FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHI EM BENEFIT PARTY IN NEW YORK CITY
A Fundraiser to Support Microfinance and Ethnic Minority Women in Vietnam

The Chi Em Project, a pilot microfinance and business development program in the highlands of Vietnam, is hosting a benefit party at The Pure Project (205 Mulberry Street) in New York City on November 3, 2007.

Chi Em currently provides access to small loans, savings and business training in the highlands of Dien Bien province, near the Laotian border of Vietnam. Administered by Entrepreneurs du Monde (www.entrepreneursdumonde.org), a French-based NGO, Chi Em operates in partnership with the Vietnamese Women’s Union. The target clients are ethnic minority women.

Nathalie Miller and Katharine Wolf, co-founders of the program, are coming to New York City from Vietnam to fundraise for a new branch of Chi Em that focuses on marginalized populations. Many of Chi Em's potential clients live in such remote areas, with such chronic debt, and with such a lack of technological and agricultural infrastructure, that traditional microfinance is not a viable option. Chi Em is building a new program branch which will target these populations through other strategies such as agricultural technology, marketing training, and strengthened infrastructure.

Chi Em also will raise funds to sponsor Vietnamese agricultural and economic students from Hanoi Agricultural University to participate in a summer fellowship in partnership with graduate students from Harvard University and Stanford University.

The benefit will take place from 7 pm until 10 pm on November 3, 2007, at The Pure Project in Nolita. Guests will enjoy free champagne and beer, sponsored by Tiger Beer and Pernot-Ricard, as well as music by DJ Misbehaviour (www.djmisbehaviour.com). The event is co-hosted by Good Magazine. The entrance fee is a suggested donation of $20, which will directly support Chi Em operations in Vietnam.

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