The Bonita Trust Funds Mann Deshi Mobile Business School Making Education Accessible to Rural Women in India

Gibraltar, Gibraltar, October 26, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Speaking on behalf of the Bonita Trust International Advisory Board, current Chairwoman – Ruth Parasol DeLeon - says “We are delighted to partner with the Mann Deshi Business School and to provide them with a Mobile Business School for Women bus. Together, we envision that through the Mobile Business School for Women programmes, its graduates will go on to become inspirational symbols of women’s empowerment and positive transformation. We have seen much of the income going towards the education of the women’s children, towards health-care and land-investment, thereby contributing to the growth of the community and to India’s future as a whole.”

Building on the success of its Business School programmes, the Mobile Business School for Women programme was first launched in August 2007 and has trained over 1,300 women in five courses, leading to 663 new loans and stimulating the establishment of 420 new enterprises. In addition to vocational training covering a wide range of skills such as screen printing, tailoring, fast food preparation and agricultural courses, which provide training on dairy production and veterinary camps, the Mobile Business School offers technology courses to teach basic computer literacy and mobile phone literacy. The level of courses varies from basic to advanced, in order to meet the diverse needs of women with different skill levels.

In addition to vocational training, the Mobile Business School for Women focuses on providing women with business training. This includes courses in financial and marketing literacy. The Business School partnered with its sister organization, the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank to create a curriculum that provides the necessary financial training and services through the Bank to make small business entrepreneurship a reality for its clients. The Bonita Trust and the Mann Deshi Group have dedicated the new Mobile Business unit to the memory of Brooke Shearer, a keen supporter of the Women’s Business School programme, and cherished member of The Bonita Trust International Advisory Board, who passed away in May 2009.

For further information please contact Mary Glanville on +44 207 731 8208.
www.bonitatrust.org

###