We are very keen to make sure that the money from European donors gets where it needs to go, that it is used efficiently and that the incidental costs of transport, postage and miscellaneous fees are kept to a minimum. So, what happens to the money you pay for the bag?
1) We pay to buy the bags at their usual price. (Note: It is not automatic that knitters will always find a market. The fact that we are their regular customers and therefore have a regular flow of funds is very important to them)
2) From the bags sold, again another part of the profit goes to the individual knitters. They get about 50-70% more per each bag than they would sell it to anyone else. We already try to have a little “control” over this part of the money. Abdullah is in contact with the whole group and this “extra” money is mostly used to pay for school related expenses (books, textbooks, stationery and other school supplies for the children) and for healthcare. So we don’t really care how this other part of the money is handled. (on a practical level, it is important to remember that most of the people who make the bags for us are uneducated people, so we are trying to educate them a little bit in efficient money management)
3) Another part of the profit from the sale goes to projects that benefit the whole local community. We have discussions with locals about each project to invest in something that makes sense for everyone. In May 2024, we would like to send funds to build a sanitation facility which serves the wider community. We would also like to use this fund to pay for some health services for the whole community (eye disease screening, treatment of some eye diseases). Our aim is to have one or more boreholes dug for the community. In the long term visions we also want to support the education and health sector in a more comprehensive way.
4) Shipping, CLO, VAT, administrative fees to the post service. At the moment it is about 30-40% of the price of a bag. The transport associated costs are unfortunately relatively high. After all, the bags are bulky and their transport is not quite easy. So far we have used the services of Ghana Post and their partners (DHL, Czech Post). We have had very good experience, only twice it happened that our package was delayed for a month in Frankfurt. The services of other delivery companies are usually multiples more expensive. However, we are already planning to send our first shipping container this year. The shipping cost will drop significantly and we will be able to use significantly more money for individual projects.
