A Self-help Assistance Program - ASAP

ASAP's program has been helping families flourish since 1994. ASAP provides a helping hand - not a handout - for those struggling to improve their own lives. All projects are designed to foster entrepreneurship and self-reliance. 1. Tools For Empowerment provides upcycled trade tools to vocational school graduates around the world. ASAP's tool recycling center is in Newnan GA, where tool donations are always welcome. Volunteer groups come together to refurbish these donations, build crates from recycled wood, and pack the restored tools by trade into 40' shipping containers. When filled with tools and equipment, working in partnership with The Salesian Missions of Don Bosco worldwide, a recipient country is selected to receive the container of tools, that are very expensive for most student to acquire. Tools are distributed to training centers throughout the selected country, where they are used by the students during coursework to enhance learning. Successful students are awarded a tool kit for their chosen profession upon graduation. Tools For Empowerment; Changing lives one tool at a time. 2. Savings Groups are self-funded, informal micro-finance groups that transform lives. The beauty of Savings Groups is that members make all the rules - when and how often to meet, how much to save, the interest rate, penalties etc. This ownership is the key to their phenomenal success - there are currently over 20 million active participants around the world! As groups come together regularly to save and borrow money, members' social and working capital continue to grow. ASAP has helped over 200,000 families in Zimbabwe and Malawi increase their household income and self-reliance through training in forming and managing Savings Groups. 3. Small Business Training Skills: Since 1994, ASAP has increased the capacity of thousands of entrepreneurs to succeed by providing training in small business skills.