This area of microfinance/microlending is a fascinating one. Not sure I could tell you when or where I first came across the idea, but recently a friend recommended a book called "Small Change, How $50 Can Change The World" by Juriaan Kamp, editor of Ode Magazine. Ode is one of my all time favorite publications (their motto/tag line is "For Intelligent Optimists"--I love that.)
I'm still reading Kamp's book, but so far I'm in love with the idea. Basically, he gives real stories about how microlending is making poverty a thing of the past. Small sums are loaned to people who typically make less than $30 per month (which is the World Bank poverty threshold). 90% or more of these loans get paid back. That's incredible!
More importantly, the money is being put to work by these individuals who are using it to buy a second milk buffalo, or put an hitherto unplowed field into use.
It's enough to make a chap wonder what the world could be like if we reached 100 million families (or 500 million people) with this sort of one-on-one sort of financial help, vs. giving the state all sort of "aide" which gets squandered, hoarded, or just has so many conditions put on it that it does little to no good for the individual people.
You know, there are no "countries". There are only people who, together, make up what we have given "country" as a name. In other words, if we are ignoring the needs of enough individuals, we have in turn turned our backs on the whole country. Conversely, to raise the standard of living in a country, we must address the individual and his/her needs.
That is what I think makes microlending a solution where other forms of aide have failed.
Here are my ongoing research notes on this subject, with links back to sourced websites. I'll be adding to these notes from time to time.
Don't know if you saw the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (if your'e "one of the nine"--see full text of article below), but here is an account from one of US sailing team members and their team leader, Dean Brenner. Good stuff!
