Each week Bristol Business News gives a prominent member of the city’s business community the last word. This week Vashti Seth, founder and CEO of Bristol-based microfinance charity Deki, answers our questions.
What was the LAST: 
Film you watched? Grand Budapest Hotel because Wes Anderson is genius.
Book you read? Sold by Patricia McCormick – it is an incredibly powerful and moving story of a 13-year-girl called Lakshmi who lives in the mountains in Nepal. Poverty is all she knows until her stepfather (knowingly/unknowingly) sells her into sexual slavery in India. The narrative of the story is beautifully told through Lakshmi’s eyes. The book tells of the huge gap in gender discrimination that still exists in the developing world. “A son will always be a son,” they say. “But a girl is like a goat. Good as long as she gives you milk and butter. But not worth crying over when it’s time to make a stew.” Every year 12,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal into prostitution in India. At Deki, the charity I set up, we offer microloans to people like Lakshmi’s mother to empower them to work their way out poverty and to avoid such horrors happening to their own children.
Music you bought/downloaded? Emmanuel Jal – We Want Peace. I had the pleasure to meet Emmanuel in person this week at Bristol Green Capital Youth Day. Emmanuel was a child solider aged eight in South Sudan and escaped with the help of an aid worker – he has gone on to become a world famous peace activist and rap star. The lyrics of his music are inspirational.
Concert or play you went to? I don’t go to many concerts but I always go to Glastonbury. My highlight last year was Paulo Nutini and of course Dolly Parton.
Sporting event you attended? I’m not too into sport, but with Welsh in-laws it’s all about the rugby in our house!
Holiday you went on? I went travelling for three months with my husband and two kids last year while I was on maternity leave. We went to Australia, Malaysia and Thailand – it was amazing. Since then we have bought a caravan, which is where we’re the happiest and most relaxed.
Restaurant you ate in? Café Mulino, a regular pop up on Friday nights in The Wild Goose Space, St Werburghs. The food is out of this world so check them out. They also support Deki, which is great.
Thing that annoyed you? Katie Hopkins comments on refugees in The Sun – need I say more!
Thing that made you laugh out loud? My kids: they are brilliant and hilarious. Always.
Vashti Seth is the founder and CEO of Deki, a microfinance charity based in Bristol that provides loans and business training to people in the developing world, enabling them to work their way out of poverty. Individual lenders have the opportunity to lend from £10.
100% of all money lent goes directly to the chosen entrepreneur and lenders are paid back over the following 12 months. Even a small initial investment can help a number of people to raise themselves out of poverty. Deki has changed the lives of more than 12,000 people and lent half a million pounds to entrepreneurs. Deki.org.uk currently works in Ghana, Malawi, South Sudan, Uganda and South Africa.
Deki is looking for businesses to partner with them to help reach their target of providing another 7,000 loans in the next three years.
