READING

Businesswoman Nicole Hunt tells all in new book

by Vicki Wu

A new book is coming out next month by Nicole Hunt, a successful businesswoman. In this book, Ms. Hunt describes how she got started in business, as well as her plans for the future.

Hunt started as a factory worker in a small town in Mississippi. After five years she was the manager of the factory.

"I knew right away that I had to work hard if I wanted to succeed," Hunt explains in her book.

Today, Nicole Hunt is president of her own company. She owns three factories and is looking for a new location for a fourth one. She still lives in Mississippi but is often out of town on business. She says that she doesn't mind traveling and prefers to be busy.

Ms. Hunt is currently working on a new project. She is starting a group to help other women succeed in business. "It's going to be an information center for all women interested in starting their own business," Hunt says.

"It's not impossible to start from nothing and succeed. But it's necessary to work hard and never give up. I owe my success to hard work and a little luck."

The Kid Who Started a Bank

THE KID WHO STARTED A BANK

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i0j33dqehn6a008/THE%20KIDWHOSTARTABANK.pptx?dl=0

When Jose Adolfo Quisocala was seven years old, he decided he wanted to open a bank. 

It would be a bank for kids in his town of Arequipa, Peru. 

The bank would allow the children to save money, and help them get out of poverty.

Quisocala came up with the idea when he realized that other kids in his town didn't understand the importance of saving money. Many of his classmates spent the little money they had on toys or candy. He also saw children his age working instead of going to school. They were earning money for their families. Quisocala wanted to enable these children to save some of this money for the future.

At first, Quisocala - together with his father - looked for existing banks where children could open savings accounts. But the banks required a certain amount of money in order to open an account. The amount was much too high for the kids in Arequipa.

So, when Quisocala was 11 years old, he fulfilled his dream and opened his own bank, Banco del Estudiante Bartselana. At first, the bank had 20 customers. Today, Banco del Estudiante Bartselana offers loans, microinsurance, and other financial services to more than 2,000 children between the ages of 10 and 18. The kids also have personal debit cards to withdraw money from cash machines.

Banco del Estudiante Bartselana sets savings goals, and children can only withdraw money once they reach a goal. In order to make Banco del Estudiante Bartselana accessible to as many kids as possible, kids can "deposit" recyclables instead of money. Children can bring in items such as plastic bottles, used notebooks and old flip flops. This allows kids without any cash to start and grow their own savings accounts. Quisocala's "eco-bank" gives the children credit on their account according to the number of recyclables they deposit. They send  the recyclables to a local recycling company. So, while learning to manage their money, the children are also learning to care for the environment.

Quisocala has many international awards, including the Children's Climate Prize, which focuses on protecting the environment. He won the prize in 2018, when he was 13 years old. As Quisocala says, "Children are the hope for tomorrow and our environment."