Comments on: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field

By: vanessa

vanessa — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:52:12 +0000

What a fantastic project! I would like to know more.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:50:55 +0000

@Jennifer: One of the big goals with microfinance is that people will become successful and hire others. We’ve seen this a bit, but it’s not the norm yet. As in any population, some people are extremely entrepreneurial and will grow their business quickly to take on additional employees. Others are not so entrepreneurial so the business growth is not quite as dramatic, but it’s still growth and an improvement.

By: Jennifer Barry

Jennifer Barry — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:33:43 +0000

I’m a big believer in microfinance but I didn’t know those facts about the finance rates. That makes a lot of sense. Even so, default rates are extremely low. I love what it does for the pride of the individual who succeeds as well as the increased social status. Even better, many loan recipients then hire others to help them with the business!

By: Cornelius Aesop

Cornelius Aesop — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:06:00 +0000

I love the idea of micro-finance, and glad to see that it works too.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:24:57 +0000

@Earl: You summarized well the idea that positive changes in one person soon affect the family and then the entire community. I also believe that incremental changes are more sustainable than sweeping large-scale projects that try to “modernize” without fulling understanding the local culture and economic/political environment.

Another side benefit of microfinance (which I’ll write more about in the next post in this series) is the social support from lending groups. As we’ve sat in on these lending group meetings and women share their stories, we’ve also realized that many of them never had a supportive peer group outside their immediate family. So while the investment is in the individual, those individuals benefit greatly from the support of their peers – this helps in sharing information about business, children, education and more. It’s a pretty interesting phenomenon.

By: Earl

Earl — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:22:13 +0000

It is the last paragraph of the post that really connects with me. I’ve always believed that too much effort was spent trying to solve major world problems in one giant sweep or at least trying to create methods to make major changes in short periods of time.

However, the focus should always remain on the individual, ‘investing in people’ as you stated. It is the individuals themselves who, once given the tools needed to help them create a better life (not merely helping them to maintain their current state), are able to foster a strong community. And then the stronger community helps create a stronger city, a stronger region and so on. I know I’m just repeated what you said, but I really believe in that core idea.

While I truthfully don’t know as much about micro-finance as I would like (now I know a little more, thank you!), the fact that it focuses on one person at a time, no matter how remote or how disconnected their community may appear to others, has always felt right to me.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:36:18 +0000

@Elise: Yes, Kiva does a great job in connecting lenders with people who need it in the rest of the world. We did a small presentation at their office in San Francisco the other day and we were impressed by the transparency and efficiency of operations.

@Kash: I love how the Grameen Bank is moving into non traditional markets for microfinance like Glascow or New York City. They go where they see a need, which is how it should be. We don’t have any plans to visit Scotland in the near future, but I’ll be sure to let you know if we come your way!

By: Kash Bhattacharya

Kash Bhattacharya — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:26:00 +0000

Microfinance is the way forward!

People don’y need handouts, they need a handup and that is the problem not only in developing countries faced with poverty but also in the developed world.

I am lucky to be in Scotland which is a hotbed of social enterpreneurism ….. Yunis is just setting up a microfinance project: Grameen Glasgow so should be interested to see how that model works here.

Its great way to travel and broaden your horizons: social enterprise and travel: my two passions!

Do drop me a line if you’re up in Scotland. Am starting my social enterprise helping match students to social enterprises (called SiSE)

Best
Kash aka @budgettraveller (twitter)

By: Elise

Elise — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:23:59 +0000

Great article relating about micro finance. We regularly donate to Kiva and find them to be a great company for microfinancing. Liked the pictures and slideshow too. Thanks for posting.

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:06:52 +0000

@Bessie: We hope our photos both transport people to another place and introduce people to a different reality, but also helps them relate to the subjects as just people with all the similarities that go with that. The empowerment aspect of microfinance is so important – it’s amazing to see what people can do when you invest in them and provide some tools (e.g., capital and training) to create opportunities.

@Naomi: We’ve met a lot of people who are intrigued by microfinance, but don’t know how to get involved. I hope our next post helps a bit with that and how to find the right match for your interests and values.

@Shannon: These projects with microfinance programs really help us to get grounded and to understand socio-economic issues on a really personal level. We get a lot out of this work. Although, we are usually emotionally exhausted by the end of the projects after taking in everyone’s stories and understanding the challenges of that area.

@Dave and Deb: The pride that you’ve seen in people is one of the big differences between traditional aid (hand outs) and microfinance – people are responsible for their own successes and they own that. That’s pretty powerful.

After spending months in India, I was a bit down on the situation of average women there. Perhaps you had a similar experience with your recent visit. It was such a inspiration to see such pride and confidence in rural Indian women when we visited a microfinance program in rural West Bengal: http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009/09/microfinance-diaries-seeing-is-believing-in-west-bengal/