Effect change, Affect the world

mining justice

2011-07-07T13:16:00.000-04:00

Exploiting the natural resources of other countries is nothing terribly new in the history of world. What was once activity controlled by governments and national armies has only shifted to become the business of private companies and multinational corporations.

Having recently been more interested in the issue of mining in Honduras, I have come across some helpful articles and videos from MCC Canada's mining justice advocacy site. I was shocked to learn that around the world, 75% of companies involved in mining are Canadian based companies. That is astounding to me!

In a few short months I will be moving to Santa Rosa de Copan, an important town near the western border of Honduras that has been involved in mining advocacy for years. The pastor of the Mennonite church in Santa Rosa, outspoken against Canadian mining, left Honduras for threats to his life a few years ago.

As I wrote in another post about fear and justice, it is hard to know how to move forward in difficult work like this. People have tried to stand up for the rights of many Honduran people who have little say in what mining companies can do on their ancestral land. But if someone gets too outspoken, death threats become the remedy. And this is not just among the mining companies--this is common practice all over Honduras...whether it's someone speaking out against labor rights violations, drug trafficking or disrupting gang territory.

I am interested to move to Santa Rosa and become involved in the Mennonite congregation there, previously well-known for their advocacy work. While it seems that fear has taken hold among the outspoken, I am eager to learn more and find out how MCC Honduras might be of encouragement to the church, and even step up with more advocacy measures.

Policy analyst for MCC Latin America Advocacy Program, Adrienne Wiebe, has been tracking these issues for quite some time. She has made mining justice one of the top 4 priorities for Latin American advocacy, as it is an issue that has resounding impact throughout the region. She just posted a concise overview of some more recent developments in lobbying for better mining laws in Honduras. I'd encourage you to read this and more at her MCC Latin America Advocacy blog.

Here is a great video MCC Canada put together in 2010 about mining in Guatemala and Honduras:

http://ottawa.mcc.org/stories/videos/la

And this is a shorter video from the Mennonite pastor who left Honduras. If you only have a bit of time, watch this one:

http://ottawa.mcc.org/stories/videos/gold-mine

global debt crisis

2011-04-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

Apparently the IMF is bathing luxuriously in all it's excess cash. According to MCC's Washington advocacy office:

Citizens all over the globe are suffering from multiple crises they had no hand in creating: the global economic downturn, high fuel costs and food prices now spiking to all-time highs. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sitting on $2.8 billion in excess cash, due to higher-than-expected profits from the sale of some of its gold. This week, the IMF Executive Board will discuss what to do with it.

The IMF hardly needs the money, since it already received a $7 billion endowment from gold sales and will bring in $500 million in profits this year from increased lending to countries in crisis. They’re doing so well that they are even planning to refurbish their Washington D.C. headquarters.

While the IMF has extra cash, the World Bank estimates that 44 million people have already been pushed into extreme poverty due to rising food prices. Many of the poorest countries are taking on heavy new debt burdens. Payments on these loans could divert critical resources away from health, education and food for years to come.

This is not a new crisis, but the new call or petition is to put pressure on the IMF to help offer debt relief to countries that are bound by all this credit. Here is a good overview of how this free flowing credit wound up hurting more than helping.

And if you feel so inclined, you can sign the petition to the IMF.

unrest

2011-02-23T11:47:00.001-05:00

I have been following the people's protest of government rule in Egypt with a careful watch. Trying to keep up with the details via news sources and blogs has been very interesting.

As the sparks that caught wind in Tunisia and Egypt are now spreading to many other northern African and middle eastern countries, there are lots of details to keep track of, and lots of critical analysis to be done.

Of course, political tensions in this entire region are nothing new...and one even wonders if John P. Newsreader even cares about headlines involving names like "Bahrain, Yemen and Syria." I have my doubts about American society at-large and their interest in international affairs...but I digress.

There is a helpful summary of the unrest in the Middle East that I found on CNN's website. I'd encourage you to check it out.

What strikes me as I read all of these updates on political protests, about the uprisings of the people who have been repressed by their government for so long is how can this all transpire at once? How can there be so many governments, with so many horrible leaders, with such extensive lists of human rights violations, and all the spectators of the world simply watch as the people of each respective nation attempt to speak up for change?

Then I stop for a second and think of how many of these nations were negatively impacted by colonizing countries for decades of their political history. For so long, the people have been repressed--first by outsiders, then by "their" own revolutionaries. But the root of the problem is leadership. People lead by example. Leaders learn how to lead from what they've seen and experienced. If one is only exposed to corrupt leaders and those who usurp power for selfish ends, then the expectations of having power will only continue the cycle of selfish, corrupt leaders. There is no way for the cycle to end until there are opportunities for people to learn a different way to lead.

So who can be this example of leadership? Who can be the role model for future government leaders? Just because some Western nations are not burning with angst and uprisings does not mean they have the answers either. There is just as much corruption in the tranquility of "democracy." And have we not learned that forcing democracy on nations with deeply rooted cultural differences is not always the right answer?

I am saddened by the lack of integrity in governments around the world...saddened by the human rights violations in so many corners of the world, especially those where people aren't even able to speak out...saddened that there are so few examples of ethical leaders to be role models for the reformers and protesters bringing the next wave of political change.

But even with all of this, I am encouraged by these sparks of uprising. I am encouraged that there are people who are risking their lives to stand up for what they truly believe in. I am encouraged that as a defiant "no" echoes in one small country, perhaps the reverberations of that "no" can make space for some great change in others. Maybe this happenstance unity among people in northern Africa is the catalyst needed to change the corrupt leadership that has dominated for so long.

empowerment & the church

2010-11-02T12:36:00.001-04:00

I have been living in Honduras for about 11 weeks now and it has been a great experience. I have been working with a Christian micro-lending organization in Tegucigalpa and am learning a lot about the ins and outs of how the organization is run, the day to day tasks of micro-lending and the continual battles the loan officers face with clients. In short, a lot of things that aren't featured in NGO magazines and development articles.

One big piece is the cultural aspects that leave their own impression on this bank program in Nueva Suyapa. Since the bank has been operating for more than 15 years, there is a definite client culture within the program. But apart from that, there are many aspects of Honduran culture that add interesting dimensions to the whole thing; much of which is still new, entertaining, frustrating, and confusing to me.

So, some things I have recently been observing...

While there are some problems with the bank program, a lot of good has come from the program over the years. A lot of the impact is visible--people in the community are able to improve their houses; many started with small businesses that are now much bigger; the health and even safety of the area is markedly improved. But there are lots of invisible changes too. A lot of women come from abusive homes or marriages, and the ministry here has made support groups for these women a priority. Empowering women to become leaders of new projects and take ownership for new business ideas is one of the most exciting things to see.

The bank program is connected to wider ministry program here in the neighborhood. In addition to the loan program, there is a Christian elementary and high school, day care programs, garden projects, support groups for domestic violence, and more. All of these ministries are interconnected, and many of the employees in all the various ministries attend the same church.

The interesting thing is, this church is very conservative. While we could delve into the different levels of conservative-ness, really, there is just one that I'm dwelling on these days. From what I know of the church services, women are not allowed to speak from the pulpit, they do not lead in worship, or really speak in the service at all. They wear coverings on their heads and are only permitted to share when they are in a female-only group. Now, I understand this is also part of my background and heritage, growing up in the Mennonite church. I also realize there are still many churches, even in the US, that would have similar practices when it comes to women serving in the church...

But right now, for me, all of that is irrelevant. In dealing with the tensions of cross-cultural service, I'm finding this irony really frustrating. These coworkers and colleagues work daily to contribute to the education and development of hundreds of families in the community, yet believe women should not be speaking, sharing, or leading in the church. With a mission statement so focused on bearing witness to the life and message of Jesus Christ, I find this dichotomized lifestyle so incredibly...incomprehensible. They are willing and able to empower women in taking control of their finances, emotional health, family problems, health, education...and somehow reconcile this with the silence of women in the church.

I could get into all the theological and hermeneutical reasons for why I believe what I believe...and I have tried to engage a few people on this very topic. However, a debate on Paul's writings is not really what I'm looking for. I guess I'm looking for acknowledgement of this dichotomy...an admittance that maybe it is odd that we work so hard to empower women during the work week, but ignore them in the church. If they have so much to offer this community in their businesses and work-life, do we not also believe they have contributions to make to the life of the church as well?

So, I'm also trying to decide why this bothers me so much. And why there isn't a good word for "empowerment" in Spanish. And how I can express these thoughts in a constructive way. Any one want to help explain all of this to me?

the danger of a single story

2010-08-18T00:25:00.000-04:00

Such a powerful video and eloquent speaker. Please check this out...its worth 18 minutes of your time.

half the sky

2010-06-03T16:30:00.006-04:00

Just finished reading Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn. It came highly recommended from my good friend Desiree. A kindred spirit, she is (:

I wanted to read this book when it was first released and so was excited to dig in. This book speaks out against human rights violations all over the world, especially as they relate to women and girls in the developing world. As I have written many times on this blog, development and empowerment are eternally interconnected. More specifically, the empowerment of women in any culture or society has been shown to drastically impact the development of an economy.

Half the Sky turned out to be quite a bit different from many of the development books I read. Often they are loaded with stats and facts and can tend to be a bit dry and boring (perhaps you are not surprised by this, as they often relate to economics...but we'll leave that for another day). This book was very accessible and much more narrative in it's delivery.

This book provided a helpful overview of

the many forms of oppression that hinder development
a plethora of stories--real women who have struggled to overcome (some successful, some less so)
the different sectors of development (education, health, economy, law, etc.) and how they are tied to the bigger picture of women's rights

The first section is largely focused on human trafficking and sex slavery in developing countries; discussing what drives women into this awful trap, and what keeps them there for so long. Through stories of the women they have met in their travels, the authors provide a more realistic look at how slow the fight against sex slavery really is on the ground. They cover some practical ways to help end this slavery that is often forgotten. If you are not well versed on this issue, I would especially encourage you to read this section.

Women's health issues are another meaty part of this book. The authors do not shy away from discussing maternal mortality and its gruesome details, the mutilation of women's bodies in many forms, family planning, violence against women and even more personal accounts. The atrocities committed against females in this world are horrendous and disturbing. Not only are many people in poverty limited in their health care access, but health care distribution is even more disparate for women.

Education was the other common thread woven through this book. It was another refreshing reminder for me that education is at the cornerstone of any development initiative, and critical for any kind of development to be successful and sustainable. As long as people have been tracking the results of aid programs and projects, education at the grassroots level has been the constant. Giving women access to education reduces population growth, improves health care, increases their earning potential and can positively impact the next generation's propensity for attending school beyond their elementary years. But this is not strictly related to school rooms and math problems...education is important in health care (family planning, AIDS prevention, disease control), it comes into play in economic development (business classes, microfinance education, etc.) and is useful to men in society as well.

"Education is the key issue for overcoming poverty, for overcoming war...If people are educated, then women will not be abused or tortured. They will also stand up and say, 'My child should not be married so young.'"

We can dump all the money we want into a country, continue to bloat a corrupt government, or even continue to provide basic rations to help a impoverished population continue to scrape by...but until education is accessible to all, we will not see development take root. "Those [kinds of aid] that have been most effective have involved health and education."

But this work is not easy. Lest you think that opening 100 schools in every country will solve the problem, let Kristof give you pause--he shares many insightful stories of how Murphy's law is prevalent no matter where you go. If it can backfire, it probably will. If someone can abuse the system, they will definitely try. If you could offend someone and their cultural traditions, you likely will. Kristof writes:

"While empowering women is critical to overcoming poverty, it represents a field of aid work that is particularly challenging in that it involves tinkering with the culture, religion, and family relations of a society that we often don't fully understand"

There is no easy fix, and the authors recognize this. But herein lies my one frustration of the book--they are rather lengthy in their explanation of everything else, and the shortest chapter comes at the end...almost as an afterthought, titled "What You Can Do." It seems to reason that if you are spending 232 pages to explain why you know so much about development, how your travels and contacts have so helpfully illustrated the right way and wrong way to do things, then you might have a bit more expert advice to offer. I did appreciate their discussion of "grassroots vs. treetops." It's not just changing laws or government regulations, a "treetop" approach; but instead doing what really works and what is needed--grassroots help, advocacy and education. That rings very true, from the first page of the book, to the last. There is no doubt they believe this to their core....but there are so many things we can be doing, so lets really talk about what real change looks like, and what the richest nation in the world should be doing to help the rest of it.

So, my final evaluation, if you care...I'd give it a B. Definitely informative, an interesting read, but excessive length or detail at times. I appreciated the comprehensive view of empowering women that Kristof and WuDunn offer, because it is rare. Often a book will focus on one issue and how women play a role in that particular area. Half the Sky gives a well rounded look at all the issues that are wrapped up in the term "development." Some really hard stuff to read, but very necessary stuff to expose.

the long term long haul

2010-05-24T15:29:00.006-04:00

My last few posts have focused on Haiti: the aftermath, recovery, & NGO presence. I am committed to continuing some discussion on this, but am having trouble finding good information on the good. What I mean is, there is a plethora of information on the organizations who are dumping money into a country that is already bloated with relief aid--but where is all the 24/7 media coverage of the follow-up? Where can we get info about the organizations making a difference, involving Haitians in their development work and starting to rebuild towns and neighborhoods?

Though you may think me a tad bit biased, I did find some encouraging info regarding the Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) commitment to long-term recovery initiatives in Haiti. With donations exceeding $13 million, MCC plans to use this money wisely over the next 3-5 years, investing first in Port-au-Prince and then moving the focus to the Artibonite Valley where other MCC programming is already established.

"From food security and education to economic development and housing, the plans are designed to empower Haitians to rebuild their communities better than they were before the Jan. 12 earthquake. The rebuilding plan is intentionally holistic, focusing on multiple areas of support,"

Here is a brief look at their priorities:

Emergency assistance: Distribute food in the Port-au-Prince area until May when cash-for-work programs will be offered. Urban and rural distribution of relief kits, tarps and tents, first aid kits, water filters and sheets and comforters will continue through the summer.

Economic development and food security: Support cash-for-work projects in areas damaged by the earthquake; develop income-generation projects and improve agriculture and irrigation systems in the Artibonite Valley.

Housing: Hire one person to assess new housing arrangements for people in nine camps for internally displaced persons in Port-au-Prince, where MCC has been working from the beginning of its emergency response. This priority also includes assisting with temporary to permanent housing for displaced people in the Artibonite Valley.

Education: Assist the Ecumenical Foundation for Peace and Justice (FOPJ) to buy land and build a primary school in Port-au-Prince; explore ways to expand educational infrastructure in the Artibonite Valley to accommodate those who have migrated there from the capital; consider adding university or vocational education opportunities there.

Health: Address sanitation and water needs in camps for internally displaced persons in and near Port-au-Prince; explore collaboration with other organizations and the Haitian Ministry of Health to provide expanded health services in the Artibonite Valley.

The cornerstone of MCC's philosophy in Haiti (and in many other regions of the world) is partnership. MCC is cautious not to squander the Haitians' efforts, but instead works with local people and offers help where it is needed most. When many relief organizations stormed in with free food and no plan for distribution, MCC avoided violence and security issues by requiring a community council within the tent cities of 4,000 to 5,000 that they aided. These councils play a crucial role in organizing people and their needs as the distributions arrived.

Reducing the dependence on food distribution is MCC's main task for now...
Their plan is to continue with cash-for-work projects that help the local market while providing citizens a way to afford what they need. This type of project is a way to make the economy of the region more viable in the long run.

The other crisis MCC is now focusing on is the migration out of Port-au-Prince to the more rural area of Haiti. With the densely populated center of the country devastated by the earthquake, many sought shelter in the country. However, the infrastructure outside of the capital has not been prepared for this influx of inhabitants. The abrupt move of hundreds of thousands of people has placed a lot of strain on resources around the country. The long-term goal has been to decentralize and help spread development beyond the urban hub. For these two reasons, MCC will continue working around Port-au-Prince but also focus on the Artibonite Valley, northeast of the capital.

Kathy Troyer, disaster management coordinator for Central America, says the needs in Haiti are still great--prayers and donations still go a long way in Haiti and in other areas of the world where MCC works. When a disaster strikes, there's often a "flurry" of help in the first six months, but "MCC is there for the long haul."

This is an encouragement to see where MCC is, and where their vision is heading for the future. It is my hope that other organizations working in Haiti are just as determined to articulate long-term goals. If you know of some others who are doing it well, working alongside MCC, post a comment and let us know.

sources for this post came from
MCC: MCC plans long-term recovery in Haiti
the Elkhart Truth: Mennonite panel expects 5 years of work in Haiti

the republic of NGOs

2010-05-14T09:47:00.005-04:00

This video is pretty much everything I wanted to say yesterday... just a little more professional.
Very challenging and thought provoking.

If you go to the website, you can see a transcript of the whole thing, if you prefer that to watching the video.

hurt, hope and help for haiti

2010-05-13T17:09:00.000-04:00

so...lets talk about Haiti.

I know you probably think it's getting a little boring, and yes, there are many articles & blogs about helping Haiti and why there hasn't been more lasting change in a country rife with foreign aid and NGOs...

but seriously. I want to have a real conversation about this. We don't see it every day in the news any more, but Haiti is still there. More importantly, Haitians, real people, are still hungry, and homeless and hurting...

I think we need to look at how money is being spent. Where is it all going? Who is it really helping? Are lives being changed for the better--or is this the biggest band-aid we've used in the Western hemisphere to cover up a wound that has been oozing for decades?

Who is on the ground running the show? And who is battling the corruption that keeps the common people stuck in poverty?

I just saw an article today from USAToday (via my Sojourner's email) that quotes Wyclef Jean, a native Haitian and big-time musician in the US speaking out against the lack of help for Haitians despite the deluge of NGOs working there. Now...I also have some issues with the way Jean is using money and running his own non-profit group, but it is worth questioning. He says:

"There's a million people living out of tents, and, my God, if you saw it and I was to tell you how many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are in Haiti, you'd be saying, 'How come nobody got them out of those tents?' "

I guess what bugs me more is the fact that this happens all over the world, but for some reason we only care when a natural disaster hits and exacerbates an already sad situation. How did we let this go on for so long? And how are relief and development NGOs being held responsible the world over?

Take some time to read Jean's comments in the full article (http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20100510/yelehaiti10_st.art.htm) I think there are some good ideas. The biggest need I see in all of this is something that he briefly mentions--job creation. We must let Haitians take part in the reconstruction of their country. They don't need continual handouts...they are hardworking people. It is my belief that there are many structures of oppression in Haiti that prevent people from participating in the economic system and this is where reform needs to happen.

I want this to start a series of posts relating to this topic, so I'm going to look for some articles about GOOD stuff happening in Haiti and highlight some organizations that are doing good, honest work there. It is important to question things and critique, but also worthy of our time to applaud those who get it right and do it well.

Post some thoughts or comments or links to orgs who have done a few things right.

zero rupee notes

2010-04-30T09:32:00.002-04:00

Fighting corruption is no small task in the developing world. Whether its extortion payments to a loan shark, or a demand to pay extra for services that should be free to the public, this is common practice in many countries. And to combat this corruption is no small task! It often hurts the poorest in society the most, and because they can't afford the bribe, they lose out on other services that perpetuate the cycle of poverty they are stuck in.

One NGO in India is trying to protest corruption in its own way--by printing rupee bank notes that are worth nothing! 5th Pillar's initiative is to mobilize citizens trapped by bribe payments to fight corruption.

"...the idea was first conceived by an Indian physics professor at the University of Maryland, who, in his travels around India, realized how widespread bribery was and wanted to do something about it. He came up with the idea of printing zero-denomination notes and handing them out to officials whenever he was asked for kickbacks as a way to show his resistance. [5th Pillar] took this idea further: to print them en masse, widely publicize them, and give them out to the Indian people. He thought these notes would be a way to get people to show their disapproval of public service delivery dependent on bribes. The notes did just that. The first batch of 25,000 notes were met with such demand that 5th Pillar has ended up distributing one million zero-rupee notes to date since it began this initiative."

There are a couple of factor that have contributed to the success of the zero rupee note...
>Bribery is a crime in India punishable by jail time
>Corrupt officials rarely encounter resistance, so when someone does have the courage to stand against it, they get scared. Its makes a strong statement about condemning bribery.
>Officials want to keep their jobs and are scared of consequences/jail time if they are found out

The managers of 5th Pillar believe that the greatest success of the rupee note lies in people's willingness to use them. People have been empowered to stand up for change. They realize they have nothing to lose, and feel that they are being backed up by an organization--they are not alone in this struggle.

When I first read this article I was a little skeptical that it could work...I mean, wouldn't people just ignore the counterfeit bill and then use some form of violence or intimidation to get the real money they want? But this idea of subtle resistance to societal expectations is what peaceful resistance is all about! Empowering people to believe they don't have to take what has always been handed out is a transformative social movement. Believing you can make a difference with what you have in your hand is the fertile soil development needs to take root.

thoughts on fear...

2010-04-27T10:26:00.003-04:00

The first enemy of human beings is fear. If you live in fear, you will live like a mouse in a dark corner and never see the light. Fear will become your enemy and you never will grow up. But, if you are not afraid of the fear you will have, then you can live in light, and fear becomes your friend.

If fear is your friend, then you are able to look around you with clarity. But if you think that you can see all things clearly, then you are really blind, and clarity becomes your enemy. If, however, you strive to see clearly, then clarity becomes your friend.

If fear is your friend and you can see clearly, then you will have power. But if you keep power to yourself, you will become weaker and weaker. If, however, you share the power, you will become strong and power will be your friend.

If fear is your friend, you see clearly, and you share power, then you will be wise. But if you think you have all the wisdom, then in reality you are ignorant, and wisdom will be your enemy. If, however, you admit that you do not know everything, answers will come to you and wisdom will be your friend.

If fear is your friend, you see clearly, and you share power, and you have wisdom, then you will meet old age. But if you sit, doing nothing and denying your history, then old age will be your enemy. If, however, you meet old age with grace, having met fear, seeing with clarity, sharing power, and making wisdom your friend, then you will live forever.

(Mexican popular folklore as told by Arturo Ornelas, cited in Smith, Williams &
Johnson, 1997)

its about time!

2010-04-14T13:52:00.006-04:00

I'm almost embarrassed to be posting something right now...its been way too long since I've added some thoughts to the swirling conversation on development. In some ways, there is no way to catch up...but--I will still try to add some thoughts and update you on some other stuff happening in my life. or maybe i'll save that for the new blog...

Either way, here is an interesting article I came across today. Microlending for student loans! I thought to myself, "self, this could be a really interesting way to combine your two fields of interest + experience." As an admissions counselor I am fully supportive of higher education but always interested in economic development, especially microfinance. Not only that, but I see there being such a crucial link between education and development. I have to say, this is such a cool endeavor! Not sure how it will all work out at the moment, but I love seeing the ingenuity and drive to make it happen.

College Loans as Development Aid:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/us/06vittana.html

franchising health care

2009-07-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

NOW, a show on PBS is focusing in on social issues for their feature episodes. Someone posted a video on Facebook about exploring possibilities of franchising health care in developing countries (The full NOW report is located at the end of this post, feel free to watch the whole thing). The franchising effort is starting in Kenya with CFW clinics in Nairobi.

CFW shops are a hybrid of pharmacies and clinics. They sell reliable drugs for common ailments (malaria, dysentery, etc.) and they also assess, diagnose and write prescriptions. CFW shops are for-profit and their owners earn a decent wage by charging reasonable prices to their patients. Many of the shops are able to hire other staff (nurses, primarily) to help meet the demand of the shop.

Several American business men are trying to get behind this idea of for-profit health care in developing countries. They are hoping to franchise CFW to make its services widely available across the African continent. They believe that with the right marketing and services, it could become a viable answer to devastating diseases.

One question raised is how a for-profit clinic can compete with so many free clinics in the Kenyan market. The health care workers interviewed have experience with imitation drugs being given to treat diseases. They may not even be generic brands, but a sugar pill or something made to look like the real thing but lacking an active ingredient. Once people realize they are not getting any better through a free clinic, or they spend all day waiting in line, they are willing to pay a small price for medicine that works.

Another question is how can they make a profit when so many people are too poor to pay? This is a very concerning problem for the CFW shop owners, as one working in Kibera, the large slum area in Nairobi, claims 70% of her patients can't pay. It is the ones who can afford the treatment that end up making up for the rest. She accepts payments as they come, and will not withhold treatment for someone who can't pay. Of course, to the American business men trying to get a for-profit franchising system up and running, this is unacceptable. They criticize shop owners for being compassionate, saying the shops cannot be run like NGOs if they are to be viable businesses. How will you ever make money if you keep giving out quality treatment, diagnoses and drugs for free?

This is exactly where I see some problems arising with the idea of franchising health care. If you watch the video, you'll see that they are pushing for a streamlined system; the same products and services bundled and delivered the same way every time (just like you would expect at a franchise of any fast food chain. Hence the point of franchising). What concerns me is that health care may not be a product you can neatly package and standardize across a country, or even a village for that mater. Standard practices are a great idea, but isn't personalization of health care a necessity? And you can't help but feel compassion for the shop owner in Kibera who works 7 days a week and makes house calls to even more patients. She claims she cannot turn someone away if they have no money...she feels compelled to help them.

So is there a way to merge market values and the American standards of franchising with health care in Kenya? Clearly, other models have not been very effective to this point, so maybe its time to try a new approach. Social business models have worked before and may work again. The fear is that if CFW sells franchises and becomes a profit driven organization, they will focus in on patients with money, thereby cutting off access once again to the poor who they were hoping to help in the first place.

Thoughts on this? Other questions that should be raised? Watch the video and let me know!

The main ideas of this post were gleaned from the NOW video feature www.pbs.org/now

book review: Dead Aid

2009-07-11T13:23:00.007-04:00

I came across a new development-related book a few months ago and knew immediately that I had to read it. Not only does the title/book cover combination grab your attention, but the perspective the book offers is one of a kind. Dead Aid: Why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa is written by an economist who is concerned for the state of development across the African continent. Being that the author is an African woman, her perspective is rare, not only in economist circles, but in books on development as well. It is refreshing to hear innovative ideas from someone who has lived and experienced first-hand what she is writing about.

Dambisa Moyo writes in her book Dead Aid, that "the aid regime has been in place (in one form or another) for sixty years and demonstrably failed to generate economic growth and alleviate poverty." She talks extensively about the history of foreign aid aimed at development in many different African nations, and the myth that billions of dollars given to governments will make a difference.

There are 3 types of aid: humanitarian/emergency aid (which may always be necessary), charity-based aid (distributed by agencies and people on the ground) and systematic aid (payments directly to governments, or multilateral aid, like that from the World Bank). Moyo really focuses in on the last two, but has particular criticism for systematic aid. It is this type of support that props up despots, lines the pockets of the political elite, and never "trickles down" to the poorest of a country who desperately need it.

She goes into greater detail about why aid doesn't work, and factors that hinder aid from spurring growth. Government corruption is one of the largest factors, but aid also chokes other types of investment in the market and creates a cycle of dependency.

Moyo then lays out a plan for rethinking the aid model, ways to wean countries off of development aid and help them to be self-sufficient in a healthy way. The Dead Aid plan is not a simple one to implement, and it looks very different for each African country, depending on resources, governance, trade barriers, etc. But through a combination of FDI, trade, and bond markets, she provides some concrete examples of how to wean a country from foreign aid hand-outs.

Will this be easy? Certainly not. There is a whole sector of the Western economy that depends on foreign aid continuing. The industry of charitable giving would drastically change if all faucets of foreign aid were shut off, and there would be thousands of people losing jobs because of it.

But is it necessary? Moyo makes some pretty convincing arguments that it is. Clearly something in the aid cycle is not functioning, as giving money to countries in Africa has become trendy, and still the same cycles of famine, disease and warfare continue. I like the economic perspective Moyo provides and her insistence that corruption should no longer be endorsed with more money.

This book is a pretty quick read, but there is a lot of food for thought. I like the history Moyo provides, along with specific ways to change the cycle of dependency that many countries are stuck in. Her philosophy of development is all about finding sustainable, African-led, market-based initiatives to really change the way governments work. It will require systemic change at a very basic, governmental level. As an economist, she will hopefully use her influence to actually help developing nations to embrace these ideals. Dependence on foreign aid has not reduced the level of poverty in Africa; we must stop the cycle.

vacationaries

2009-07-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

Missions tourism is not a new topic. Over the years I have heard many people weigh the pros and cons of short-term missions trips and their impact on local communities. It is a polarizing subject; condemning people for serving as they feel Christ leading them to would seems offensive. However, there is concern for creating dependency instead of empowering people to take ownership.

Bob Lupton wrote a recent article in a church news magazine about well-intentioned Western Christians undertaking mission work, and instead of helping, they create a new kind of welfare state. He offers an example of an agency in Nicaragua that engages in microfinance work. In many areas of the country, people will not take on loans because they get plenty of hand-outs from the church. The agency is frustrated by naive "vacationaries" who spend thousands of dollars to travel thousands of miles, perform task that locals could do for themselves and "create a welfare economy that deprives a people of the pride of their own accomplishments--all in the name of Christian service." A harsh criticism, but not unfounded.

Other criticisms of tourism in the name of religion is that it is a waste of funds that could actually be used by the poor, it is inefficient--doing work for the sake of working but not fulfilling a need, and it is selfish. We (North American Christians) do these things to benefit ourselves, to feel generous and servant-like. As someone who has been part of short-term mission teams, this hits close to home. It is not easy to read these things and not feel guilty for wanting to travel and serve others. Was I really so selfish to think that my short-term contribution made any difference in such abject poverty? Was I really seeking tourism in the name of serving Christ?

After some reflection on this, I have to think that we cannot just throw out the whole theory of short-term missions just because the practice is flawed. I would like to offer a few counterpoints to this article, some important cornerstones of short-term mission work:

Sustainability- This was briefly mentioned in the article, but not fully enough. Obviously creating dependency is not going to help improve the situation long-term. There needs to be careful thought put into how and why things are being done, who will take care of maintenance of the project after people leave, and is the project fulfilling a need. There are some churches and more often church agencies who commit to working in a specific community long-term, which can promote sustainable project options.
Partnership & Empowerment- These two ideas go hand in hand. When people from foreign, wealthier nations visit the developing world, the focus should be on partnering with people, coming alongside them to help where their knowledge or training may be lacking. This does not mean putting other people out of a job or acting like we come with all the answers. It is a dedication to supporting the church around the world, encouraging new believers, offering vocational and leadership training that will continue on after the short-term servers leave.
Putting a face with a name- Unfortunately, many people will not be eager to support a project until they meet real people and see the real pain/hunger/need, etc. While this may seem like an irrational way to get people to care, it works. Often, people are more likely to support a church or village after they have seen first-hand what the need really is.
Established Channels- There are many NGOs and church agencies that are vested in communities around the world. They have long-term workers in place, they have projects on the go and know the local culture and context. This is a great way to be supportive without reinventing the wheel. Offering financial support and personel to communities that have proper channels for them to be utilized is a more efficient way of doing short-term service.

A short personal anecdote that helps to frame this discussion: 9 years ago my church decided to send a team to Thika, Kenya to help the church their build their new meeting place. We raised money for building supplies and plane tickets for the team. Our pastor also stayed beyond the work trip to teach at their pastoral training institute. Over the past 9 years we have continued to build relationships within the broader Christian Church of East Africa, and have sent other teams and teachers to the training institute. After the first work-team left, a Kenyan pastor put it this way: "You could have prayed for us, and you did. You could have raised money and sent it to us, and you did. But you did more than that--you came and worked alongside us."

For many Christians around the world, the fact that others would be willing to take time and visit them, work side-by-side with them means so much more than money ever could. I believe there are a lot of benefits to short-term missions, but as mentioned in this critical article I was reading, how we serve is just as crucial as whom we serve. Creating dependency or expectations that cannot be maintained can be even worse than doing nothing. Examples abound of churches flooding a certain community with donations (clothes, food, etc.) that put local producers & growers out of a job. Who can charge money for something that others are getting for free? Again, I think this draws us back once more to sustainable development. There are ways we can be helpful in serving the poor and the oppressed. But as we get so focused on who we are helping and whom we are serving, lets not forget how we are doing it and how we can promote continued economic and spiritual growth after we leave.

charitable giving in a recession

2009-06-19T13:40:00.000-04:00

Charitable giving is the heartbeat of many organizations that are doing development work around the world. If you read this blog regularly, you probably have some modicum of a conscience, and likely give to at least one or two charities/ngos/church agencies regularly :)

Outside of private giving, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is another piece of the pie that makes up a charity's budget. The trendy nature of corporations giving large amounts of profits to charitable organizations, for PR or for conscience's sake--is a good thing for these agencies. Even if it is done as a publicity stunt, having giant corporations search for ways to be more environmentally sustainable or kinder to their low-wage factory workers is an improvement.

What has created a lot of buzz in the news lately is a fear that charitable giving (CSR giving included) will sharply decline in light of the U.S. recession, and broader global recession. A quick google search for such articles reveals that there are many people trying to predict what will happen in 2009 and how badly charities will be affected. The biggest problem is not in supply of funds, but demand for services. Although giving was relatively stable in 2008 and into 2009, the increased need for services (think food banks, employment training centers, Red Cross) has stretched many agencies to their limit...many are turning clients away.

Private giving is expected to decline as employment rises. Corporate giving is heading the same way as many companies are going under, filing for bankruptcy, or at least cutting expenses. Government funding--the third piece of a charity's pie--is also declining. With government triming the fat to pay for all the bailouts, the non-profit sector, heavily relying on government funds and grants, is sure to feel the pinch.

Based on the facts, it really doesn't seem that charitable giving will be immune to the recession. One has to assume that as job, housing, and money markets decline, all parties involved--individuals, corporations, and governments will cut back.

Is there any hope in all of this? Some experts believe that there is one reason companies will maintain their commitments to socially responsible endeavors. There is a need to restore confidence in business. The market meltdown and corporate irresponsibility of the past few years has left a large blemish on the reputation of top companies. If giving can be maintained in light of other cuts, companies could prove they aren't just motivated by short-term gain after all...but I'll believe it when I see it!

I can't know the financial situation of every reader, but my hope is that even if you are starting to feel the strain of the recession you will be able to continue supporting the charities you have in the past. If you live in the U.S., you are likely able to find other places to cut back. I know that many financially responsible organizations are appreciative of support. If you're having trouble finding some of those, check the link below.

interesting notes to go along with this...

Charity Navigator is an independent evaluator of charities around the world and keeps tabs of the financial health of said charities.
Charity Challenge Think you know a lot about charitable giving in the U.S? Take this test and see how you measure up. I tried, failed pretty badly!

barefoot college

2009-06-15T16:52:00.002-04:00

I was reading an article the other day about enterprising women in India who are bringing electricity to rural villages. The project is part of a larger campaign to help Indian villagers become self-sufficient, and of course I was hooked.

1.6 billion people in the world have no access to electricity, and roughly 40% of the world's population does not have modern fuels for cooking and heating. The good news is hundreds of projects are spreading from one continent to the next, demonstrating how innovation can overcome this dearth of energy.

From wind energy to solar power, bio-fuels or technology like LED lighting, these initiatives are changing the way people in poverty do business--in fact, it's energy innovations like this becoming the business itself! With new sources of energy, whole villages can gain access to power for water purification systems, lighting schoolrooms and powering clinics. Of course, all of these advances must be tailored to local needs and must be sustainable (love that word!).

The cool part is, I was reading about the solar initiative these Indian women are taking part in, and it's run by the Barefoot college in Tilonia, in Rajasthan, India. The college helps villagers become self-sufficient, with an emphasis on training women with practical skills. Rural women are trained at the college, then they go out and train other women, who continue to pass on their knowledge of constructing and running solar energy units.

Hold on...a college in a developing country, training women living in poverty to be self-sufficient?! I was so excited, so of course I did more research. Barefoot College began in 1972 on the foundational belief that solutions to rural poverty lie within the community. They deal with water issues, educating girls, health & sanitation, unemployment, income generation, electricity and power, and ecological sustainability in rural communities. Their aim is to instill practical skills through education of the poorest people among their communities. This is directly from their website:

"The Barefoot College is a place of learning and unlearning. It's a place where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher. It's a place where NO degrees and certificates are given because in development there are no experts-only resource persons. It's a place where people are encouraged to make mistakes so that they can learn humility, curiosity, the courage to take risks, to innovate, to improvise and to constantly experiment. It's a place where all are treated as equals and there is no hierarchy."

The website has a lot of info about their initiatives in different areas of development, and background info on the college itself. With over 20 locations across the Indian sub-continent, and the training of women from neighboring countries, the Barefoot college is having a huge impact on the development of these rural communities.

What I think is so great about this college is their organizational philosophy, and the idea that grassroots level change is the best way to really impact lives. Not only that, but they focus on helping women (you'd think governments would start to catch on) and finding sustainable projects that are community based and driven. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I also truly believe it takes a village to sustain development. One enterprising family can improve their quality of life for a time, but bringing change to a whole village and raising the collective standard of living...that is holistic development.

source: oneworld.net India's Electrifying Women
quote: barefootcollege.org

Foreign investment's masquerade?

2009-06-10T12:00:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about foreign investment in Cambodia, and developing countries selling land rights to wealthier nations. Another article on this same topic surfaced again in the final May issue of the Economist, asking if protectionism and efficiency are a false dichotomy.

Ironically, I am in the middle of a book, King Leopold's Ghost, about colonialism in Africa, more specifically that of Belgium in present-day Congo. I could not help but read this article on agricultural investment from foreign nations in a different light. Even this article took a different angle than the last, asking if these "land grabs" are a new wave of colonialism. Is this any different from the greed of western nations throughout the 19th-century; or only thought to be because it involves different land grabbers and the guise of aiding a poorer country's development?

A recent trend of countries that export capital and import food are starting to outsource their farming to countries that need capital and have plenty of land to spare. Rather than buying food in the world markets as imports, governments and companies with political connections lease land abroad to grow crops there, and then ship it home.

Supporters say this provides advancement in agriculture where underinvestment has caused it to suffer for decades. Opponents of these agreements argue poor farmers get pushed off their land and only governments get the real benefits of this protectionist scheme. While farms like this are not new, there are some new aspects in this recent race for farm land:

Scale: large land deals used to be 100,000 hectares (240,000 acres) and now the largest ones are 6 or 7 times that size.
Crops: older projects used to be about cash crops (coffee, tea, bananas, sugar), the current ones focus on staples or biofuels.
Investors: foreign farming used to be private investors buying from private owners, but the majority of new deals are government to government.

Here's the rub: in the past when private investors put capital into crop production, it would boost world trade and economic activity. In theory, help move farmers from subsistence crops to cash crops, to industrial activity. Now governments are investing in staple food crops "in a protectionist impulse to circumvent world markets." With economic turmoil and escalating food prices, food security is becoming a large issue for everyone. Adding to the mess are trade bans and protection policies from other nations who fear the rise of domestic prices.

Is this simply a third wave of outsourcing? A supply and demand result of high food costs and abundant land in developing nations? Or is there something deeper at play here...a rise of new colonialism with loose controls and corrupted government officials getting the pay off?

It is clear this debate will not be over any time soon. There is a need for transparency in these deals, an outlining of some good practices that share the benefits among the locals and require parties to abide by national trade policies. For example, if a country is experiencing a famine, should they be exporting food to others? I'm going to keep mulling over this one, as I continue to read about colonialism in the 19th century and look for parallels in the 21st. Let me know if you have any insight on these matters, or further reading on this neocolonialism argument.

source cited: The Economist 23 May-29 May 2009 "Outsourcing's third wave"

a bill to fight against child marriage

2009-06-04T12:00:00.004-04:00

Legislation was recently introduced in the U.S. House and Senate to combat child marriage around the world. More than 20 human rights and development organizations were behind this bill. The language of this bill calls for 5 years of U.S. foreign aid funding to empower girls in developing countries by addressing root causes for childhood marriage.

Child marriage threatens the health of young girls, as they are at higher risk for death during childbirth, contracting HIV/AIDS and are more likely to experience abuse. Not only this, but children married at a young age miss out on educational opportunities, putting them further behind in society and at greater risk of living their lives in extreme poverty.

There are many reasons to protect women and children, and even better reasons to empower them through development. Women take better care of the family and are often more financially responsible than their male counterparts. We have seen a number of countries grow and prosper as their women are given more rights and given room to prosper as well. However, I start to get skeptical when legislation requests more aid from the U.S. government to be thrown at governments in the developing world (more to come on this later).

So, I want to know how the U.S. government will in fact make a difference over 5 years. Will this money just be given out randomly? Will they work through agencies already on the ground? Will they try and start their own programming? Here's what the article offered...
The policy would help ensure that the fundamental human rights of girls are protected by:

Promoting community understanding of the harmful impact of child marriage
Requiring the State Department to report on this harmful practice in its annual Human Rights Report
Scaling-up community based efforts to offer viable alternatives to early marriage

All of these sound like great ideas, but they are very nebulous. "Promoting community understanding" could take years, even decades if one wants to change underlying assumptions and cultural practices. "Community based efforts" need to be tangible things that change the way women are educated and are taught entrepreneurship skills. The government needs to partner with agencies who have a better understanding of individual communities, and can ensure proper distribution of these funds.

This is bold legislation, and an important cause, but will the U.S. government get the job done? I hope that if this legislation is passed and funding is approved that it will actually make a difference. Throwing money at a problem rarely works...but offer funding for real solutions just might.

source: Oneworld.net

a coalition cobbled together

2009-06-01T17:03:00.003-04:00

Governments are a tricky thing. As countless news stories report, there is often much at stake when there is political turmoil. Things like access to health care, development, education, clean water, women's rights, even the church & its role in a country are all inextricably wrapped up in the government.

Last year I had a very personal interest in the crumbling state of Kenya's democracy. With violent demonstrations breaking out post-election and my father preparing to journey there for a teaching term, Kenya's stability weighed heavily on my mind and heart.

With tensions running high between different ethnic groups, and cries of foul practice in elections, many people were killed and forced from their homes into life in slums and refugee camps. Only through UN mediation and plenty of global political pressure, did a coalition government come together. The deal was not clean and pretty, but it did help curb violence for a time.

A recent article in the Economist (April 25th-May 1st 2009 issue) has brought Kenya's government to the forefront of my mind yet again. Sub-headings like "Kenya's crumbling government" and "Only greed and pressure from abroad now bind the ruling politicians together" do not instill a lot of confidence in recent news out of Nairobi.

Rivals in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of Prime Minister Odinga stomped out of a meeting with President Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) where the two parties couldn't even agree on an agenda to discuss. Pessimists say Kenya's government can barely be called a functioning executive, using terms instead like "(an) unholy alliance of fierce rivals."

Corruption scandals in both ruling parties break the news regularly; ministers argue over pay, seniority, and perks at meetings. "...Churches, NGOs and foreign diplomats are left to play the role of opposition, cajoling and threatening from the sidelines."

With the leadership in much turmoil, there is no consensus how how to proceed with decisions on anything--like how to bridge divisions that caused post-election violence, or even the increasing problem of gang violence in Kenya. All that does hold leaders together is greed, corruption, and political influence. But despite all of that, foreign governments are convinced that any government will be better than no government, lest the country return to fits of tribal violence.

I struggle with this last idea. The idea that any government--regardless of corruption, disregard for civilians or responsibility to its people--is better than no government at all. Anarchy is clearly not the answer; but with a "better than nothing" mindset, there will never be an impetus for improvement. If world leaders shy away from confronting issues that are deeply hurting a nation, we will continue to see the downward spiral of a nation, as we have seen in places like Zimbabwe.

This article made mention of Kofi Anan possibly intervening again. Although the UN is not the most efficient decision making body, they need to step in, before corruption and dis-unity erode the strong government Kenya built in recent history. If Kenya's coalition government continues to deteriorate, it leaves the field wide open for a revolutionary, someone hailed as a savior, to run away with the democracy that has been established. Governments have needed and will continue to need accountability, especially in volatile regions like sub-Saharan Africa.

Village Savings and Loans

2009-05-20T14:20:00.003-04:00

a "new" microfinance model?

In recent days, I have come across savings-driven microfinance repeatedly, so I decided to dig in and find out more. There are groups like Village Savings and Loan Associates (VSLA) who offer free materials to anyone interested in downloading it. CARE (an organization I have written about previously) is one of the NGOs that has piloted large savings & loan projects, and have written several case studies reporting their success.

I have been a strong supporter of microfinance for some time now, and there are quite a few posts on this blog that promote and cheer on the efforts of microfinance around the world. So why is a new microfinance model needed, you ask? Well, I'm not convinced that it requires an entirely new model, but savings-driven loans do offer something to a different segment of the poor that microfinance cannot, and therein lies its value.

Where microfinance breaks down:

Unable to penetrate very remote, rural areas due to high cost and restricted demand for credit.
Most in rural areas and in urban slums (often the extremely impoverished) receive no services.
Promotes credit, primarily, but cannot offer savings due to licensure. Practitioners of microfinance in rural areas observe that many prefer to build assets through savings rather than increase their assumption of risk with a loan. source: VSLA

The Village Savings and Loan (VSL) model helps small groups of people pool capital to handle cash needs of their respective households. It provides sustainability and profitable savings, insurance and credit services to places where MFIs do not a have a presence.

The approach developed by CARE in Niger takes a self-selected group of people who put their money together and then allows members to borrow from the pool. The money borrowed is repaid with interest, causing the initial lump sum to grow. Regular savings amounts are deposited into the fund with an end date in mind when the total fund will be distributed with interest earnings. This pay out at the end provides each member with a large amount of money they can use as their family has need.

Saving through this approach provides flexibility (when and in what amount they want to save), and in the size of loans available (even for $10 or $20). The value of this method is in its flexibility to serve the poor and very poor. Growth-oriented entrepreneurs require larger loans initially, and hope to lift their family out of poverty. Savings-led microfinance seeks to help families manage their cash flow for security and stability. The other benefit of this method is it maintains low-overhead and a flattened structure of accountability. There is no established institution to handle funds and issue loans; this is done by the group itself with all net interest becoming their property. Once operating sustainably, no further input is needed from the VSL Association.

There are several things I really like about the VSL model:

Sustainability: by far the most important thing in any development work, and exciting in this model. It is always important to give people skills and opportunities that empower them to carry on, even after project funds & outside resources may be depleted.
Bridging the Gap: looking for a way to fill in where MFIs may not be small enough or mobile enough to handle the cost. Reaching out the the extremely poor, a niche market for VSL, will be a great strength.
Internal start-up: the program looks for willing participants who want to save and then uses their funds for loans to their other group members. It does not require outside donors to supply the capital for loans.

There a few things that concern me about the assertion that microfinance needs a new model:

Microfinance does still work and there are many agencies with successful models working in countries around the globe. I follow the work of HOPE International and read regularly how families are benefiting from the lasting impact of loans. In emerging economies and countries that are still developing, microlending continues to lift people out of poverty.
The poorest of the poor are often people who live & spend one day at time. They eat what is needed to survive and hope to keep their children alive. These are people who would not set aside 10 cents if doing so would deprive one child of food for the day. It seems that these people would not buy into the savings program if they feel strapped for money as it is.
Management of responsibility and risk is another concern. What happens when someone cannot pay back a loan with interest, or pulls out of the group altogether. What safety nets are provided for situations like this?

The report I found from CARE seems to respond to some of these concerns with their implementation of the VSL in Cambodia. The pilot program proved to be successful on many levels, demonstrating "poor people could save if given the opportunity and that they were keen to develop capacity within their own communities to strengthen their economic security." I would encourage you to read it if you have any interest in this at all. A lot of insight about the implementation and mechanics of it --> here.

The MED group of the Collaboratory at Messiah College will be taking this VSL model and implementing it in Zambia this summer. I am excited to hear how that goes and see what knowledge an insight they come home with. Check out their blog and follow their trip!

Comments, questions, thoughts, insight...all appreciated!

in the shade of "green"

2009-05-14T09:56:00.019-04:00

Environmental sustainability, the green movement and green technology are all part of the same tree. It's a strong tree that has been around for awhile, but continually adds new shoots and branches. Now, not only can your cleaning products, produce, cars, and clothes be "green" but so can your microfinance! This is a very exciting dimension in the ever-adapting world of development theory & practice.

Microfinance Gateway, a helpful website for those heavily involved in microenterprise around the world, offers a nice summary of this emerging concept in microfinance. You can read their whole article, as well as checking out GreenMicrofinance's website that will be added to the Helpful Resources list on the right.

Climate change, environmental degredation, clean air & clean water are issues that will not be going away quickly. We live in a world where solutions to these problems are a necessity. Living in the richest nation on earth, I am able to avoid dealing with these issues in my daily life. I can buy water in bottles everywhere, stay in an airconditioned bubble when it gets too hot, and I can always purchase organically grown veggies. People living in poverty around the world do not have these choices, and often environmental problems threaten their health, homes & livelihoods.

It makes sense, then, to consider environmental sustainability when looking at development practices. "Green microfinance" encourages eco-friendly microenterprises and supports clients' use of renewable energy. Enterprises that center around green products, like biodiesel, clean energy cookstoves or crafts & jewlery made from recycled goods are one step. Finding renewable sources of goods to create products is another factor as well. Helping clients adapt to eco-friendly farming techniques is another area that is important, and has been for some time.

Renewable energy options like solar, wind and biofuel power are alternatives to other fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases. Families and communities not only benefit from these technologies, but others in the community can build a sustainable income around it for their family.

Throughout history, the advancement of an economy has gone hand in hand with evironmental destruction. The traditional path of development has been from agriculture to industrialization to service driven industry, with a nation hungering for more and more energy (ex: China's rapid growth and development). With all this interest in green technology and "green microfinance," it would be exciting to see a new path of development. One that does not demand further destruction of the environment, and envisions a cleaner, greener way to prosperity.

farming out the farming

2009-05-11T13:26:00.015-04:00

Kuwait & Cambodia...an unlikely pair, perhaps. Though thousands of miles apart, it seems like a perfect relationship. Kuwait has cash and a need to import food. Cambodia has lots of land, prime for agricultural endeavors, and a desire for foreign capital. The government of a poor farming country is planning to turn over large tracts of land to a richer, oil-producing one--something commonplace since the jump in food prices of recent years. Here's the rundown (as gleaned from the Economist April 25-May 1 2009 issue):

Kuwait reportedly agreed to offer $546 million in loans to finance a dam for irrigation, hydro power, and to build a road to the Thai border. Cambodian officials say they haven't determined what Kuwaitis will get in return, but speculation is they may offer up to 124,000 acres of farm land.
So far, the Cambodian agreement contains little substance and minimal detail; quite concerning for such a large exchange of money & property.
Cambodian rice farmers are suspicious--they have a history of being thrown off their land due to bureaucrat bargains with wealthy friends. They concede a new road would help get their crops to market.
One rumor circulating is that Kuwait has agreed to buy all the produce of those who lose land from construction of the road. Locals are still concerned their land will be confiscated, as in the past.
For a government hungry for foreign investment & national development, this plan happily marries the two goals. Cambodia's farming practice are in dire need of modernization. Agriculture is the largest employer in Cambodia, yet it's productivity falls short of Thai & Vietnamese production capabilities.

It is clear that Cambodia needs direct investment into their agri-business sector. It is vital to such a large percentage of Cambodia's population, yet falls behind much of the rest of the world. The pivotal question is whether the government is really concerned about fostering economic development, or if they are eager for a windfall profit from an oil-rich neighbor.

Is there any way to use foreign investment for increasing agricultural output, without sacrificing land? My hope is that a wise government could bridge the gap between investment and output, creating channels to offer education and training to the local farmer. If the government itself could enhance infrastructure for rural farmers, this alone could greatly impact market access.

The development world knows how land deals go down...and it's usually not a positive experience for the locals. Often without titles to their land, the people lose it to a government that can and will take the land they want, for the money they want. We can only hope that Kuwait's investment is really in Cambodia's long-term best interest; moreover, that Cambodian officials are concerned with Cambodians' long-term best interest.

development poetry

2009-04-08T09:01:00.005-04:00

I came across this poem this week entitled "The Development Set"
I offer it now without commentary, though it has given me much food for thought these past few days...
and i hope it will do the same for you.

Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet
I'm off to join the Development Set;
My bags are packed, and I've had all my shots
I have travelers checks and pills for the trots

The Development Set is bright and noble
Our thoughts are deep and our vision is global;
Although we move with the better classes
Our thoughts are always with the masses.

In Sheraton Hotels in scattered nations
We curse multinational corporations;
Injustice seems easy to protest
In such seething hotbeds of social unrest.

We discuss malnutrition over steaks
And plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
Whether Asian floods or African drought,
We face each issue with open mouth.

We bring in consultants whose circumlocution
Raises difficulties for every solution--
Thus guaranteeing continued good eating
By showing the need for another meeting.

Consultants, it's said, believe it no crime
To borrow your watch to tell you the time.
Their expenses, however, are justified
When one thinks of the jobs they might later provide.

The language of the Development Set
Stretches the English alphabet;
We us swell words like "epigenetic,"
"Micro," "macro," and "logarithmetic."

It pleasures us to be so esoteric--
It's so intellectually atmospheric!
And although establishments may be unmoved,
Our vocabularies are much improved.

When the talk gets deep and you're feeling numb
You can keep your shame to a minimum:
To show that you, too, are intelligent
Smugly ask, "Is it really development?"

Or say, "That's fine in practice, but don't you see:
It doesn't work out in theory!"
A few may find this incomprehensible,
But most will admire you as deep and sensible.

Development Set homes are extremely chic,
Full of carvings, curios, and draped with batik.
Eye-level photographs subtly assure
That your host is at home with the great and the poor.

Enough of these verses--on with the mission!
Our task is as broad as the human condition!
Just pray God the biblical promise is true:
The poor ye shall always have with you.

--Attributed to Ross Coggins
Reprinted here from The Marketplace March/April 2009

because I am a girl

2009-03-20T09:37:00.008-04:00

Thanks to my weekly Sojourners email, I found about the "Because I am a Girl" campaign.

"Because I am a Girl is Plan.org's campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls' rights and lift millions of girls out of poverty. Girls around the world are heavily affected by a wide range of issues that Plan works with including poverty, education, health, and the environment. Girls are more often than not discriminated against and denied many of their basic human rights."

A very powerful video from the campaign:

This issue of women's rights and the continual oppression of females around the world is nothing new in the development community. What is new is Plan's petition to President Obama, urging him to support 3 things that will help females in developing countries.

Require birth registration; protects girls from early marriage, child labor, enables them to get jobs and vote
Ensure that girls benefit as much as boys when it come to aid money given for education
Help create procedures that would enable girls and boys to voice complaints to their governments.

While I don't know how feasible every point of the petition will be for our new President, I strongly believe the motivation and purpose behind this petition has good intentions and is desperately needed. It's a grassroots movement to ask our government to speak against the atrocities of other governments. It's a starting point to give a voice to all the forgotten girls and mistreated women. It's a way to advocate for those we cannot always see, but who are always there. I encourage you to check their website (they have some great executive studies about the state of women around the world) and sign the petition.

expelling NGOs--who pays the price?

2009-03-18T10:43:00.011-04:00

It's 2 different continents, 2 different countries, with 2 different leaders. Thousands of miles apart, yet headlines that are strikingly similar. The Sudanese and North Korean governments are both expelling NGOs (particularly American NGOs) from their respective countries. They are cutting off humanitarian aid and food supply to their starving people.

In Sudan, president Omar Al-Bashir says he wants all international aid groups out within a year. The government has already expelled 13 large agencies, mostly from Darfur. Bashir accuses these agencies of spying for the Int'l Criminal Court which wants to arrest him for war crimes. The UN predicts this will leave millions of people in a state of crisis, beyond what they are already experiencing. The president's plan to deal with this: have the agencies drop food and relief supplies at airports and let Sudanese organizations take care of it.

In North Korea, five different aid organizations have been told to leave by the end of March. The UN World Food Programme predicts more than 9 million people (1/3 of North Korea's population) are in need of food. This food block comes on the heels of North Korea's announcement regarding the launch of a satellite, believed by many to be a cover for long range missle testing.

Both countries are turning away the food needed by people whom they [the government] are mostly responsible for starving. Bashir claims he will transport the food from the airports to the people? Highly unlikely. As the world has watched many dictators before him (in countries all over the world), the food never gets to those who need it most. Often sold to fund military power, or used to keep the military well-fed, the starving civilians rarely see a bite of that food.

One could argue that the reason so many NGOs are being driven out of countries is because of their ties to the United States. Our nation's opposition to governments that go against our values does not help these relief agencies maintain neutrality. But many NGOs are created for exactly that purpose! They are NON-governmental organizations for the express intent of being free from government ties, bureaucracy and politics. However, we know in reality many are still wrapped up in these things.

So what can be done? We often see crises like this and are distraught over the possibilities of so many people around the world starving--especially when there are agencies at-the-ready to offer food relief. As far as the situation in North Korea, it seems that the UN World Food Programme may be able to stay (no definitive word yet). If that is the case, it may herald a change in the way NGOs operate. Perhaps the time is ripe to find new international agencies and independent organizations that are not easily defined by national borders. One can always hope that a leader will not be able to ignore his starving people for long...though the precedent for that is not auspicious.

comments and thoughts welcome!

source: BBC World News, http://news.bbc.co.uk

juicy ingenuity

2009-03-13T09:06:00.007-04:00

It is no longer a surprise to read of the far-reaching effects of the global economic downturn; but it is exciting to hear how people in different places of the world are using some smart business sense to make the best of bad situations.

Blue Skies, a premier exporter of fruit and juices located in Ghana has noticed a dramatic drop in sales to Europe. Once a business that thrived on exporting exotic fruits to their northern continental neighbor, the company now finds its sales down more than 10% and cash flow is stretched to the breaking point. While they have appealed to national and foreign banks, they are finding that loans are in short supply.

Blue Skies employs close to 1,000 people in Ghana--2,000 during peak fruit season--numbers of importance in a country that was strangled by poverty even before global economic activity slowed to a trickle. When a British store canceled its entire order of fresh pineapple juice, the company needed to find new markets elsewhere. Employees were not about to take job cuts lying down, so they decided to create opportunity in the local market that had been right under their nose all along. The staff of Blue Skies started buying the juice and selling it in town. Now that this has created a new market of demand, the company is targeting middle class consumers who can afford juice, but want a healthier option.

They admit that local sales will not make up for all of the lost business to Britain, but workers on the juice line have kept their jobs, the machines have not been sitting idle, and it is a way to hedge against fluctuating markets overseas. All of these are important factors in a shaky global economy. A spokesperson for the company states that last year's domestic sales in March were at $145...this past week alone they took in $7,000 from sales in Ghana. Pretty strong improvement for an idea that came from looking around the neighborhood!

I think that this is a great example of what can be done with a little thinking outside the box. While revenues may not be at levels they are used to from exporting to Europe, there are still avenues to maintain employment and keep the factory afloat. Belt-tightening need not always be a bad thing. We can find ways to be creative and keep things going, even in a tough economy.

the psychology of giving

2009-03-04T13:08:00.003-05:00

eek! It's the beginning of March and I realized that I completely fell behind in posting during February...well, it was a short month, so I'll cut myself some slack ;)

Read an article this week that caught my eye, about the psychology behind giving. Different research has shown that there are patterns as to why and how much people give, especially why people are much more likely to help a single individual than many.

An experiment observed and noted the reactions of two groups of people--the first group was exposed to general statistics about food shortages in Malawi and staggering facts about millions of starving children there. The second group was shown the photo of a 7-year old girl, was told she is desperately poor and "her life will be changed by your gift." As you might have guessed, the second group gave more.

This brings to the surface what psychologists call the bystander effect. If I hear someone yelling for help and I am the only one around, I am more likely to help than if other people are around and hear the call. Unfortunately, many hear the cries of the poor and do nothing. Futility thinking will also play a role in a person's decision to help. Giving a small portion of your income feels like a drop in the bucket, so some say, "why give at all?"

But even in hard times, helping to alleviate the effects of poverty remains important. We need to be concerned with the well being of people everywhere. The author of this article says it best..."It may seem odd to talk about giving more now, when we all feel so tapped out and worried. But that's not a very good excuse. No matter how hard hit we are by the economic slowdown, we are still vastly better off than those who are so poor that they struggle to meet their basic needs."

Couldn't have said it much better myself! So why are we, wealthy Americans, so culpable of the bystander effect and futility thinking? My fear is that we been so conditioned by our society to be bigger & better than anyone else; second place is first loser...isn't that we we are taught to believe? Small steps, and doing the best you can just won't cut it.

Well I beg to differ--sometimes all it takes is that first step. Billions of snowflakes can create a blizzard, millions of little rain drops create a downpour, hundreds of pairs of feet can start a movement. If each of us give whatever we can to help those in poverty around the world, who knows what kind of change we could make. It's the little things that build up to make a big impact, and we must put that ahead of our giving psychology. Ignore the fact that no one else is giving and do it anyway. To that one family who gets another meal together, your $10 matters. Believe that what you are doing can and will make a difference.

article referenced: Singer, Peter. "The Science Behind our Generosity." Newsweek 9 March 2009.

the welfare of women

2009-01-30T13:45:00.004-05:00

I was reading an interesting article in Newsweek, and decided it fit in with the themes of this blog. Anna Quindlen wrote an article about the future of American foreign policy with the recent change in administration. In it, she expressed a hope that the welfare of women would be a key component of American foreign policy.

There is not a country on earth that has not heard of Hillary Clinton (and Barack Obama). Their partnership in leading the new face of America's diplomacy abroad gives hope to those who are frustrated with the militaristic, macho agenda of the past. Their teamwork on foreign policy promises a paradigm shift. Together they can use the negotiating power of the U.S. to "pursue policies that emphasize collaboration and connection instead of confrontation."

As an example, Quindlen quotes Clinton's speech from Beijing given several years ago at a UN conference on women: "...human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights for one and for all...women must enjoy the rights to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure."

Of course, in development circles this way of thinking is not novel. Many share the view that the way for a nation to foster prosperity and growth is to give women a voice, give them rights, improve their well-being, and listen to women's concerns. It has been proven time and again that once women are given the means to provide and steady income for their family, their children get an education, are well-nourished, have clothes and a place to live--generally, improve their standard of living. When impoverished men find income? They use it for themselves, often turning to 'luxury' items like alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

According to the global fund for women, 2/3 of the world's poorest people are female. Not surprisingly, women make up about 16% of parliament members worldwide. If we are interested in promoting education, good government and prosperity, the U.S. must focus on the welfare of women. One study shows a connection between more women in political leadership and less corruption and incompetence. Some say the best form of offense is a good defense--and the best defense against terrorism is a war on poverty and ignorance.

So is this an argument in favor of feminizing foreign policy? I hate to characterize it as such, but one could argue--so what? "An American foreign policy informed by swagger and arrogance has been a conspicuous failure, making the United States not respected but reviled." Feminizing foreign policy, as it were, need not make the United States sound like wimps, nor should it be seen as a degrading term. If it weren't for many things women have done, society would not be what it is today. It is time for the U.S. foster development around the world in a positive way. If we want to see lasting change in the world, give the women a chance to make it happen.

source: Anna Quindlen, "The End of Swagger," Newsweek. 2 February 2009.

hunger for Zimbabwe

2009-01-24T13:12:00.007-05:00

As conditions worsen in Zimbabwe, people are searching for creative ways to get the attention of world leaders and demand Mugabe make a change. Starting on Wednesday, up to 40 public figures in South Africa joined together in a hunger strike. The strikers are fasting to bring to the world's stage the plight of millions of starving Zimbabwean people. People are fasting for different lengths of time until a series of demands are met. The new campaign is called Save Zimbabwe Now and here, briefly, are the demands:

An appeal to major political parties in the region to end their quiet diplomacy on the Zimbabwe issue
Urgent response by the UN and international community to assist with the humanitarian crisis in the country
An immediate end to the torture, abductions and intimidation against civilians and political activists
That other counties in the region grant refugee status to Zimbabweans who are fleeing
That the government lift restrictions on freedoms of expression & assembly
A call for a transitional authority to be installed if a power-sharing deal can't be reached by the end of February.

There is no illusion that these demands will be met in a mere 21 days, which is why the hunger strike is a "rolling" strike, designed to build momentum along the way. One by one, the fasters will strike for different lengths of time and pass the "baton" to the next person to keep the strike going as long as it takes.

"The value of solidarity to people who are living under repression should never be underestimated. Just that sense that you're not alone is a powerful thing."

What will it take to make a change in Zimbabwe? How long can the neighboring governments and international leaders sit by and allow Mugabe to continue to destroy the country? While I am not in favor of another overthrow/Iraq invasion situation, I can't help but think that we must be doing more. I would welcome your thoughts, comments, and and ideas on this post.

*sources: cnn.com and savezimbabwenow.com

the hunger site

2009-01-15T14:29:00.008-05:00

A new year deserves a new post. It has been a long time, but I hope to remedy that this year.

Here's a cool site I found through a friend. It actually came up when I was doing some Christmas shopping, but its a pretty cool fair trade website. Every time you go to this website and click, they donate 1.1 cups of food to the hungry around the world. And, what I especially like, is for any purchase you make through their store (filled with fairly traded goods) they donate even more food to relief agencies around the world.

From their website..."The staple food funded by clicks at The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and Feeding America . 100% of sponsor advertising fees goes to our charitable partners...The Hunger Site is proud to be partnered with two leading charities that are working to end hunger. Mercy Corps and Feeding America build on your efforts by providing food and resources to those suffering from hunger, oppression and poverty in the U.S. and around the world."

Click to give food!

Hidden Recession

2008-10-09T11:30:00.003-04:00

While reading the latest post I agree that although the news station and editorials are painting a dismal picture for the economic recession, it does seem like in the US as well as here in the Bahamas things are not "that bad". I still see cars everywhere, SUVs to be exact, Starbucks still has a line and restaurants still appeared busy. I felt like everything was not as bad as the reports would like me to believe.

On Sunday past however, I was sitting in church and my Pastor was talking about love in the Kingdom of God. At the end of it he explained that we never know what is going on in peoples lives that you cannot see just by looking at them. So he called for action. He asked if there was anyone in the church who had no electricity due to an inability to pay the bills. To my utter surprise a worship dancer and a very well dressed gentlemen went up. Pastor Myles payed some of the bills and opened up the floor for the church to help as well. The well dressed guy said that he could not even iron his children's uniforms for school. My pastor then went on to ask who had lost their jobs due to the recession. Tons of people went up. I have since learned that there are families who have been going to our food storehouse because they do not have enough to eat. Not poor families, families who were making it before this economic downturn came.

So there it was in front of my face. The recession is in fact very bad, so whatever country you are in I would suggest looking deeper beneath the surface. Lest you should make the mistake that I did and think that things are "not that bad". Wealthy countries are experts in keeping up appearances until it becomes impossible to do so. Recessions will more than likely get worse before they get better so keep and eye and ear open to opportunities to reach out even in our own circles, our own countries.

when an economy has pneumonia...

2008-09-26T16:02:00.005-04:00

In this struggling economy, there is no lack of clever witticisms or metaphors to put it in perspective. As I was traveling in Michigan, I heard a newscaster say "When the U.S. economy catches the flu, Western Michigan gets pneumonia." However, others would say the U.S. is way beyond the flu. My question is, with globalization, have we only worsened the chance of spreading our economic virus or "pneumonia" to other countries around the world?

I receive a newsletter from Sojourners on a regular basis, and this week they were discussing how our economic situation is impacting UN Millenium development goals, and they said some things that I really appreciated. So, I offer their take on things:

"This week, with the news of the U.S. financial crisis dominating the headlines, the United Nations General Assembly opened its annual meeting. The threat to the entire global economy has created alarm and fear that those in poverty, both in the U.S. and around the world, will be left behind and forgotten. World leaders...expressed deep concern that the crisis would threaten efforts to fight global poverty. On today's U.N. agenda is a review of the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. This ambitious agenda includes cutting global poverty in half, reducing infant mortality, reducing the ratio of women dying in childbirth, ensuring primary education, promoting gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS and malaria, and a setting of benchmarks for environmental sustainability and development.

We already know that progress is mixed, and that the growing cost of food and fuel coupled with the economic crisis threatens that progress. The goal of developed countries spending 0.7 percent of their GNP on aid has not been met by most countries. The New York Times noted this week that "The aggregate aid budget of the most developed nations amounts to 0.28 percent of their gross national income ... The United States, shamefully, is at the bottom of the list, spending 0.16 percent of its income on development assistance."

Given that reality, Micah Challenge USA released a Letter to the Church in the United States from thirty senior evangelical leaders in four continents. The letter recognizes what U.S. Christians have contributed to the global South, but goes on to say: Nevertheless, the political, social, and economic situation in the places where this hope has been announced is increasingly
distressing. Millions of people in the global South are dying of hunger, violence, and injustice. These situations of poverty and pain are not simply the product of the internal functions of our
countries; rather they are the results of the international policies of the governments that wield global power."

And, in a prophetic challenge to Christians in the U.S.:

"Therefore, we have this against you, brothers and sisters, that along with this powerful announcing of the Gospel, the Church from the United States has not also raised its voice in protest against the injustices that powerful governments and institutions are inflicting on the global South - injustices that afflict the lives and ecosystems of millions of people who, centuries after the proclamation of the Gospel, still have not seen the sweat of their brow turned into bread."

While the current events in the United States are troubling, and the plans being crafted by the current administration can be equally as troubling, I look around and think, "Is it really that bad?" The people I see, and the community I live in seem to be chugging right along. Restaurants are full, hotels are busy, stores are open, cars are everywhere (using up that gas we "can't" afford). Maybe consumers don't wear their debt on their sleeve, but it seems that we are still getting by. As bad as it may seem here, I appreciate the reminder that there are many who are worse off than I. Praise God I can still pay rent, buy dinner, and I have a job. I am thankful for all of these blessings. I find I need to remind myself how blessed I am, in light of economic situations in the U.S. and around the globe.

human trafficking

2008-09-17T21:10:00.018-04:00

A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Harrisburg with my good friend Paula. I was trying to give her a chance to post, but since she hasn't yet, here I go ;)

The focus was on human trafficking, specifically in Asia. Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery involving victims who are forced, tricked or defrauded into labor or sexual exploitation. This happens in every country, and estimates are that 600,000-800,000 people--mostly women and children--are trafficked across national borders annually. This does not include millions who are trafficked within their own country. (source: Dept. of State)

Trafficking deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, it is a global health risk, and it fuels growth of organized crime. One of the systemic reasons for trafficking is that poverty creates vulnerabilities that traffickers prey upon.
People looking to make money from trafficking will often look for:

poor families with women as the main breadwinner
poor families with daughters of high risk age (10-25)
poor families who lack connections/money to research options or find better jobs

Often, impoverished families are promised a good job in a big city for their young daughter. They are told wages will be sent back home to help the entire family. Desperate for money, food, or health care, a family will naively agree to send their daughter away. Unfortunately she may be sent to a large city, or even another country and be sold into prostitution so the middle man can make a quick buck. Her family may never see a dime, not to mention ever seeing their daughter again.

A common thread exists in the list of vulnerabilities noted above: poverty! This drives people to desperate acts, like selling one child into slavery so 6 others can eat. It is a tragic predicament for many around the world, but then I start thinking about the changes that can be made, and I get really fired up.

This probably won't surprise most people who know me...but I think economic development is so exciting because it is a phenomenal way to change so many terrible things that prevent people from living a healthy, satisfying life. In the time that I have been studying and learning about economic development, it seems that most problems in society stem from economic dysfunction. Once a family has enough money to eat, drink, and put a roof over their heads, they can afford to send their children to school (instead of having them work for pennies a day, or be sold into slavery). An education affords children the chance to get a better job, then live in a better house and improve their standard of living. Then when those children have children, this cycle continues. A plethora of good things, like women's rights, improved health, lower fertility rates and stable communities stem from 2 things: a steady stream of income and education.

There is a direct link between poverty and lack of education. At the same time, poverty and trafficking are directly correlated. Economic stimulation (meaning, the reduction of poverty) is the best road to education--and it is one of the best methods to prevent human trafficking.

There was much talk at the conference of things that governments must do to help victims of human trafficking, and prevent more from falling into forced labor. Legal implications for those who are perpetuating trafficking rings around the world, financial help for a victim's reintegration into society, etc. All of these are good things, but I think real change will require a grassroots solution. Governments get tripped up in their good intentions, when they are actually good. Economic stimulation can happen right now--with small steps, in small villages, with small families. It is my hope that the potential of economic development to prevent trafficking will be realized and will be used to save this generation of children from slavery.

a threat to peace

2008-09-17T21:10:00.007-04:00

After reading over my review of Yunus' book about social business from the other day, I realized there was another part that I didn't mention, that has still been rolling around in my head. In one of the later chapters, Yunus states that poverty is a threat to world peace.

Here is his train of thought, in a nutshell: the hopelessness that many impoverished persons feel leads them to desperate acts of survival--> these desperate acts are often violent in nature, and violence can create displaced people groups or economic refugees --> refugee movement creates clashes between populations, as well as conflicts over scarce resources. Fighting over scarce resources, like land and water are often what creates conflict in the world, and it can rapidly deteriorate into war.

On a certain level, I think most of his assumptions are correct. But I think that this oversimplifies the problem of war around the world. There seem to be so many other factors--military coups, political corruption, ethnic cleansing, not to mention greed, pride and revenge that drive people, tribes and nations to "solve" problems with violence.

Perhaps I am oversimplifying the argument too much. Obviously raising people's standard of living to minimize their desperation is a good thing! However, if Yunus wants to make an argument about bringing peace to the world, there are many other deeply-rooted issues within the human psyche that cause violence and war. Eliminating poverty is something we must work toward, but there are too many factors involved in violent acts worldwide to say that eliminating poverty eliminates violence. It is a nice proposal, but it does not seem to be a complete solution to bringing lasting peace in situations the world over.

a proposal to end poverty

2008-09-16T09:40:00.006-04:00

I just finished reading Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunus. After reading his first book about microfinance and the Grameen Bank, I was really excited to read his latest book. While he makes several interesting proposals, I think he could have said the same things in 150 pages, rather than 300.

Yunus first tries to give some background on economic development thus far, what has been done in the past, and how his own brainchild, the Grameen Bank, has changed Bangladesh and influenced many others as well. Then he lays out his plan to bring social business to the forefront of the global economy. A social business is run just like any other business. It is meant to be lean, efficient, and competitive against any other company/organization in its field. The difference is that the end goal is some kind of social good. Profits are good, but do not go to investors. They should be reinvested in the business to continue to subsidize the cost to those who are poor.

An good example of a social business is one he actually started with Danone Group in France. Also known as Dannon in the U.S., they have partnered with Grameen to bring tasty, nutritious yogurt snacks to impoverished children in Bangladesh. There is a need for healthy snacks that are affordable to those at the bottom of the economy. They have developed small and efficient factories in small villages (creating some jobs) and they employ Grameen Bank borrowers to sell the yogurt (more income for the families). The yogurt is cheap enough that any family can afford to feed their kids a healthy snack to help fight off more diseases and hunger.

Once the initial investment of both parties is paid back, the profits will be returned to the business for expansion, R&D, etc. The yogurt competes in the dairy foods market just like any other product would. They are not exempt from taxes or market forces....however, the difference lies in the motivation of the company and how profits are used. Yunus is hopeful that social businesses will take off around the world, as a means to "exploit" capitalism and create positive economic impact for people who really need it.

So why should a business choose to be a social business over corporate social responsibility?

social business is not meant to achieve personal gain (or profit maximization) but to pursue a specific social goal.
unlike NGOs and non-profits, social businesses recoup their investment, earn profits, but put it back into the business. The benefits are ultimately passed to the target group of consumers (lower prices, better service accessibility)
unlike philanthropy--it's self-sustaining, self-propelling, self-perpetuating and self-expanding. Investors get their money back, and one can use business skills and creativity to solve social problems.
ultimately social business brings the advantage of free market competition into the world of social improvement.

Yunus hopes that this idea of social business will catch on, especially with young people. He hopes that young people fresh out of business school or college will choose this as opposed to traditional profit maximizing businesses.

There is a lot more in this book that I could write about. He gives a much more in-depth look at his own social business venture, more about the latest developments within the Grameen bank and why there are blind spots in traditional economics that keep the poor in poverty.

Overall, it is a good read. I would recommend the first 2 parts of the book and skimming the rest. If you are especially into economic development and would like to see a case study of things that have worked, this is a good choice.

shout out to HOPE International!

2008-09-03T16:47:00.005-04:00

As I was browsing the lovely homepage of Messiah College, as I so often do in my capacity as an admissions counselor, I noticed a new face on the homepage under the "StoryLink" banner. It was none other than our favorite role model and microfinance hero, Peter Greer (also CEO of our favorite MFI!).

Please check out his whole story and click here--> StoryLink @ messiah.edu.

Not only does it outline his education and work with HOPE International, there is also a shout out to IBI! and I quote... "Greer, a graduate of Messiah’s highly-regarded international business program." Highly regarded, eh? Just in case you didn't know, me and my 3 other friends who are contributors to this blog are all 3 alum of the infamous International Business major at Messiah! It is a super sweet program in the summer, where you travel around Europe & Russia for 10 weeks, doing coursework, sightseeing, and visit large corporations. All for 12 credits towards your major. Check it out here. I'm so excited about this tiny bit of recognition from Messiah for such a great guy and a great organization!

into Nigeria

2008-09-03T15:54:00.012-04:00

It has been awhile since I last posted, but things are a little hectic. In light of all that has been going on with my family, I have been researching more about Nigeria. My parents will be heading there sometime next year to work with MCC, so of course I have no choice but to read up on it :) Finding current news on Nigeria is more difficult than one might think, as there are many other countries worse off than Nigeria who are grabbing the attention of the world.

A few quick facts...

The most populous (and densely populated) country on the African Continent. Population as of 2007 was at 148 million.
Capital is Abuja, largest city is Lagos [my parents will be in Jos & Gindiri (central)]
Oil, Oil, Oil--leading producer in Africa, hugely important to economy & politics (it makes up 95% of their exports! and the U.S. takes 52% of all their exports.)
GDP per capita= $1,158

The latest new story I found was concerning President Umaru Yar’Adua’s dismissal of his top military commanders. With a long history of coups and rumors of rebellion in the air, it was a risky move. The Economist states that "Notwithstanding the new era of civilian rule, there has been little to cheer about for most of Nigeria’s 140m people in the past nine years. Elections are still dogged by violence and rigging. Rampant corruption continues to leave roads, hospitals and the national electricity grid chronically underfunded."

"No Nigerian likes the military in government," says 65-year-old Bassey Archibong, a trader who is glad the years of military repression are over. “The poor man may not have seen many improvements” under civilian rule, he said. “But at least you can shout at these people. Shout at the military and they would just kill you.”

Still a rather dismal view of government, but perhaps shaded with a little more optimism than one finds in many other countries on the continent. There is still a lot I want to learn about the economic situation of Nigeria, especially with all the implications of Foreign Investment in oil.

I hope to follow up with more news about Nigeria in the future. Most of the info for the post was found here: BBC, State Dept, Economist.

diguised as do-gooders?

2008-08-20T16:41:00.010-04:00

Microfinance and other strategies for ending poverty have been brought to the world's stage with great help from people like Muhammad Yunus. Founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, he is often considered one of the pioneers of microlending. Since he won the Nobel Prize last year, more and more media attention has been drawn to the big impact of small loans. But what was once a small way to make an impact in poor economies around the world has now drawn the attention of some big investors. These little loans are creating large income, but the question now is, for whom?

An earlier post about Compartamos Bank in Mexico touched on this idea of profiting from the poor. I found another article (courtesy of my dad!) relating to this same topic, but with a man who is competing with Yunus right in his home country of Bangladesh. Shafiqual Choudhury manages a bank that offers small loans to women in order to help them start small businesses. One would think Yunus and Choudhury would be quite good friends, since they share the same line of work.

However, the way Choudhury runs his bank is very different from Yunus, and the two do not get along. Choudhury prides himself on running the most effective microlending organization. He utilizes lending in groups, but the groups are not for accountability. "Why should I punish good borrowers when bad ones are behind in their payments?"

The biggest difference is that Yunus wants to change people. Choudhury does not. In the last 2.5 years he has spent time traveling the world and cultivating relationships with big investors. In fact, foreign investment in microlending overall has more than tripled in the last 4 years. All seem to be attracted to the idea of helping the poor while earning a profit. High interest yields high profit, but the controversy is that those profits are not put back into microlending and so charging such interest rates is extortion.

So here's the bottom line for each side: on the one hand people are just looking to do some good with the aid of capitalism. Others, like Yunus, are concerned the microlending industry will pay more attention in the future to investors' returns than to fighting poverty.

I can see both sides of the issue, to some extent. Are we really concerned about the poor if we are charging them higher interest to get a greater return on our investment? On the other hand, the more we can get companies to invest, the further microfinance can spread around the world. The idealist in me wishes we could find a balance of both: a modest return to earn the approval of investors, but the majority of profits put right back into loans for those who need them. Is it right to use capitalism, under the guise of altruism, to earn a big profit? In my heart it just doesn't feel quite right. Microfinance is meant to help those who are already disadvantaged by systemic problems in the economy and greater society. To use microfinance as "feel-good" investment would negate the intentions of microlending from the beginning.

the Zimbabwe dilemma

2008-08-15T10:49:00.017-04:00

Zimbabwe has been on the world's stage for some time now. With inflation out of control, and a government to match, it has been, and continues to be a rocky road for the people of this turbulent country.

Trying to keep up with all that has been going on in Zimbabwe, I was reading a BBC article about the UN pleading with Zimbabwean leaders to allow food aid into the starving nation. But of course, one article leads to another, and another, and another...well, you get the point. Before I knew it I was knee-deep in articles concerning the various problems in Zim. All of the issues are intertwined, so here is a brief summary of what I've been reading.

The government of Zimbabwe has imposed restrictions on aid agencies, preventing them from delivering food and supplies to the people caught in the middle of political and economic turmoil. The UN chief stated that "curbs on aid agencies imposed in June meant that less than 20% of 1.5m people in need had received help" (BBC news). Maize meal and bread are in short supply, a tragic change for a country that used to be one of Africa's leading agricultural producers.
Prior to the food aid ban, many Zimbabweans were already suffering from food shortages and rampant inflation, a situation made worse by the election violence, the UN said. The government had accused aid agencies of campaigning for the opposition and now many aid agencies have pulled staff out of rural areas since field operations were frozen by the government.

The UN's Ban Ki-moon is imploring the government to stop the bans before a catastrophic humanitarian crisis ensues. Some wonder if that sentiment is too late.
The South African Development Community will meet this week, with a top-heavy agenda: Zimbabwe's political impasse between Mugabe & Tsvangirai. Not only have the two parties been unable to come to an agreement for sharing powers, but other countries are weighing in on the debacle as well. Botswana has threatened to boycott the SADC meeting if Mugabe attends as president. It seems that without a deal that includes Tsvangirai, Mugabe's government will forfeit re-engagement with the international community, credibility among foreign investors, and any kind of rescue package Western nations would have assembled.
(full article: here)
Towards the end of July, President Bush signed off on even more sanctions against Zimbabwe. This came several days after the EU increased their sanctions as well. The sanctions freeze the assets of 17 companies and one individual associated with the Mugabe's regime; it also bans Americans from doing business with them, only adding to the existing U.S. list. The EU added 37 people and companies to its list.

With Mugabe increasingly isolated, the German firm that supplied the regime's bank note paper withdrew several weeks ago, leaving Zimbabweans scrambling for paper on which to print money. Without a constant supply of new bank notes, the regime will not be able to pay the security forces that keep it in power. Bush promised substantial aid if an equitable plan for the government is reached, "but only if it reflects the will of the people."

(full article: here)

So after all of that, I was feeling rather depressed about the state of things in Zimbabwe. And the bad part of this post is, there isn't really any good new to offer. My fear is that economic sanctions will only continue to further the plight of those already starving, and Mugabe will continue to rob the people to sustain his regime. Unless the neighbors of Zim rally together to stop Mugabe and his cronies, there will be no accountability for his misuse of power. Western nations do not have a lot of pull in this situation, but his buddies in South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, etc. have the cultural & regional connections to make an impact. Let's hope they figure that out before its too late.

the Year of the Potato...?

2008-07-31T11:28:00.012-04:00

The increase in food prices around the world has been troubling me for some time now. Obviously there is a lot of media attention about the increase in grocery bills, however, this topic is especially important when considering development around the world. For struggling families, a small change in the cost of basic food staples can be detrimental to daily subsistence.

Imagine my surprise when I came across an article that declared 2008 the year of the potato. It's absurd, I know, but just hear me out. It is actually quite a cool concept, and the Year of the Potato website is an incredible database of knowledge!

The United Nations declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato to raise awareness of this simple vegetable's ability to overcome global hunger and poverty. Over the next two decades the world’s population is expected to grow by an average of 100 million people a year. More than 95% of growth will be in developing countries where pressure on land and water is already intense. As food shortages continue to push prices higher on commodity markets everywhere, global attention is turning toward the potato.

Why the Potato, you ask? There are a handful of reasons I will briefly summarize.

The potato is the world's number one non-grain food commodity. Ease of cultivation and high energy content make it a valuable cash crop for farmers.
The potato is not a globally traded commodity (corn, wheat, etc.). Only a fraction of production enters foreign markets and prices are usually determined by local production costs. This makes it a highly stable food security crop for farmers, shielding producers from the fluctuations of volatile international markets.
Potatoes are a global food--grown on approx. 74,000 sq. mi. of farmland, they are grown on every inhabited continent.
The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly, on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85% of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50% in cereal grains.
Potatoes are good for you! energy, protein and vitamins...what more could you need?
(note: facts above taken from potato2008.org)

The international potato project has one very simple aim: to promote development of sustainable potato-based systems that enhance the well-being of producers and consumers and help realize the potato's full potential as a "food of the future".

There is convincing evidence that stable food crops, like potatoes, are a large part of reducing hunger and poverty around the world. Food security and food prices are not new issues, but they seem to be worsening at an alarming rate. Efforts like the UN's Year of the Potato are helpful in understanding the global food crisis and ways to protect against volatile international markets.

Overall, I found this website to be very enjoyable, and highly informative. It has everything from the anatomy of the potato plant, to maps of where the most potatoes are produced and consumed around the world, handy videos, and lots of potato-ey facts. It gave me a lot to consider about the global food crisis, and I really enjoyed the application to the developing world.

a billion bootstraps

2008-07-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

One could fill a room with the number of books that have been written on development, not to mention ending global poverty. Over the past 5 years, writings on microcredit and microfinance solutions have been increasing as well.

One of my favorite books in this same genre is A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty. Beyond having a great title, this book has a lot of great material in it. Authors Phil Smith and Eric Thurman both have a lot of experience in this field. They write to explain this concept in more detail, giving personal examples and plenty of statistics to back it up.

If you are not very familiar with microfinance and are looking for a good place to start, this book is perfect. Since I already knew quite a bit about it, I sped through that part. What I really enjoyed was their discourse on examining charitable giving. Many Americans give to charity on a regular basis, and no matter what the motivation, it can be a great thing. However, many charitable organizations offer short-term relief instead of getting to the root of systemic problems that perpetuate cyclical poverty. Just as investors seek a good return on the money they put into stocks/bonds, so should philanthropists and donors be concerned about the return on their investment. Smith outlines a number of tasks before handing out money to any organization:

Let Preferences Guide Choices--It is important to consider what you care about most and where your interests lie. This should influence where you choose to give.

Consider what you want to contribute...money, time, skills, influence? It doesn't always have to be cash! Our time can be more valuable than any amount of money. Draw upon your unique talents and abilities.

Due Diligence--Investors always do research and question things before dropping their cash. "Investing" in a charity should work the same way. Find out the organization's mission, who they help, what outcomes they look for. How will the organization measure and track success, what percentage of donations are used for overhead? Do they have a history of sustainability?

Question until you learn the Unexpected--everything has hidden surprises, some are good and some are bad, but the better research you do ahead of time, the better results you can expect.

The magnitude of poverty can be overwhelming. Poverty is not simply an economic problem. It impacts every aspect of a person's life. The authors are advocates of grassroots solutions to alleviating poverty from the ground up. Their insight into the world of microfinance and their connections to personal stories, working on the ground and seeing the power of small business changing people's lives is inspiring. There is entirely too much meat in this book to summarize here, so I will leave it at that. The question & answers at the end, and the appendix of resources at the end of the book are also wonderful.

I heard that Peter Greer will be co-authoring a follow up to this book with one of the authors, which should be great. Hopefully that will include some discussion of measuring the results of many micro-lending institutions, the pitfalls of microfinance, and how to track success. There are also other ideas to be explored in mid-income countries where larger loans are needed due to more developed economies. This is another interesting twist that Smith and Thurman do not discuss in this book. Microcredit seems to work great with those who are not in abject poverty, but live in very underdeveloped economies. I know HOPE is doing a lot of work in Eastern Europe and other middle-income countries around the world, but microfinance looks a lot different in those places.

defending dignity. fighting poverty.

2008-07-16T11:29:00.006-04:00

As I was flipping through my latest edition of Newsweek, I ran across an interesting ad for CARE, one of the world's largest humanitarian aid organizations. The ad shows a woman who looks to be from Latin America, with a hand-written note below her name that says "I am powerful." The sidebar of the ad explains a little more about CARE. They are committed to fighting global poverty, with a special focus on empowering women. Through education, health care, economic development, clean water projects and disaster relief, they empower women worldwide to change their circumstances.

Digging around their website was rather simple, and I found a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. They have a lot of current resources relating to the many facets of their work, from blogs to recent news feeds, they cover emerging issues around the world.

This was one of my favorite quotes from their site:

CARE not only feeds the hungry, we also help tackle underlying causes of poverty so that people can become self-sufficient. Recognizing that women and children suffer disproportionately from poverty, CARE places special emphasis on working with women to create permanent social change.

If you know even the slightest bit about development, you probably understand how important this statement really is. Time and again it has been proven that women are the key to unlocking much of development at a grassroots level. They run the home, send the children to school, interact with the local economy (whether formal or informal) and ultimately their empowerment can start a domino effect of positive change. It makes me tingle just thinking about the possibilities!

All in all, I was excited about what CARE is doing around the world. Looking at their job openings its seems that they have a pretty large organizational structure which enables them to diversify into so many areas of development. Although I didn't find any religious basis for their mission & vision, I found myself agreeing with much of their motivation for development.

So why should you care about out CARE.org? (couldn't resist!)

They empower women first to make strides in reducing poverty
They work all over the world in so many areas of development: health care, HIV/AIDS reduction, clean water, small business development, micro-lending, education, community work, disaster relief
CARE's website has a lot of up-to-date blogs and news features relating to development all over the world
Just to be aware of one more humanitarian relief agency

Memoirs from the Developing World

2008-07-11T09:26:00.005-04:00

I am absolutely fascinated by economic development, its process and problems and catalysts. I believe that understanding socioeconomic conditions and learning when to apply them can literally change the world.

We live in an era where countries left behind in the dust with regards to industrialization are becoming economic super powers. China and India are growing with amazing speed and efficiency. In contrast there are so many countries and even regions of the growing countries that are stuck in a time warp. Incapable of moving beyond extreme poverty. It baffles my mind, but the study of Econ. Dev. offers answers. The rules of the economics (though there are exceptions and oddities ) offer explanation and solution. This is why I love furthering my understanding of economics because charity is great, traditional missions are awesome. But nothing can change politics, communities, family, infrastructure and the course of history like economic change.

The more I discover the more I want to know. Friedman's The World is Flat was amazing in its insight as to what is going on in the world today, but the world is ever changing. Venezuela is reverting back to communism and Cuba is thinking about allowing markets to work their magic. Keeping up with the change, learning the lessons from history, predicting economic implications of governmental decisions are all essential in a fight for a better world for everyone not just a select few.

In closing I wanted to explain that discovering economic development, the intersection of my love of business and love for people, has changed the coarse of my life. I used to believe that business would be enough. That I could spend my days figuring out how to produce a profit for no other reason than profits own sake and personal gain. Now I have a new drive, a new respect for money and talent because of what they can do for other people. The world is simultaneously rich and a disaster. I am searching for my place in the spectrum, trying to find out how I can be a part of a solution. My passions, the things that make me angry and the things that make me cry, have led me here, to economic development.

profit from the poor?

2008-07-09T16:52:00.006-04:00

I ran across an article today from the Economist, concerning a microfinance institution (MFI) in Mexico that is using microfinance to turn a profit. Sound interesting? The full article can be read on their website.

Here's the rundown:

Compartamos Bank in Mexico has taken the model from Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank (more on him later) but added a twist. They are selling shares of their bank, in excess of $1 billion. Many see this model as being no worse than the traditional loan sharks because they charge their clients and interest rate of at least 79% per year.

The CB holds that they still use a group lending model, but this method of earning profit is enabling them to offer even more help to the poor. A higher amount of capital means more loans given to clients. Simple math, it would seem. The bank already has over 900,000 clients and hopes to soar over 1 million this year. They argue that this method will help microfinance everywhere. Once people see how profit can me made, investors will start flocking--good for banks, and great for those who need capital.

There is some evidence that this model has lead to greater competition within Mexican MFIs, thereby driving down interest rates for borrowers. Compartamos Bank reports high repayment rates and overwhelming satisfaction from clients.

So is this an issue of ethics? Is it just basic free market economics? Is it really profiting from the poor when there seem to be positive benefits for clients? An interesting conundrum...

small thinking, big change

2008-07-08T12:25:00.003-04:00

Hi.
Welcome to my new blog.

I'm still new at this and trying to figure things out, so this is kind of a test run.

You might not know this about me...but I am fascinated by the developing world. Things like international development, economics, microfinance and all things related really get my adrenaline pumping. I hope this will be a place to share new ideas, think outside the box, keep track of our database of knowledge and stay in touch. I hope to keep tabs on new thinking in the economic development sector, add some book reviews, share thoughts from different conferences and seminars and have ongoing discussions.

I hope you will join me in this new endeavor. The goal is not to just pontificate on all of these things, though that has its place. It all stems from the hope that small ideas have a big impact, and little changes can be an effective way to change the world.