Dah Lazy Lobstermen (Marvin Lambey)

In Riversdale, Southern Belize we have the best lobster divers in the entire Caribbean. Many start as young as 5 years old and by the time they are 15 they are diving to depths of 80-100 feet up to 20 times a day. Unfortunately, many of the young men in our village missed a lot of school so they could fish to provide for their families and most ultimately dropped out of school due to cost. The idea of this project is to provide microloans for lobster shades to those fishers so they can provide for their families. It take $100 to get a shade built and put in the water and if a man has 500 shade he can provide well for his family including paying for the education for his children. The goal of this program is to give microloans to help men with up to 100 shades. As they payback the loan then the next person on the list would receive a loan and this would continue until all of them reached 500 shades. There are about 10 young men in this position who would benefit.
Nombre
Gretchen
Apellido
Smith
¿En qué fase está tu propuesta?
Implementation / On the market
¿En qué categoría quieres inscribir tu idea?
Employment
Describe la necesidad o problema que deseas abordar
The problem is that several of the fishers in our village had to fish for survival so they missed a lot of school and grades dropped a lot. Those that did get good grades simply could not afford to go to high school. In 2017, 80% of our kids were not in high school. In 2018 we got a small grant to put those eligible into school but it was for one year only and most of the boys are not really eligible and will have to make another way for themselves. Lobster fishing is good, honest hard work and they have been doing it since they were young but a young man needs to have 500 shades minimum to survive or life will be nearly impossible.
¿Cuál es el principal producto o servicio que ofrecerás?
LOBSTER and also CONCH. This is also an intervention to get them to stop shark fishing.
Describe brevemente la comunidad o población que se beneficiará de tu solución y de cómo planeas involucrarlos en el proyecto
The fishers and their families will benefit from this solution and this will keep the boys from joining gangs or getting involved in illegal activities which are constantly presented to them. Thus far they have resisted illegal activities for the most part but the temptation is great because life is hard. They just need a chance.
¿Tiene tu propuesta un modelo de negocio (es decir, una estrategia para generar ingresos)? Por favor describe
Yes. They have a contract with Rainforest who will purchase all the lobster they can provide. Since they will simply be taking a loan, once it is paid back it can be used to help the next person on the waiting list. We will fund up to 100 shades for an individual and then when that is paid back (usually in 2-3 months) then the next person i line will be given a loan and so on until all of the young men in our village are sustainable. The loans will be overseen by Gretchen Smith of The Light of the World Ministry who has 23 years experience.
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Dear Gretchen Smith, Thank you for submitting this inspirational and insightful proposal. I enjoyed reading the background story. It reminded me of many of the other local fishing communities around Belize. My family came from one and I could relate to many of the points you made. I would like to offer the following points: 1. Consider creating a business model around building and selling the lobster shades/traps instead of lending funds which can be difficult. The youths can be mentored in building them. 2. If Possible, provide more data on the community, numbers in need and to benefit. 3. Remember you have until January 12, 2020 to update your proposal. All the best! 2.
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