A Billion Bootstraps
When I first moved to Milwaukee several years ago, I lived with one of my inBubbleBrothers. I was in school and working full-time, just trying to get to that next paycheck. He was working full-time but at wages that haven't moved since the early 90's (note to all who employ: please pay attention to how far money actually goes these days). We both struggled, but we had a system. Luckily we got paid in alternate bi-weekly cycles. I knew where he kept his money and he knew where I stashed mine. If one of us was running low, we'd borrow from each other only what we needed, leaving a little note saying how much we took. The only rule was that the money had to be used for necessities. Food, bus fare, gas, bills...the stuff we all need to function properly. I couldn't borrow a ten for a six-pack or because I wanted to go out with friends. The money had to be used to fill an empty belly or a barren gas tank.
Today we are seeing similar systems being used to lift the world's downtrodden out of poverty. Up until recently, the world's poor has been dubbed "unbankable." This means that they have nothing to offer - no collateral, no job, no credit history - that would allow them access traditional credit. Thankfully, some people in the world are innovative and compassionate enough to find new ways to help those most in need, and one innovation seeing tremendous success is microcredit. To gauge the full impact microcredit is having, and how we can help in the fight against global poverty, we should all read A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and The Business Solution for Ending Poverty.
Microcredit expert and consult Eric Thurman, with co-author, philanthropist, and self-made millionaire Phil Smith, unveil who and what is behind the microcredit revolution. The "who" is primarily Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who actually just received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his successful application of the microcredit concept.
The goal of microcredit is similar to my pact with my brother in that borrowed money only be used for necessity. The difference though, is that we were merely keeping each other afloat. Microcredit loans are given to people so that they can "start small business, support their families, improve local economies," and ultimately help move a person out from under poverty's cloud.
The authors go on to explore why microcredit is more beneficial than traditional charity programs. Traditional charity can be sort of like giving a pocketful of change to a panhandler. It may help in the short term, it might help that person eat, but in the end, it often perpetuates the problem you are trying to aid in. By applying investment principles into the charitable process, the receivers of donation are handed not only money, but responsibiilty, obligation, and perhaps most of all, they are afforded human dignity and the chance to empower themselves for their own good, the good of their family, and the good of the community.
Finally, and really the key to the book, Smith and Thurman explain exactly how we ordinary people can accelerate the microcredit movement - what programs to become involved with; how to "donate with the mind-set of an investor and calculate measurable returns--returns that will change lives and societies forever.
I say let us all help accelerate the microcredit movement.
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