show your business or skill and get fed program# in Amaku Obeama Nguru local government of IMO state Nigeria which will run for 3days
? The lift a soul team (LAS) will go round and evaluate their places of business to fish out the serious ones
? Offer 3 months training on digital marketing equipping them with the technical skills needed to stand shock, expand their business both online and offline, also teach them Basic Cyber security skills to protect their accounts, identity and to also get a good remote job and possibly pursue a career in tech for those who would want to
? Give them a non interest loan with a collateral which is, learn and give back, they will give back to the organization by training another person to prove that they have been well groomed to withstand shock, thrive and build wealth. This will give them a sense of duty and as they repay the loan instalmentally within one and half year repaying only 80% and continue their business
? Monitor them, offer direction and network
? Recover the loans and train another set of five hundred people within 3 months
There's a possibility of this program making a positive impact in the lives of atmost three hundred people out of five hundred that will attend in three month
It will revive someone, ignite hope, educate, enlighten and lift at least 300 souls out of perpetual poverty
This solution serves the financially excluded individuals villagers in Obeama Nguru who run small enterprises but cannot experience growth in their business because they feed and pay bills from the same small business without a financial support
The hungry intelligent youths who desire to acquire a good skill but lacks financial capability and direction
The illiterate naive individuals who are too hungry to pay attention to the impact of technology on today's world. These group of people see technology as SCAM
These people have been currently undeserved by four factors which are
?Government Corruption
?lack of Economic Infrastructure
?poor Access to Education
? Poor Access to healthcare
The Lift a soul (LAS) solution will solve these needs through its trainings which fills the Educational gap thereby exposing the individuals to a more better and easier ways to live, grow and build wealth
Also our non interest loan will create businesses, jobs and improve livelihoods
The Lift a soul organization teams is made up of three individuals who were born and raised in the Obeama Nguru community. We are members of the Community.
We have experienced and are still experiencing this financial deprivation which is very vital for building wealth. We are members of the community, we relate with the people, we bear and feel the pain with them and we want a change that's why we are reaching out to SOLVE this challenge of financial exclusion.
- Create and/or reduce frictions to scale safe personal identification methods for individuals who have been kept out of the formal financial system due to a lack of formal identification
- Nigeria
- Pilot: An organization testing a product, service, or business model with a small number of users
The solution currently serve 157 members from Obeama Nguru community
we are applying to solve because we live in a community where poverty have reduced fathers to drunks. people just exist and not live with no hope of survival.
I am a victim of financial exclusion, I have attempted suicide twice having graduated from the University since 2010 without any luck of securing a job for 13 years now. my family now call me a waste of resources because my younger siblings were withdrawn from school with the hope of me graduating, securing a good job and taking care of them but the reverse has been the case since I graduated.
I wasn't able to get a job, I started a small business and because of the accruing bills daily, my business has been dwindling with no hope of growing and I keep going round the circles. interacting with my friends, I realized that there are a lot of people facing the same issue like mine, worst cases than mine.
I got a scholarship and studied CYBER SECURITY with which certificate I have been able to secure a remote job which has tremendously improved my life together with my small business.
looking back on my community and how I managed to survive because of education and technology. I have decided to take up this challenge of helping the vulnerable, poor and illiterate people of my community see the light of technology with the help of this program as I expose them to digital marketing and Cyber security using the internet with my team
- Business Model (e.g. product-market fit, strategy & development)
- Financial (e.g. accounting practices, pitching to investors)
- Human Capital (e.g. sourcing talent, board development)
- Public Relations (e.g. branding/marketing strategy, social and global media)
- Technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design)
In a new improved way, like never before, this solution is tackling poverty direct from the grassroots. This solution is going to be lending a helping hand to the downtrodden, the deprived and hungry villagers who cannot think straight due to hunger. In a broader space, we are promising to touch lives and we will because we have been in this shoe and we understand how frustrating life can be when circumstances turns a living soul to a person who just exist rather than LIVE.
When a human being becomes so overwhelmed with problems that you look forward to seeing the night come so that the day will just past.
Unlike others in this space, we are promising to lift souls out of abject poverty and we will.
Our impact goal for the first year will be an obvious transformational impact on five hundred poor people in Obeama Nguru and within the next five years, this organization would have transformed lives that will transform another as a way to give back to the organization. Individuals and small enterprises will who were formerly financially excluded would have received the tools and support they need to thrive in business, withstand shock and build wealth
- 1. No Poverty
- 2. Zero Hunger
- 3. Good Health and Well-being
- 4. Quality Education
- 5. Gender Equality
- 6. Clean Water and Sanitation
- 7. Affordable and Clean Energy
- 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
- 9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
- 10. Reduced Inequalities
- 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 12. Responsible Consumption and Production
- 13. Climate Action
- 14. Life Below Water
- 15. Life on Land
- 16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- 17. Partnerships for the Goals
The lift a soul Organization have been able to help 3 children who were school dropouts to acquire a secondary school education. We have also helped some women participate in the COVID-19 support loan which was given by the Nigerian federal government in 2020 and only one woman out of five got the loan and she's still in business up til date.
Her life was obviously improved. We also do a weekly donation in the community meeting and the fund given to the individual facing a most pressing need
Our theory of change is simple:- be the change you want to see. Change the narrative by doing something positively different. We see a problem that needs solving and we are going direct to solve it if given the opportunity
We are using the Facebook app and SMS technology.
- A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successful
- Audiovisual Media
- Behavioral Technology
- Software and Mobile Applications