a+b=3

2012

2012-01-03T20:23:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! Best wishes of (financial) health, (financial) happiness, (financial) harmony,(financial) peace and overall prosperity!
a+b=3

Financial Education Conference - Jakarta 28 & 29 November

2011-12-02T02:51:00.000-08:00

CITI and the Financial Times organised their 8^th conference on financial education on November 28 and 29 in Jakarta. The main focus of the conference was Financial Education and Financial inclusion for the disadvantaged, as a way to empower them.

The conference started with a sad example how some very low income families consider their children as assets, and will sell them if in dire straits (the example was in Nepal, but could be in other countries).

Over the two days, speakers from various banks, microcredit and NGO operating in Asia but also Kenya and Peru presented their personal finance and entrepreneurship programmes. The most common formats included trainers’ guides but it can also include comic strips, video clips and mentor’s guides. Financial Education programmes tend to cover the same topics (spending, debt, savings, planning and banking products) but the focus depends on the organisation and the clients’ types. Banks and microfinance institutions tend to focus more on banking products while NGO may include topics such as “how to say no to family” or “how to communicate with family about money.”

What about financial inclusion? Financial inclusion is to have a bank account and understand the main financial products. Yves Moury from Fundacion Capital (Colombia and Peru) introduced how his organisation promotes the financial inclusion of very poor Indigenous rural people in Peru. Very low income people already save - especially women, but traditional savings instruments don’t allow any anonymity (the entire village knows how many cattle they have), animals are not divisible and there is more pressure especially from the spouse to sell the animals and spend the money. Mr. Moury insisted that bank accounts would not replace traditional saving tools (mostly animals or tools) but be used as additional instruments. They also include Financial Education in their programmes but one big issue is the cost of organising and running live training. So, they plan to use other delivery modes like mobile phone with “nudge” SMS, tablet devices in banks for self-education, and tablet computers in villages for peer learning in communities. More on www.proyectocapital.org

On the second morning, several speakers introduced their programmes for children. An Australian teacher who created a curriculum for schools said how important it is to embed Financial Education in curriculum and in daily life reality. A Financial Education programme must include practical problem solving, be designed as progressive learning over years and include parents. Impact assessments showed that one-off courses have a zero retention rate after a few years. Plan Indonesia who partners with other organisations and the government, offers a youth economic empowerment programme. They made an interesting market research in 2010 on how 16 year old girls spend their money. The first group was single girls attending school: their main expenses were cosmetics, mobile top-up, jewellery, fancy hand phones, motorbikes; the second group (married 16 year old girls out of school) spend on food for family, children education and to pay back debt. More interestingly, when asked why non-married girls spend mostly on cosmetics, their answers were to get married and get out of the village… YWCA Korea built their own curriculum and send volunteers to selected schools to run courses during maths and social studies classes. To ensure the programme is successful, YWCA involves school principals and teachers. The programme also includes a field trip, a one day festival, a money camp, club activities, a mentor programme and one meeting with parents. They insisted that more sessions increase effectiveness. To conclude, they compared money to a knife: we need to prepare kids to use this dangerous tool by explaining why money can be dangerous and about values. Indonesia Central Bank declared their intention to integrate Financial Education in the school curriculum.

Old people also have specific Financial Education needs. In Indonesia, Women’s Resources Development sponsored by Tsao Foundation run a programme called “Financial Education for Mature Women” which includes topics such as financial planning (especially for retirement), better relationship and communication with family members, sense of compassion and care between generations and how to keep healthy at old age.

Habitat for Humanity and Mercy Corps presented how they include Financial Education in their disaster and post-conflict relief and not just in their livelihood programmes. Knowing Financial Education basics is crucial in order to take the best possible decision, especially to finance a new shelter or repairs (Habitat couple it with technical knowledge), enhance the importance of savings, and planning and how to protect money, understand products (insurance, remittance, transaction, loan…) and new technologies (ATM, mobile money…) and fraud. These two organisations too insisted that the two success factors of a Financial Education programme are 1. Repetition, 2. Immediate application (“REPEAT, DO, REPEAT, DO…”). As disasters are more and more frequent, preparedness has become very important: topics like savings, keeping papers safe… should be included in all Financial Education programmes. Mercy Corps also showed how useful “Financial Diaries” are to get useful data on how target clients use their money.

Whatever the target, traditional training remains costly, especially the design part. We need to find new models to reduce the cost of traditional delivery. Another challenge is training the trainers- an Indian microfinance institution select trainers with the same background as their clients and uses a mix of live training, monitoring, refreshment programme and online programme to train them. A third challenge is to get clear measures on training effectiveness, but a few findings seem clear: 1. one-off courses do not have an impact- the retention over time is almost zero. 2. Trainers are key. Most speakers said it was important to have a broad approach and include different stakeholders (bankers, consultants, NGO, consumer protection agencies…).

More than in any previous conference, banks and microfinance institutions made it clear throughout the two days that by “embedding Financial Education in their marketing strategy”, they can gain more clients, retain their existing ones and enhance their product portfolio performance. This really gives food for thoughts on the neutrality of Financial Education programmes run by banks. There is definitely room (and need!) for purely informative and non-commercially biased Financial Education providers such as a+b=3 which goal is only educational and low income people’s empowerment. Besides, with the endemic crises of the Western financial system since 2008 and the banks’ roles, there is need for other views.

In the first evening, Tri Mumpuni gave a very inspirational speech on how we use our brain too much, and not our heart which leads to a “moral short-circuit”: our brain and heart are disconnected. In her speech she said that this disconnection leads people to become self-important and our education system creates this malfunctioning: education asks us to use logic only and not our social skills. We are too self-centered and don’t learn how to spend money to have an impact and help others. I also think that money is a tool… and not a goal; this reminded me of the discussion we had with trainers last October in Phnom Penh about the objective of Financial Education- to learn to use money according to one’s personal values… and not let money become our lives’ value.

Training the Trainers level 2 - Day 2

2011-10-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Our ToT level 2, like our ToT 1, aims at improving trainers' own financial literacy, making them discover and practise participatory training techniques and discussing ways to get financial literacy to their clients in an efficient way.

budgeting to get out of debt

Building a step by step programme

matching skills and trainers - what makes a good FL trainer

investing and basics of business profitibility

including financial literayc in other programmes (health, gender...)

Training the Trainers level 2 - Day 1

2011-10-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

After learning the basics of financial literacy and how to train ther clients, and implementing their first training, participants can attend a second level training to strengthen their financial knowledge and how to build an effective long term programme and make an impact.

From getting a dinner organised...

...to getting financially organised.

Making own organising game

behaviour change

net worth calculation

practise session: same topic (getting out of debt) facilitated with three different methods

preparing the session

facilitating it

action plan after day 1

Year 1 second group -Enfants du Mekong

2011-10-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

Same training as yesterday with the second group of year 1 students (Enfants du Mekong). A few snapshots:

steps to get a job

generating income ideas

shopping game!

analysing needs and wants

calculating available income

budgeting:... it is a real challenge to think ahead

Year 1 Students - Enfants du Mekong

2011-10-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Enfants du Mekong Year 1 students who have just arrived in Phnom Penh are attending a 4-hour workshop on money and opening their first bank accounts. The first group attended the workshop this morning. The purpose of this very first workshop is to equip students with the basics of money management by going through the main five topics (income, expenses, saving, budgeting and debt). Students receive some money every week to pay for their food and a monthly allowance for other expenses. The tools seen during the workshop aim at helping them manage their allowance. By combining training and practise, EdM and a+b=3 hope students can maximise their chances of managing their money.

sorting out the steps to get a job: from choosing what to study to signing a job contract (and understanding the importance of an employment contract).

finding job ideas and analysing the different types of income

spending their "income"... analysing needs and wants and learning the benefits of keeping track

calculating available income then their own budget.

Students also learned about the envelope method and the importance of bank accounts to save; they reviewed compound interest.

In the afternoon, year 1 students opened their first bank account ($1 deposit!).

Sao Sary Foundation

2011-10-14T05:19:00.000-07:00

Today, I visited Sao Sary Foundation - whose education officer attended our level 1 Training the Trainers last March. They are based in Kompong Speu Province (50 km South of Phnom Penh) and help children who are victims of abuse or trafficking. In many cases, the extreme poverty linked to drinking triggers violence within the families. Many children are also pulled out of school by their parents to work. Debt is endemic- and at 30% daily interest, families can barely pay the interest, let alone pay back the loan - this is financial slavery...
Sao Sary would like to intregrate financial literacy in their existing livelihood programmes for families, beside income generation programmes, and also include it in the social education they deliver to children. We discussed of ways to do it.

English lesson at SSF training centre

income generation idea: children make purses and bags with plastic

SSF office in Chbarmorn City - Kompong Speu Province

children at SSF Centre

children who just arrived to the Centre after a long ride to attend the English lessons

With only 8% of people who drink filtered water in this province, building water filters and giving them to families are one of SSF's priorities

slums in Kompong Speu - people don't have land and try to earn a living by weaving baskets

Training the Trainers level 1 - Day 4

2011-10-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

The last day is always very full: we go through any key technical content which has not been fully either understood or seen (today we reviewed the so-called notion of "good" and "bad" debts, compound interest, budget calculation and how to get out of debt). Participants identify ways to address "training challenges" such as time management, managing training material, dealing with non reactive or over-reactive participants. They also analyse the steps to implement a financial education programme and start working on their own organisation's FE plan.

identifying how to address training challenges

lunch time!

Good/Bad solutions to get out of debt:

Sorting out the main steps to implement a financial education programme

Discussing the next steps... implementing!

Calculating a budget:

The certificates!

Training the Trainers level 1 - Day 3

2011-10-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Practice session today! Participants practised training on debts, expenses, income, saving and budgeting.

preparing the practice session

learning how to give feedback

each group practices

needs and wants

managing expenses

consequences of debt

energiser after lunch

good and bad debts

generating income

challenges to savings

budgeting

Training the Trainers level 1 - Day 2

2011-10-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

We went through what is specific (and challenging!) about financial education and how to assess needs. We tested a few games... including the always successful wise/not wise shopper and the shopping game, which showed the difference between knowledge and behaviour applied to spending.

reviewing day 1

money... culture and values

wise shopper game

applying good pieces of advise (or forgetting them!): the shopping game

designing needs assessment tools

Training the Trainers - level 1 - Day 1

2011-10-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

14 trainers from 6 different NGOs are attending our level 1 training the trainers this week. We defined financial education, why it is important, what to teach according to the clients these NGOs target, and how to teach it!

Enfants du Mekong students - Year 4 workshop

2011-10-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

These students never had any course on money as EdM started implementing the FE curriculum in 2009 for the year 1 only. So we had to adapt today's workshop, especially introduce a few basics like needs and wants, available income and budget that will not be part of the final year 4 workshop while the programme is at full speed.

analysing how we choose and take decisions: from ordering food from a restaurant menu

... to big decisions in life

project management : identifying and sequencing the main steps and budgeting... we took wedding as example.

The 1 day long workshop ended with reviewing basics on budgeting, envelope methods, consequences of debt and the importance to have a bank account.

Students' workshops - Phnom Penh

2011-10-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

The new university year is just starting in Cambodia. After several years of cooperation with Enfants du Mekong, we have created a curriculum over the 3 or 4 years that students are sponsored by Enfants du Mekong. Objectives: (1) maximise the impact of the FE programme so that graduated students have all the necessary tools to manage their first income, (2) go from a pilot programme to a more sustainable programme integrated in the long term education project of EdM.

Year 1 students are introduced to money management as long as they open their first bank account and ge to manage their first monthly sponsorship. (see training 15-16 October)
Year 2 students attend a follow up session to review what they learned in year 1, assess what they have implemented, go further on some topics (how to manage utilities, rent, commitments...) and introduce topics such as values and the social impact of money (how money can interact in their relationships with friends and family).
Year 4 students attend a last training before they graduate and fend for themselves.While reviewing the basics (budget, savings...), topics such as decision-taking, managing family's money requests, budgeting a project... such as a wedding and values are also introduced.
Bilingual booklets and interim review sessions will also be added.

Next step: making the multi-year programme sustainable and facilitated by EdM Khmer staff- the same way as the FE programme for families is.

This weekend, we tested the new Year 2 and Year 4 training.

Year 2: what did they implement in six months.

reviewing last year's training main messages

good and bad pieces of advise on spending...

identifying what expenses are difficult to manage and brainstorming on practical solutions to better manage them.

discussing situation cases where honesty, trust or other values come into play.

happy budgeters!

Financial Literacy Conference - Day 2

2011-05-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Friday was a very full half day of keynotes speakers. The first was about programme evaluations, and how important it is to think about how to evaluate when designing a training programme.

The second speaker -Jonah Lehrer, a thought provoking writer - introduced what behavioural economics is about. Through many examples, he explained latest dicoveries by scientists studying people's brains especially when they take decisions: whether it is about to decide what food to choose or how to invest. Neuroscientists' studies show human beings' brain is far from being rational: we use other areas from our brains- especially emotions- to take decisions. They have studied for instance how financial bubbles form- and how euphoria and over-confidence make them grow and grow. Other factors like gender and social pressure (especially among men's groups) also impact how we decide. The big issue is that Western economic theories have assumed for centuries that man is rational- and this is definitely a wrong assumption!
What was especially interesting as well was when Lehrer reported a research done by a Wisconsin Professor who studied Buddhist monks. Their brains "look" different and probably because of the daily hours they spent meditating, they could control their emotions much better than other people (the Professor tested how their brain reacted to the noise of a tire exploding- they didn't feel any fear while all the other test group of "ordinary" people did even though both groups had been warned in advance). Lehrer's conclusion was that in order to take better decisions, we should not necessarily be more rational- emotions are important players in our decisions- but think more about how we think - in other words, meditation and knowing ourselves help us take more control of our lives.

The next discussion was led by Prof. Dilip Soman and gave rise to a lively debate: the topic was nudging or educating consumers on financial issues. So, should public authorities encourage financial education only or complement it by other interventions to influence long term behaviours. One area is retirement: should public authorities educate people about why it is important to save for retirement or should they push them to save for it? One obvious issue with influencing (or "nudging") is whether the public authorities really know what is best for people, and how they can take people's diversity into account. Another issue is that nudging can disempower while education aims at empowering people. Saying that, the speaker gave interesting examples of "nudges": he has worked with low income groups in India and they teach the envelope method to control expenses and save. In one study, they asked one group to stick a photo of their children on the "savings" envelope. People were less likely to open and use the savings envelope if their children's photo was on it. Another example is the power of automation: we tend to save more if we have an automatic monthly transfer from our current to our savings account. All speakers recognise that financial education is the most important way people can really learn to take control of their financial lives- but honest (or self imposed) nudges can help us.

The conference ended with how Canada ig going to implement financial education in their schools and how other countries could draw national strategies from the Canadian example.

OCDE Financial literacy conference in Toronto

2011-05-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

I am attending the OCDE financial literacy conference in Toronto today and tomorrow. Great to meet other people (banks, governmental agencies, content providers, school teachers, consultant, a few NGOs) involved in financial education too: 400 delegates from 40 countries!

First impressions: more and more people are interested in boosting financial education- that's great. The Provincial Government of Ontario has integrated financial education into the Grades 4 to 8 mandatory school curriculum.

Measurement is the buzz word of the conference, with several panel discussions on it. Most people try to measure three areas: financial knowledge, behaviour/attitude, and awareness/use of financial products. I asked the question about indicators... going the wrong way: our Hong Kong partner, Enrich, ran several pre and post-course evaluations and the number of participants doing budgets for instance was going down- why? Simply because before the training, they didn't know... that they didn't know (they didn't know what a budget was for example) but after the training they answered with more accuracy because they now knew what a budget was. Several delegates nodded and said they had the same experience; to avoid that bias, they run the evaluation right after the training by asking participants to self-evaluate what they knew before the training and what they know now. In terms of measures, the OCDE has launched a standard set of measures. more later once I have looked at their website. The areas measured are "keeping track", "making ends meet", "choosing products", "staying informed" and "planning ahead".

I then attended two panel discussions: one on technology and financial inclusion (use of mobile phone for example to transfer and save money), and one on Training the Trainers. They talked about the M-Pesa experience in Kenya where the mobile phone company there has enabled millions of people to store their money other than in cash at home. Saying that, while they recognised the huge potential for technology to help financial inclusion, the three specialists recognised that only 2 areas out of 4 are addressed by technology:

distance between customer/bank: addressed
cost efficiency (for the bank- it's expensive to have branches every where): addressed
financial literacy of customers: technology does not address it- there are a few attempts like in Kenya, after customers do a transfer on the mobile phones, the phone company sends a short SMS on the importance of saving, but it is really limited.
adequate financial products for low income: not addressed either; banks haven't yet designed products specifically addressing poor people's needs and at the same time being financially sustainable for them. As the Indian speaker from the Bank of India put it: "no exploitation neither subsidisation of the poor."

On the Training the Trainers, that was heartwarming to hear the three panelists' views- because this is what we have been trying to do for years:

Training trainers who have a thorough understanding of the people they work with is the most efficient way of delivering financial education. So to all the social and community workers and trainers we have trained since 2007: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF- only you can find the right words and ways to convey important messages to the low income communities you serve. WELL DONE!
other message... which goes in the same direction: one training is not enough and trainers need on-going support and encouragement to keep the momentum. This is what we have been doing through emails, surveys, Skype one-to-one coaching, online library, very soon online training. We'll keep doing more for you.

The day ended with very interesting data on the gender gap on financial literacy- it is widespread in most countries: women score lower than men on financial literacy questions. BUT there are many questions marks... economists who have organised the researches have found out that if the question does not involve maths or financial jargon, the gap is much narrower. Besides, there is a big proportion of women answering "I don't know" and it might not mean that they don't know... or men know! It might be a more prudent attitude of women preferring acknowledging they are not fully sure, while men leave less room for doubts and take more risks. I asked, but no studies have been done on the impact of women's being the breadwinner vs "homestay mothers" on financial literacy. In any case, it would be interesting to offer family training catering men AND women and their different approach to money.

Stay tune! Please do send your remarks and questions!
Sophie

Financial education in the factories

2011-05-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

In February, we trained three new trainers at Mothercare, a well known British company, whose social responsibility department is willing to make a difference in their workers' daily lives by introducing financial education workshops in their factories in China.

Mothercare trainers have since then ran several pilot training in factories in Guangzhou and Shanghai areas.

Presentation on Financial Education - Phnom Penh

2011-03-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

On March 5th, Sophie and Chhunny introduced what financial literacy is and how to improve it to around 20 NGO workers, students and teachers in Phnom Penh.

Training the Trainers - Level 1 - Phnom Penh - Day 4

2011-03-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

Time to wrap up, go through a few more financial knowledge points (especially on budgeting, saving) and above all discuss and write implementation plans to transfer the trainers' new practical knowledge to their organisations' low income clients. We finished with photos... and a joyful barbecue! A special thanks to Chhunny for co-facilitating in Khmer and supervising the training logistics.

Training the Trainers - level 1 - Phnom Penh - Day 3

2011-03-03T23:39:00.000-08:00

Today, the participants practised training. In pairs, they adapted and facilitated an activity from one of the five main topics of a+b=3's curriculum: controlling expenses, managing debts, increasing income, saving and planning.

Training the Trainers - level 1 - Phnom Penh - Day 2

2011-03-02T23:15:00.000-08:00

Today trainers discovered a+b=3 financial education curriculum, learned how to identify their clients' specific training needs and prepared the practice session. Tomorrow, they will be the trainers! Participants also learned about managing expenses, how debt works and how to get out of debt.

Training the Trainers - level 1 - Phnom Penh - Day 1

2011-03-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

Twelve trainers from seven different organisations participated to our first level "Training the Trainers - Learn how to teach money matters". The training took place at Cambodian Youth Federation in Phnom Penh from March 1 to 4.

On the first day, trainers learned what financial education is about, what makes it so specific to teach, and experienced how participatory methods can be much more effective than more traditional learning methods, especially for a "boring and dry" subject such as finance.

Students' workshops in Phnom Penh

2011-02-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

The French charity, Enfants du Mekong, invited a+b=3 to run several workshops about money management and business in their Centre in Phnom Penh. Enfants du Mekong and a+b=3 have been regularly working together since 2007 on raising financial literacy in Cambodia and also ran a pilot workshop in the Philippines.

Two workshops on how to manage money were attended by Year 1 students: we started with how to get an income, then moved to how to spend wisely and control expenses. Good habits start early so each student wrote her/his own budget and planned how (s)he could manage her/his food and studies allowance at best to save for the future, even a little, and students also learned about how to avoid debt and what interest is about, and learned practical tips on how to follow one's budget through using envelopes and/or bank account.

In another workshop, we introduced what to do to start a business: from checking what qualities a business person should have, finding business ideas, assessing the risks and opportunities, understanding the importance of writing a business plan, and a few exercises on calculating a profit and cash flow.

How to get a job

Reviewing needs and wants

Spending money

calculating a budget

Business training

Training the Trainers - level 2 (Phnom Penh)

2011-02-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

On February 25 and 28, we ran our second level Training the Trainers: "learn to teach money management - making an impact". This second level is open to trainers who have attended a previous training the trainers on financial education and have already implemented financial education programmes with their clients. It was hosted by the Centre Mérieux of Enfants du Mékong in Phnom Penh. Trainers discussed the successes and challenges of the financial education programmes they have implemented (mainly with very low income families around Phnom Penh) and during the two days, refreshed and consolidated their financial knowledge (bank accounts, insurance, budgeting, net worth, going out of debt...) and identified the various ways of putting financial education messages in action, even for people with very low and irregular income.

Training the Trainers: Day 4: Implementation plan

2010-06-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

A few more groups practised: practising also enabled the participants to learn the main five topics of our financial education programs: controlling expenses, managing debt, generating income, saving and planning

Lunch together: impressive table and delicious Khmer food

The last half day was focused on how to implement a financial education program in the trainers' organisations: they all worked hard on their training plan: who to train, how, what to teach, what resources they need, what time frame...

To wrap up the four days, another game: the main steps of being financially organised: lots of discussion, movements and laughter to find out what comes first, and last:

The certificates: who said finance was dull and serious?

Now it is the participants' turn to implement financial education in their organisations, with our support if needed.

Training the Trainers: Day 3: practising!

2010-06-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today the trainers ... were training!

Traning the Trainers: Day 2: Discovering and adapting a+b=3's financial education programs to local targets

2010-06-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Clear goals to make the most of the training

Discovering a+b=3's programs

After choosing one activity, trainers adapt it to their local context and prepare the practice sessions.

Training the Trainers in Siem Reap: Day 1: discovering financial education and participatory training methods

2010-06-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

Practising: how to teach needs and wants in a participatory way

The benefits of being financially literate... and the consequences of not being financially literate.

The three levels of financial education: knowledge, skills and behaviour:

The challenges of learning (and teaching) financial education:

The three training methods: conference, questions and answers and participatory. Guess which one we use in our workshops!

Training the Trainers 14-17 June Siem Reap

2010-06-09T07:27:00.002-07:00

Our next Training the Trainers on "how to teach money matters" will take place in Siem Reap (Cambodia) from June 14 to 17.

Financial Education Meeting - Beijing 11 June 2010

2010-06-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

a+b=3 and Mercy Corps co-organised a meeting on Financial Education in Beijing on June 11. The purpose of the meeting was to share best practices between all interested organisations, learn about innovations, discuss the challenges we face when implementing a financial education program.

a + b = 3 和国际美慈组织很荣幸地邀请您参加将于6月11日在北京举行的金融教育研讨会，为期一天。

会议目的
一个家庭如何摆脱负债、如何进行家庭理财、如何制定家庭预算，如何进行储蓄… …您的机构是否开展过金融教育？或者您的机构希望为客户提供类似的培训但不知道如何去做？
这个为期一天的会议将在下列方面为您提供帮助：

(1) 了解金融教育包括哪些内容及其重要性；
(2) 提高您现在提供的金融教育项目的质量和影响；
(3) 向其他机构和金融教育专家学习经验和知识，并同大家分享您自己的经验；
(4) 更好地识别从事金融教育工作中的障碍和挑战，以及多种解决之道。
会议主办方和参会者的工作重点是帮助弱势群体，比如城市中的农民工，下岗职工等，所提供的金融教育也主要是针对收入水平不高而且缺乏理财知识的人群。

参会人员
(1) 对金融教育有兴趣或者从事过金融教育的NGO工作人员；
(2) 企业界从事企业社会责任工作且希望开展金融教育的人士；
(3) 对支持金融教育项目感兴趣的潜在的资助机构；
(4) NGO的金融教育讲师。

Financial Education Presentation in Siem Reap (Cambodia)

2010-03-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

On March 15, 2010, Sophie introduced what financial literacy is, the benefits and difficulties in learning and teaching financial education and examples of training programs. The event was attended by around 30 people, from local NGOs and companies in Siem Reap (Cambodia). It was co-organised by ConCert, a local NGO and hosted by La Residence d'Angkor.

a few snapshots of the presentation

The 3 levels of financial education: knowledge, skills and behaviour

Examples of the different levels that financial education implies

Benefits of being financially literate/ hardships of not being financially literate

What does learning about money involve

What topics should a program contain?

overview of a+b=3

how a+b=3 and NGOs can work together to implement successful financial education programs.

Examples of an adaptation on how to manage expenses made by Cambodian trainers during March 2009 Training the Trainers in Phnom Penh.

Social enterprise

2010-01-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

a and b make 3 is a social enterprise: whenever we can, we encourage small local businesses. Our work in Cambodia is an example of the way we try to create value locally:

When we organise a training the trainers in Cambodia, we buy our training supplies locally; we also have our trainers' guide printed there,
We have also asked local translators to translate our Trainers' guide. This is now ready!
Finally, we focus on training trainers so that they can set up financial education programmes without depending on foreign trainers.

Giving work locally is also part of our mission, as a social entreprise.

Good Habits with Money - US version

2010-01-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

I was invited two Fridays in a row by SHAPE, Eden Prairie (MN), a not-for-profit organisation providing free English lessons to migrants, to facilitate a 30 minute workshop on money management. I chose basic topics such as controlling spending, a challenge in the USA where consumers are constantly prompted to buy and there is such a huge offer of products, and budgeting. In another pilot workshop last June, I also introduced topics such as credit cards and debts. (further reading: how the content varies between the Hong Kong version and the US one on our website).

The two main challenges were to keep the language simple, especially for the beginners' group, and to integrate the variety of the participants' backgrounds: some come from countries where banking services are very limited or only accessible to few people. Coping with a new language, new customs and new financial habits are definitely daily challenges for migrants.

Hong Kong: Setting up my business for Trainers

2009-12-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

Trainers from our Hong Kong partner, Enrich, attended our Training the Trainers on our new programme "Setting up my business". This programme is an 18 hour training designed especially for Migrant Workers working in Hong Kong who plan to set up a small business once back home to the Philippines or Indonesia. This programme, split in 6 sessions, goes through:

How to grow my idea into a business
Organising my business
Costs, prices and profit
Accounting basics
Cash is king
Controlling my business

To make the most of our training time, trainers first discovered the content of "Setting up my business" in our online training. This allowed us to focus on practising training on this one day workshop.

Teaching students to set up a business

2009-12-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

While I am in Phnom Penh, Enfants du Mekong has asked me to help out and facilitate a training on how to set up a business for Year 2 and Year 3 students. With the support of Samuel, a volunteer who worked several years in marketing and finance, the students have already started working on their business idea and business plan.
I focus on the financial part of their business plan and we all work hard on computer spreadsheets to forecast the income statement, and cash needs of their budding businesses. Some students have done thorough researches on their potential market and customers and even started saving money to start their project as soon as they graduate.

(no pictures... too busy!)

Cambodia: empowering trainers

2009-12-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

One of our main goals is to encourage NGOs staff to implement financial education and help their clients improve their money management skills. Since last March Training the Trainers in Phnom Penh, Enfants du Mekong teachers and social workers have trained their clients several times: the Enfants du Mekong Centre's students in Phnom Penh but also low income families in Phnom Penh and Sisophon (see our website for more info and pictures).

Today, we are observing Enfants du Mekong teachers facilitate a one-hour workshop with Second Year students on how to spend wisely and saving. It is great to see students actively participating in the workshop and stressing key learning at the end of the session! After the session, we discussed with the teachers on how to improve the training further, measure its impact and reach other years' students.

Following up our partners

2009-12-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

One training is not enough... very often participants to our Training the Trainers will first use what they have learned ... to better manage their own finance. Very often too, before reaching out their organisations' clients, they will first facilitate short training on financial education to their colleagues. To build their confidence, encourage them to implement financial education programme to help their clients and overcome the challenges of doing so, it is key to follow up and support the trainers.
It is what we did in Phnom Penh, nine months after the training the trainers: Sophie came back and during a couple of hours, we discussed what they implemented, the difficulties they face and braintormed on ideas to get basic financial education messages through to the low income people these organisations support.

We were hosted in the brand new Enfants du Mekong Centre which had opened the week before and still not had internet!

Reaching out migrant workers in Chinese factories

2009-12-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Mothercare's Responsible Sourcing team commissioned a+b=3 to run a pilot training for the migrant workers employed by some of their factories in Guangzhou area. An exciting and innovative project which shows this employer’s involvement in their employees beyond the mere distribution of a salary. The aim of this training is to help these workers better manage their income and improve their life. Through the factories' staff, we assessed the training needs and drafted the pilot training. On December 6, Myriam, Mandy and Michelle took the ferry to Zhongshan and trained around 30 workers

The 4 hour workshop went through how to control expenses, calculate how much money we have (net worth), the notion of "bad" and "acceptable" debt, how to calculate an available income, understand how to read a payslip, how to set goals and save for them and finally calculate and use a budget. Even though the training was held on their day off, participants were very engaged and enthusiastic and asked many questions. One participant remarked that families should be trained too, as they are the recipients (and main spenders) of the remittances. The feedbacks were very good and participants felt that budgeting was especially important.

Money adventures... in Spanish!

2009-08-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

Holá! For four mornings in a row, we ran our money workshop for 6-8 year old children "Adventures at Money Park" in Español in the Spanish Immersion School of Eden Prairie (MN, USA). That was definitely fun to see kids play in various activities around money. They learned and practised how to convert pesos to dollars, how to shop wisely, needs and wants, credit cards, why and how to save, how to write a simple budget. We even visited a virtual shop and bank!
Our "little helpers" - the cartoon characters we use to teach money to kids - were here too: Spencer the Smart Spender™ (a squirel) had turned into Armando el Comprador Listo™ ! Spencer is now trilingual: English, Cantonese and Spanish... good news, he's learning French!

Helping local Hong Kong women (2)

2009-07-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

Introduction to Entrepreneurship pilots were harder to organise: setting up a business is expensive in Hong Kong (rents are especially high) which puts off many women, and finding the right trainers took time.

Finally, Yeast Foundation's trainers facilitated the two pilots which had a very good turnout and feedback.
Why set up a business (first pilot) First pilot participants

Second pilot: guests speakers sharing their business experience were a highlight of the training.
Practising how to speak with a banker.
Each woman introduces her business project to the group.

Helping local Hong Kong women

2009-04-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

The Women's Foundation have commissioned a+b=3 to create a training programme to help low income Hong Kong women get more confident, improve their financial independence and find new ways to generate income.

After interviews and panel discussions, we created two training: Personal Enrichment and Introduction to Entrepreneurship. Personal Enrichment combines personal development skills (confidence, communication) with money topics (saving, building and using a budget, investing). Introduction to Entrepreneurship aims at giving basic knowledge and tools to women to assess if they are ready to set up their own business and what are the main steps.

Our second step was to run pilots of "Personal Enrichment" with three different local not-for-profit organisations.

focus groups
training pilots

Training the trainers in Phnom Penh

2009-03-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

21 participants (social workers, teachers, training coordinators) from 7 organisations attended a+b=3' five day workshop on financial education. The aim of this highly interactive training the trainers was to empower participants to facilitate a financial education programme to their clients, who include very low income families living in and around Phnom Penh and underprivileged youth coming from other Cambodian areas and studying in Phnom Penh. The training is hosted and co-organised by Enfants du Mekong.

First day: discovering what financial education is about, the challenges to teach it and what impact being financially literate can make for individuals and their families and communities.

Second day: how can we teach topics such as "spending more wisely", "saving a little every month", "getting out of debt", "planning" to clients who have very little money and only plan one day at a time?

Third day: practice makes perfect: participants work in small groups to adapt examples of training activities designed by a+b=3 and facilitate them in front of the others.

Fourth day: how can promote financial education workshops and measure their impact?

Fifth day: wrap up and brainstorming on how to implement financial education programme in each organisation... and a nice Cambodian lunch together!

addressing a challenge to money management: gambling
participants practice training

sample sessions: we facilitate a one-hour workshop with Enfants du Mekong Centre students

discussing how to implement a program
Group photo

Financial Education Summit November 2008

2008-11-30T14:18:00.000-08:00

a+b=3 was invited as a guest speaker along with its partner enrich to the Citigroup-Financial Times financial education summit in Beijing (November 2008).

Tim presents how a+b=3 works with local NGOs to design financial education programs that are relevant to each target.

Tim (left) participates in the panel discussion, as long as Jane (second from right) from our Hong Kong partner, Enrich.

Training the Trainers in Kunming (China)

2008-11-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

For four days, we co-organised a Training the Trainers with GFEP on financial education. Around 20 participants from various organisations working in Sichuan discovered what financial education is about, principles of adult education, adapted examples of training and facilitated them. They are now all motivated and ready to get the message through their clients.

preparing the workshop
Welcome banner
introduction

participants demonstrate financial negotiations
group work on current client behaviours
session on the challenges of implementation

participants preparing training props
Group photo

Good Planning with Money

2008-10-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, trainers from our Hong Kong partner, Enrich, attended a Training the Trainers on "Good Planning with Money". "Good Planning with Money" is a follow-up course on how to manage one's personal money. Why a follow up course? Simply, because one course is not enough: financial education takes time to build and practice. Participants to the first level training "Good Habits with Money" that Enrich regularly facilitates in English, Tagalog and Bahasa Indonesia, need to review what they put in practice from the first workshop (writing a budget, tracking their expenses, setting their goals and saving accordingly). This is also the opportunity to discuss what difficulties they face in implementing money management tips, and go further in topics such as dealing with family demands and spotting (and avoiding!) scams.

each trainer facilitated a part of Good Planning with Money, while others took the role of participants.

Octopus Kids Nurturing Program in Hong Kong

2008-05-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

a+b=3's Chinese teacher, Becky, was invited to give financial education basic pieces of advice during the Octopus (*) Kids Nurturing Program Kick-off Ceremony at Saint James Settlement on 3 May 2008.
To watch the presentation, click below:
Octopus

(*) In Hong Kong, the Octopus card is a card to which we can add money and use to pay public transportations and small purchases like food and snacks from vending machines.

welcome to a+b=3 blog

2008-03-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

This blog is about financial education: why it is important, what's new, what we can do to raise financial literacy and make this world a better place, especially for those living on very limited resources. We will also keep you updated on the latest training, projects or services of a+b=3.