Do you have a sanitary latrine?
Since learning about Kiva (see Rice Sacks and Cooking Oil) I want to learn more about using microcredit to help the world's poor escape poverty. Should you want to follow up too, the New York Times is running an interview with Muhammad Yunus, the microcredit pioneer who just won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Bangla Desh -- here. I love his ten ways to know you're not poverty-level. Like, "Do you have a sanitary latrine?" Well, do you?Labels: Kiva Investment Group, Simple Justice
posted by Christopher Newton at 3:36 PM
6 Comments:
Great article on a great man. He expects more for others than he does for himself, thta's obvious. Maybe because he's already there and he helps people along. No matter. His love for humankind is obvious and his success is marvelous.
My latrine's not so sanitary today, but I know it's not a poverty issue. No, It's a pumping issue.
I'd really like to see the whole list of 10 factors but don't find it here. Do you have the link to it?
Nevermind - FOUND IT...missed it the first time through because I just skimmed the article as I was already familiar with Grameen Bank.
I plan to add the 10 indicators of poverty to the unit I teach on social stratification in my online class. I think a key thing Mr. Yunus is bringing to discussions about poverty is an articulate view on how social systems - not personal failings - keep whole segments of the world's population living in a state of deprivation.
Particularly in the USA, many still buy into the whole Horatio Algers Legend that if a person just applies hard word and determination he or she can prevail over poor circumstances and rise up to a better life. YES, some people do overcome tremendous adversity to turn their lives around. However, the dark side of believing in that dream is the extent to which those who have plenty tend to blame the poor for their circumstances.
I am a firm believer in people taking personal responsibility for the areas in their lives where they do have some control and rather than crying over their helplessness due to external situations. However, social institutions DO have a huge impact on the range of options availalbe to people. It's great to see people like Yanus doing what he can to shift things with an eye to truly empowering others rather than giving handouts.
I agree with much of what Spoke has said about the greed and apathy of North America. We need to change hearts AND systems, only then can poverty end.
Mr. Yunas has turned the traditional ideas of business upside down with his way: "social business." It's not about amassing huge profits, but about allowing people to live, to maintain a decent standard of living. Wow - his standards are low compared to what most of us think we need!
I also like his thoughts about the value of education, at the end of the NY Times article.
Good link,PP!
I agree with the.chronicler - prosperity is a good thing, and poverty is misery. And I also agree that so far the pursuit of profit seems to work better than other ways of putting society together. But something has gone haywire somewhere. Really haywire. Look at this article from BBC News the other day...Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'. Sorry, I can't find my cheat sheet for putting links in comments - so you'll have to google it. It's worth pondering.
Ah - I understand the chronicler's point after re-reading the article: the people who get loans to begin their business ventures are expected to do what every corporation, bank, mom-and-pop grocery, or any other business owner should do: make a profit. However, Mr. Yunas' personal personal practice is the "upside-down" part I'm thinking of.
In the article he says "...there you have a distinction between two kinds: one, to make personal gain out of it. The other one, the way we run the business, for the results we want to produce in people. So one is a profit-maximizing business. The other is a social business. I’m on the social business side of it. If somebody wants to run it as a profit-maximizing business, welcome. This is competition. My mission is to get the person out of poverty rather than how much money I’m making out of it."
Post a Comment
<< Home