Archive for June 24th, 2009
What about the men?
An interesting issue was raised this week when I mentioned to a friend that more than two thirds of microfinance clients around the world are women. My friend posed the question: how are men reacting to this?
As a Kiva Fellow and a Kiva Lender, one of the things I value most about microfinance is it’s ability to raise the status of women.
A Kiva borrower, working side by side with her husband in her grocery shop in Nepal
2 comments 24 June 2009
Mobile banking: what’s the price?
This past week I heard from a friend in the US who got the new iPhone. It looks pretty cool – smaller, faster, and even has the long-awaited cut/copy/paste feature. All for just USD $199…
But what if you used your phone to make a living? What if it had nothing to do with apps, downloading music or texting your friends?
(more…)
7 comments 24 June 2009
PAX RWANDA
I am sure that many of you have read of the horrors that occurred here in Rwanda almost exactly 15 years ago, but few of us can actually envision the magnitude of such tragedy and its consequences on a society.
Upon arrival in Rwanda I have noticed many hindrances to development and I have generated a lot of criticism for the country’s economic goals etc. But my first visit to a genocide memorial changed my perspective on the place. Rather, it reminded me of the individuals that make up Rwandan society, and how truly extraordinary it is that they have managed to create a peaceful and functioning Rwanda after their experiences 15 years ago.
At Nyamata, a town about an hour south of Kigali, the capital, I was taken through a Roman Catholic church where 10,000 people were slaughtered and dismembered in the most unthinkable ways. These crimes were personal… each person was slain with deliberation and intent. Many were spectacles, butchered in front of their families and peers, killed on the church alter as the entire crowd was forced to watch. My guide, 23 year old Benoit, was there to see it all. (more…)
8 comments 24 June 2009
RSS - Posts