Thursday November 1, 2012

Creating Jobs and Small Business Opportunities in Nicaragua

La Trinidad, Nicaragua -

Last year, Josefa Caballero and her three daughters were unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. Josefa, known as Chepita, was looking to turn their situation around. She learned of EOS International's low cost, fuel-efficient ovens from her sister and had a vision of starting a bakery with her daughters.

In February 2011, Chepita purchased an EOS oven to start the bakery. She called it Panadería Chepita. On day 1, she bought 25 pounds of flour and made bread and cookies. She sold it all. Day 2 she doubled production and still sold out of product. By week 3, Chepita was using 100 pounds of flour daily - and sold everything she made.

Production continued to grow steadily and in April 2011, Chepita purchased an additional fuel-efficient oven from EOS. By September, she had enough savings to upgrade to a larger, commercial oven.

Fast forward one year to the present. Chepita now employs 12 people – all members of her extended family. Pictured above is Chepita with her team. She will hire another five people in November as she starts up a second commercial oven.

In just 18 months, Chepita Caballero went from being unemployed to owning a successful business that employs most of her extended family. She is now a role model in the community and has shown the world that with appropriate technologies from EOS, people can create small businesses and jobs in their communities.

She represents the ultimate EOS success story - someone who used our technologies to break the poverty cycle and create a better future for herself and her children. Know that we are working hard to help thousands of Nicaraguans have similar success.

In September, EOS' Greg McGrath met Chepita at her bakery in what was an inspiring and educational visit. Click here or visit the EOS facebook page to see photos and take a closer look at Panadería Chepita.

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Host a Dinner Party and help us say, "Cheers to a Better Future!"

If you like a good dinner party, here's your chance to host one that could change the world...

Announcing:
"Cheers to a Better Future!" event series

Cheers to a Better Future is a new event series about CELEBRATION. We want you to join us in celebrating the lives EOS has changed in Nicaragua and the better future we’re working hard to create.

Whether it’s a Happy Hour or a dinner party, “Cheers!” means getting together and genuinely connecting with people, all while raising money to help others.

So, are you in?
In the next two months, we invite you to host a dinner party for EOS. Pick a date, invite some friends, make or buy some delicious food, and most importantly, have fun! Rather than having everyone chip in for the food, have people donate the cost of a meal to EOS.

This is a great time of year to catch up with friends, and you can make a big impact by raising money to help families in Nicaragua.

We’re here to help
We’ve come up with a few resources to get you started! If you want to host a Cheers to a Better Future event, e-mail Greg (gregory.mcgrath@eosintl.org) and he can get you set up with:

• Dinner party/event ideas
• Sample e-mails and invitations
• Awesome videos to share with everyone you know
• Finally, fliers about EOS to share with your guests

Before the end of the year, put on your very own Cheers event, and add your personal spin to plan a party that’s perfect for your family and friends. And when it’s all said and done, send us a picture or two of your event! We would love to see your unique way of toasting to a better future.

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Volunteers Needed

In the last year we helped more than 20,000 people gain access to life-improving technology. This would not be possible with out our incredible staff in Nicaragua and our amazing volunteers in the States.

We have even bigger plans for 2013, but we need to a few more volunteers to make this happen. If you have access to internet and 3-5 hours per week, you can be successful and add significant value to EOS.

If you're interested in volunteering for one of the positions listed below or have any questions, e-mail Greg McGrath (gregory.mcgrath@eosintl.org).

Here are the positons we're looking to fill:

Marketing Coordinator - lead one or more marketing projects, i.e. expanding our presence in social media, growing our charity running program or creating ideas for infographics. Prior marketing/communications experience is preferred but not necessary. We've learned that even an engineer can become a good marketer!

Development Coordinator - lead one or more fundraising projects and contribute new ideas. Prior fundraising experience is a plus, but not necessary.

Website Manager - we're looking for someone with website design/management experience to make some changes to our site, eosintl.org, as well as make periodic content updates (1-2 times per month).

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Spread the Word

If you like and believe in the work we are doing, please take a second to help us spread the word!

Click  to "Like" us on facebook

Click  to share this newsletter on Twitter

Click here to forward this e-mail to a friend
 

We'll be back next month with more updates and stories from Nicaragua!

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