Not so with biogas. Biogas is all about taking a waste product and turning it into something useful. Biogas takes animal and human waste – puts into a biodigestor – and produces gas which can be used for lighting or cooking. And the waste product of biogas? High quality fertiliser.

In many of the countries that Good Return works the government provides some sort of subsidy to encourage people to overcome the first cost barrier and install the systems. Nepal is no different and Nirdhan Bank (NUBL)– Good Return’s partner – couples this subsidy access to a low interest loan.

Cooking with biogas instead of with firewood - much cleaner and safer!

I recently went to visit Suraj and Nishu Limbu – brother and sister whose father took a collateral based loan from NUBL to install a 6 m3 biogas system. This is large enough to cater for the waste from 2 buffalos, 1 cow and a calf – interestingly biogas system sizes are based on the waste input, not the size of the family or the required gas output.

I was excited to learn that the system was installed by SBB Biogas Company. SBB have been working closely with Good Return recently to formalise a partnership with NUBL – and will hopefully soon be providing many more systems across the Jhapa district of Nepal to NUBL members.

Suraj told me that SBB came first to tell them how big the pit needed to be. Local friends and family joined together to dig the pit, reducing the costs to the family. Then 3 technicians came for a week to finish off the system. Upon completion they received and orientation on how to use the system and the company followed up again later to see how things were going.

Suraj showed me how it worked – they mix 2 buckets of dung with 2 buckets of water for 20 minutes and then feed it into the system. Much less time than collecting firewood, I was told. Then the gas was piped to the kitchen. Finally he showed me how they took the fertiliser and used it on their fields.

Mixing the dung with water

I asked Nishu about the tangible differences she had seen – less time collecting firewood and less dirt in the house she told me. She told me that her father had decided to install it for the family because he had heard that the cooking for the family would take less time.

Sanjaya, the incredibly entrepreneurial branch manager from SBB, tells me that this is a common story. Still he tells me, he’s seen it all. Sometimes the plants aren’t successful. Sometimes the time taken to mix the dung takes longer than collecting firewood would have. Sometimes users cut the gas pipe when they are ploughing the fields. Sometimes guests visit and users enthusiastically put too much dung into the system, sometimes they don’t put in enough.

Good Return, SBB and NUBL have been working together to train NUBL staff to help their clients with some of these typical problems – NUBL’s field officers visit their members frequently and can help overcome the perception issues these problems might create faster than SBB would be able to alone.

Making creating something from nothing all the more likely.

The producer, hard at work

The resulting fertilizer

Monique is Good Return’s Sustainable Energy Field Coordinator and is currently in Nepal.

I think we are really lucky to live in Australia and I believe we should share our good fortune with people who live in poverty just because of where they were born. I’ve shown my son the pictures of the women I met in Nepal a few years ago, ones that show them living in mud huts with thatched roofs during a heavy rainy season. So when he complains about the food we put on our table or really “wanting” something… well, you can just imagine the response he gets from me!

I gave my son (and his Dad) a gift certificate to go and make a loan to a woman on Good Return. I’ve got to tell you that it warmed the cockles of my heart to watch them going through the process of picking out who they wanted to loan to. I must also confess that one of the deciding factors for my six year old was the bright colours that the women were wearing, so the really nice purple sari won out! I am sure this will change as he gets older (I hope)!

But this process provided a great learning opportunity for us to discuss how the women and her children live in a one room hut with beds that are only a bit of wood and hessian, and how the kids don’t get to go to school very long because they have to work in the fields with their mums. Lots of questions were asked and it was a very worthwhile discussion.

So what do I want for Mother’s Day? I want all of our kids to grow up knowing that it isn’t fair that people have to live in poverty and that they can do something about it!

Can you imagine a world where this is true? I can!

Do you feel the same way as Di? Then get your mum (or loved one) a Good Return gift certificate now.

Max and his Dad choosing a woman to lend to

Di is the Director of Marketing and Fundraising at Good Return.

But more than access to credit, Yosef and Juliana told me they joined CUKK because they wanted to be able to save money safely for the future. “Now we will be able to use the money from our rubber farm to support us during retirement.”

Yosef had an interesting job – he was head of culture for his local traditional Dayak community. He lives in a traditional “long house” with 50 or so other families. As head of culture he is responsible for giving advice to new husbands and wives.

Always keen for free advice, I asked what his best piece of advice was. “Marriage is not like shopping for clothes,” he said. “It isn’t just for a month or two. You need to work hard and be diligent. Most importantly, help others and do not be so quick to fight, even if something in your life is lacking.”

Good advice for life in general, I thought!

Yosef and Juliana

Monique is Good Return’s Sustainable Energy Field Coordinator and was recently in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

He also saw first-hand the poverty, lack of opportunity, and poor infrastructure that Good Return borrowers deal with on a daily basis. From only a few hours of electricity in a day to crumbling roads to remote villages — these are the challenges that are faced daily in Nepal.

Below is a 3 minute interview with Anthony about his trip and what he saw of Good Return’s work in Nepal. Be sure to read his other blog posts too!

The overall purpose of my visit was to discuss achievement of our partnership outcomes (planned just over a year earlier), ensure the Good Return partnership is still adding value to their clients, and to develop plans for the coming 12 months. This all went very well.

However, what I was most excited about was the commitment we received from all levels of Nirdhan Bank to increase its efforts towards managing its social performance (i.e. the implementation of its mission to work with the poor and underserved areas of Nepal). Up until recently (perhaps the past 10-15 years) the microfinance sector has been focused on ensuring its financial sustainability (i.e. covering its expenses, independent of donor or subsidised support, through the operating income it generates).

This is a worthy cause as without financial sustainability microfinance institutions (MFIs) couldn’t grow and reach more and poorer people, continually improve their efficiency, or continually improve the quality of its products and services to poor clients.

The issue with this focus on financial performance has been that it is often at the expense of the institution’s social efforts, or social performance. The microfinance sector was born out of a need to provide access to quality financial products and services to the poor and contribute to their economic and social independence. Most MFIs have a strong social element in their organisational mission. In the case of Nirdhan Bank, its missions is “to extend financial services and social awareness to the poor in under-served and un-served areas of Nepal in a sustainable manner.” Yet it is fair to say that Nirdhan Bank has been focused on its financial performance more heavily than its social performance. In the worst cases, this is referred to as “Mission Drift.”

Good Return and Nirdhan Bank have agreed to undertake a number of exciting initiatives to support them in both implementing its social mission and measuring the achievement of its efforts (social performance management). In summary, we have delivered workshops introducing the concept of social performance management and practical tools to use in its efforts to 17 branch managers; have a commitment to pilot an internationally recognised tool for poverty targeting and measuring the change in poverty levels of Nirdhan Bank clients; and we are currently undertaking an internal assessment of their social performance to identify further opportunities for Good Return to support Nirdhan Bank in the achievement of its social mission.

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that this is an exciting progression in our partnership with Nirdhan Bank! The work that Good Return does with its partners (the provision of loan capital, staff training, client training and access to sustainable energy technologies) is all targeted at supporting our partners to implement and achieve their social mission.

Seventeen Nirdhan Branch Managers from the eastern districts of Nepal participating in Social Performance Management and PPI workshops

James is Good Return’s Microfinance Program Manager and has just returned from a week in Nepal.

“When I started I walked 7-8 hours one way to the headquarters to deposit the money from our loans,” he told me. It was all worth it though, I was told. Mr Yakobus was key to building trust in the community and recruiting members – so much so that Keling Kumang was able to open a branch locally. (Quite a feat – the branch still radios in transactions due to a lack electricity, mobile phone and internet access.)

I asked why Mr Yakobus joined – “because Keling Kumang belongs to the community!” So much so that all 4 members of Mr Yakobus’ family are also members of the credit union.

The biggest difference Mr Yakobus has seen in Keling Kumang in the last 10 years is education. “Members of my community are now financially literate – and this is because of Keling Kumang’s training program.”

Monique is Good Return’s Sustainable Energy Field Coordinator and was just in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. She is on her way to Nepal this week.

I learn the following day that Laos has one of the fastest growing economies in the world (in the top 10 according to my source) and there has been huge change, in the capital at least, over the last 10 years. The other thing that struck on my arrival was the sense of serenity and laid back, well humoured, attitude of locals.

The purpose of my visit was to complete an assessment of Vanmai Savings and Credit Union, a savings and credit union (SCU) that World Education (the organisation behind Good Return) started several years ago. It is based out of a small town in southern Laos called Lao Ngam.

I spend a day at the World Education Laos office in Vientiane, meeting the team, before flying down to the regional capital Pakse and driving to Lao Ngam. Vanmai has 5 staff (Manager, Cashier, Accountant and two Credit Officers), a board of directors, and 671 members. On my second day I head out to meet some of its members and discover if Vanmai is achieving its mission of providing rural poor with access to affordable financial services. We travel about 30 minutes to Dong Bang village, which has a number of Vanmai members, most of whom are agricultural farmers.

Mrs Ka has been a member since Vanmai was established. She recently took a loan for preparing her land to plant sweet potato and peanuts, which she will sell at the Lao Ngam market. She eagerly asks me if I would like to see her land where she has already planted the seeds. This is the third loan she has taken from Vanmai. She says that she has turned a profit each time, which she uses to expand her plantation and cover her family’s living costs.

She is also saving to build a new house on the same land where her old house is. The new house will be roomier and built from better materials. Mrs Ka and her husband have 8 children (4 boys and 4 girls), and with the family’s limited income they have chosen to only send the boys to school. The eldest two boys finished at grade 3 and the youngest two are still studying.

Mrs Ka with her family outside her current house

Before Vanmai offered its services in Mrs Ka’s village the only option was money lenders who charged between 10-15% interest per month. Beyond her financial services needs she has asked Vanmai if they could support her with agricultural training, particularly how to reduce the pests that attack some of their crops.

Sweet potato crop

Mrs Ka and the land that she has prepared with the loan from Vanmai

One of Vanmai’s board members (Mr Boualearn) lives in the same village as Mrs Ka. He is eager to show me the proceeds of his loan during the visit to Mrs Ka’s adjoining land. He plants bananas, with the profits of the last few years he has been able to save enough to purchase a second-hand Hyundai truck to transport his and other members’ produce to the local market.

Mr Boualearn, Mr Khammany (Vanmai Manager) and Mrs Ka

Back at the Vanmai office and branch I was fortunate enough to meet one of Vanmai’s youngest members – Ms Bou Vilay. She comes into the office after school once a week to deposit 10,000 Kip (A$1.20) into her term deposit account that her father set up. It’s great to see young kids creating a healthy habit of saving!

Ms Bou Vilay with Cashier/Accountant Ms Vonvalee

Good Return hopes with continued support from the World Education Laos team that Vanmai will be ready to become a Good Return member in the next year or two. The team at Vanmai share this hope and look forward to offer Australians the opportunity to directly support its members in the not-too-distant future.

James is Good Return’s Microfinance Program Manager and was in Laos last week, and is off to Nepal this weekend!

A week prior I had been travelling with Pak Nico, an ex-board member of Good Return’s partner CUKK (Credit Union Keling Kumang) and owner of the local radio station. At Joni’s request I was interviewing some women about the role CUKK played in their lives.

And Pak Nico’s ears perked when I mentioned it was for International Women’s Day in about a week’s time.

Next thing I know I’m spending the evening of IWD on a radio talkshow with another ex-board member of CUKK – this time a woman, Ibu Siti. We speak about the differences between women in Indonesia and Australia. The impact of Good Return’s project on women. What it was like to be the only female board member of CUKK.

Pak Nico

The role of women’s issues in my life

I am caught a little off guard by the questions – it reminds me of my previous encounters with women’s issues.

Like the time I was asked to give a speech to the title “Working as a Woman in Sustainability”. I remember being irritated by the title. I always thought that bringing women’s issues to the forefront like that just exacerbated the issue – by making it seem like we were different, when we really weren’t.

But then I did some research. (Using skills honed at university, I spoke to my friends.) I found out it wasn’t normal to be asked when I was planning on having children in an annual review. I found out that if you were a married 28 year old with no children, and female, your prospects of being hired were significantly less than if you were a man.

I did the maths and it dawned on me that the number of women at director and board level in my company was quite low.

Actually, at that time, there were no women.

Awareness can be a powerful tool.

The role of women in Good Return’s projects

When Nico asked me about the role of women in Good Return’s projects, I thought of my reporting.

In every report we write for Good Return, we must consider the impact of our actions on women.

Here in Indonesia, I have noted that without a special request, women will not attend the surveys. I have noted that when they do, they are shy to raise their hands and give their opinions. I have noted that the women rarely eat with us at dinner. I have noted that women and men have significantly different roles in the home. And I have noted that like my previous employer, there are currently no females on the CUKK board.

It is possible for a financial institution to make changes to the traditional roles of men and women. In Nepal, Good Return gives women who have never had schooling basic and financial literacy training. Our partner there, Nirdhan Bank, only gives loans to women, and makes the women community leaders. In the Philippines I spoke to women who told me they thought they would never have the courage to speak in public. And now they are running training sessions alongside Good Return’s Filipino partner SECDEP.

Pak Nico had never heard of International Women’s Day, neither had the women that I interviewed.

But they were excited about it.

Good Return’s project here in Indonesia has only just begun. During the hour long talk show I wonder out loud what impact Good Return will have on the women here.

Awareness can be a powerful tool.

Ibu Siti

Monique is Good Return’s Sustainable Energy Coordinator and is currently in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

These programs can best – and I’d say only! – be provided with the support of what I will refer to as “indirect expenses” (or IDEs): these are the back office support systems – the accounting, administrative, marketing, governance and other systems inherent in ensuring best practise management of any organisation.

Many donors ask me what portion of their donation is invested in programs, and what portion is invested in these back office support systems and IDEs. I understand that donors want as much of their funds to go directly to beneficiaries, and myself and the Good Return Board carefully monitor this ratio of efficiency – along with many other indicators of effectiveness.

My initial and perhaps simplistic reply is “currently around 17%”, and that this is in line with best practices internationally. We get great donor support and it seems to me that an IDE ratio of under 20% is generally acceptable to most donors.

But knowledgeable donors – especially those working with Foundations – understand that the most effective development organisations need to invest in these back office systems if the program field work is to be implemented properly and sustainably. Of course too large an investment is inefficient, but too low an investment is ineffective. In other words, too “high” a level of IDE (say over 25%) is inefficient in that more funding should clearly go to programs, while too low a level to IDE (say under 10%) may indicate insufficient support to programs that could, for example, indicate weak monitoring or inadequate risk management. Of course each agency is different and change over time, with individual characteristics and approaches to development that can make comparisons one-dimensional.

Most important is the impact of the program activities on the lives of beneficiaries; have their lives been changed in a positive and sustainable manner? Simply put, investing 75% of donor funds in programs with great impacts must be preferable to investing 90% of donor funds in programs with weak impacts. For me it is this impact from program activities that should be the focus in providing donors with the good return (pun not intended!) they require – let’s call this the “social return on investment”.

The difficulty is in how this return is measured, and while much work and learning in this area has been achieved in recent years, it remains a difficult and complex calculation. Basically, how can donors compare the relative impacts of a $10,000 investment in microfinance in East Timor with the same investment in a literacy project for rural women in Nepal?

Knowledgeable donors understand this, and appropriately look to BOTH effectiveness AND efficiency measures in assessing the social return on their investments.

Our panelists were Nedahl Stelio of Cocolee.com.au, Dominique Hind of WiTH Collective, and Rebekah Campbell of Posse. All founders of their respective organisations, they had some terrific insights into how they got their businesses started, from education and opportunities in their youth to the importance of mentors and sound financial advice.

Of course, all of this relates back to Good Return – the loans and education that we work to supply our borrowers with are crucial for them to become empowered. They are able to gain more confidence, develop leadership roles in their community, and most importantly, pass their knowledge and experience on to their children to break the cycle of poverty.

We will be posting the video and transcript in the next couple of days, so be sure to check back for the links! Thank you to everyone who was able to attend, and for those who weren’t able to attend, we hope we can host a similar event again soon!

Click here to read more about the event details and panelist biographies.

Nedahl Stelio (left), Dominique Hind (middle), Rebekah Campbell (right)

The panelists and moderator Di Bowles

Di Ryall AM asks a question about women's networks

Members of the Good Return team who were able to be there: Nicole Stanmore, Director of Operations; Joni Morris, Online Marketing Coordinator; Di Bowles, Director of Marketing; Emily Whitehouse, School Engagement Officer; Guy Winship, CEO.