 |
) |
|
Are you a GoodLetter subscriber?
 |
|
Have you told a friend about GoodThings?
 |
|
|
|
|
The GoodLetter Thursday, May 30, 2002
GoodThings, Inc. :: Stories, actions, ideas, and greeting cards that connect us.
|
|
In this week's issue:
|
| :: Favorite GoodThings |
|
From Chris Chioma of Ozuzu, Rivers State, Nigeria |
| :: This Week's Feature |
|
A Little Means A Lot - by David Satterthwaite |
| :: Card of the Week |
|
Four Seasons, Many Voices -- GoodThings Greeting Cards on sale now! |
| :: 2001 Spotlight |
|
Favorite Picture of the Real World: The Bread and Roses Project's Unseen America |
| :: Good Gravy |
|
Music: Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music
Book: Fred Luskin's Forgive For Good
Film: About A Boy |
| :: The Upshot |
|
Forgiving to live; remembering and grieving; teaching children well; more |
| :: Housekeeping |
|
Subscribe/unsubscribe
|
|
|
|
|
Greeting Card of the Week
Four Seasons, Many Voices
Do you love walking barefoot in warm weather the way that "Favorite GoodThings" contributor Chris Chioma of Rivers State, Nigeria does? That's what our new "Summer Voices" greeting card is all about. Check out our new FOUR SEASONS GoodThings greeting cards now for sale on our Web site -- your voice may be featured on one of them! We need your help! By buying just one pack of 8 greeting cards for only $12.50 or a few single cards for $2.50 each (plus shipping/handling), you're making it possible for GoodThings to continue celebrating and promoting positive and constructive organizations, ideas, and people. Don't forget: you can also choose from all our cards to create your own variety packs!
(We print all our cards on recycled paper using soy ink.)
Click on the sample cards below and at the right to get yours today!
|
|
Inside:
hope your summer is full of good things
(friendship, seasonal greetings) |
|
|
|
|
|
This Week's Feature
A Little Means A Lot
One entrepreneur learns from experience in Latin America that when you build a business and double the bottom line, everybody wins.
|
Fellow GoodLetter readers,
As our bus bumped over pot-holed roads in southern Mexico, I thought about what was drawing me to Nicaragua. I had just finished college, where I spent 4 years studying entrenched world poverty and its underpinnings. I learned of the millions of people in developing countries who only hear of the virtues and benefits of a democratic society, without ever experiencing them firsthand. I learned that so-called "developed countries" like to export the ideas of democracy and the "American Dream," without delivering the capital to bring it about. I learned that Nicaragua was the poorest country in Central America, where the average worker earned less than $500 a year. The country had spent much of the last century mired in civil violence and brutal political dictatorships and suffered from a very weak economy.
I finally decided it was time to leave the classroom and its theoretical world behind. My goal was to understand the situation at a tangible, grassroots level and see how I could contribute to improvement. In December 1995, I boarded a bus to Nicaragua with little money, even less Spanish, and an unwavering determination to help the Nicaraguan people in whatever way I could.
The bus ride alone was an adventure. I made the mistake of traveling during the region's busiest travel time of the year and, once I crossed the US/Mexico border, found myself fighting aggressive throngs of people to secure any bus ticket at all. I considered myself lucky to get a seat on what turned out to be a 36-hour, non-stop ride south.
It wasn't until I arrived in Nicaragua and had spent some time there that I discovered how I could make a difference in people's lives. After talking with many working-class Nicaraguans and observing their subsistence-level existence, I discovered what they needed most was a financial boost -- a small loan (by developed-world standards) to help them either grow an existing business or start a new effort that could provide a comfortable income and a higher standard of living.
The catch-22 for average Nicaraguans, however, is that banks, as in many developing countries, are largely inaccessible. ATMs and credit cards are rare. Fewer than 25% of people in Nicaragua have a savings account. Even fewer have bank loans. In fact, when I tried to obtain a loan myself to build a house in Managua after having been there for three years, even with collateral and money in reserve, I was turned down. I began to formulate the idea of a finance company that had the amenities often found in larger banks -- tellers, polite customer service, and quick turn-around -- that would cater specifically to low-income people who could not obtain loans any other way.
As this idea was germinating, I had the good fortune of meeting Roger Aburto, a Nicaraguan who was working for a non-profit microfinance organization. The concept of microfinance is best known for providing small loans, primarily to women. These organizations usually raise money from donors in wealthy, developed nations to be used in poorer countries. Recipients are people without access to such funds, and they use the money to purchase what they need to support their businesses. Loans range from $50 to $10,000, although typical microfinance loans are under $200. They are used to buy such things as inventory for a corner store, fabric for a seamstress, or chickens for a farmer. But the survival of enterprises that are supported with such loans can make the difference between a life of poverty and a life of financial stability for the business owner and her or his family.
Though well-intended, the organization where my friend Roger worked attached many strings to its loans. The loans themselves were not cheap; they charged an 80% yearly APR (annual percentage rate). After several conversations, Roger and I realized we shared a vision of a microfinance company that would offer both professional financial services and affordable interest rates. So, in 1996, with $4,000 of our own money and a loan from an investor, we started a financial services co-operative out of Roger's house, offering lending and savings.
That co-operative grew into our current company, Prisma Microfinance, a small enterprise headquartered in the US and operating in Nicaragua, currently with $800,000 in loans to people in Managua. We have issued nearly 2,000 loans since our inception, providing people the credit they need to produce their own economic solutions. In addition, our borrowers have created more than 800 new jobs.
One of our borrowers used the money to buy corn for her tortillas. With a loan, she can afford to buy whole bags of corn wholesale. She saves money on her inventory, and now sells corn itself at retail prices to her neighbors. She has doubled her income from the loan Prisma provided. This small amount of money, which she paid back with interest, had a huge impact on her family's well-being, as she can now afford to keep her children in school. Through larger loans -- around $4,000 -- we have enabled more than 100 people to buy their own taxis and start taxi services. In Nicaragua, a hard-working taxi driver can readily earn a middle-class income.
Prisma is as committed to its investors as it is to its customers. By running our company efficiently and effectively, we have provided investors with market rate returns, while at the same time offering well-priced credit to our customers. Historically, we have borrowed money from investors at interest rates ranging from 8-17%. This creates a "double bottom line": we operate a business at a profit and support a social mission of equal opportunity and job creation. The success of Prisma and other microfinance organizations like it demonstrates there is indeed market demand for this kind of socially conscious financial organization.
My dream is to see 1% of the investment money of people in "developed nations," or even just 1% of their retirement portfolios, put into international microfinance. With this volume of resources, we can make a significant step towards reducing world poverty. Unfortunately, existing donations dedicated to poverty eradication -- which comes primarily from governments and charities -- fall far short of providing a real solution to the problem, given the vast number who live in poverty (more than two billion people live on less than $1 a day). But perhaps by drawing upon the enormity of capital markets, through methods like microfinance, we can more adequately address global poverty and move toward creating a more just and equitable world.
:: David Satterthwaite
David has six years of microfinance experience in Nicaragua and Latin America. He has also worked as a business consultant, researcher, and teaching assistant. He enjoys books, yoga, and bicycle riding, and is currently completing graduate work in Social Economy at Boston College.
(Thoughts on David's GoodLetter? Inspired by what you've read? E-mail us -- don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web site.)
|
Favorite GoodThings 2001 Spotlight
Every other week, we use this space to remind you about the extraordinary work of one of our Favorite GoodThings 2001 campaign honorees. The profiles of our honorees -- a wealth of ideas, actions, and organizations for a better world -- have a special home on our Web site. Check them out and be sure to let us know what you think.
This week, in keeping with this week's GoodLetter about an innovative idea for improving the quality of life for people who struggle to make ends meet, we're happy to feature our "Favorite Pictures of the Real World" for 2001:
The Bread and Roses Cultural Project's Unseen America
Without fanfare, the workers of the world, day after day, keep the world moving forward. But they don't live to do low-paid, thankless jobs in anonymity; they relish beauty, leisure, kindness, and creativity as much as anyone. Unfortunately, though, they don't always have the income or the opportunities to enjoy these things. When New York-based non-profit Bread and Roses provided groups of workers from New York's Health and Human Service Union with photography training, basic equipment, and a commitment to displaying their photographs, Unseen America was born. Otherwise ignored by the media, these people are now bona fide artists, their talent and insight onto the real world now visible to all. Unseen America gives new meaning to justice and dignity.
:: Learn more about
Unseen America.
We love to hear from you about anything: ideas or situations that are inspiring you or challenging you to think, as well as organizations, programs, and people that contribute to your community and the world everyday. Please drop us a line.
back to the top
The Upshot
Like today's "Favorite GoodThings" contributor Chris Chioma, do you look forward to your GoodLetter each week? If so, that's great news to us! But did you know you can look forward to a new GoodThings home page everyday, too? Consider making www.goodthings.com your own personal home page to make it easier for you to check Good Grabs, our daily Web log. Each day, we scan the news and find an uplifting headline from somewhere in the world and post it to our home page. It's the best way we can think of to get a daily dose of the kind of news the GoodLetter gives you each week. Please give Good Grabs at least a quick scan everyday!
Have you seen the Good Grabs that our currently on our home page? Take a look at what you might be missing:
:: New 05.30.02: From Birmingham, Alabama, to South Africa, to the Middle East, to New York's ground zero, forgiveness provides the freedom "to live again." [more]
:: 05.29.02: Tirelessly, Amnesty International helps free political prisoners and fights for human rights around the world. Here are some of the group's success stories for 2001. [Amnesty International]
:: 05.28.02: Author Anna Quindlen thinks about the 16-acre hole in the ground that now defines lower Manhattan and considers what a certain black granite wall in Washington DC can teach the world about remembering and grieving. [more]
:: 05.24.02: Irish rock star Bono, on a tour of the African continent with US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, is bringing emotion and attention to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the need for exponential increases in funding. [more][more]
:: 05.23.02: Child advocates in Great Britain are looking to their neighbors across the English Channel for examples of how to better involve parents in early education. [more][Pre-School Learning Alliance]
back to the top
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Good Gravy
Music, Books, Films, and Radio
Please click through to our Web site to see what we're reading, watching, and listening to and, while you're at it, let us know what we're missing.
Great New Book!
Forgive For Good Fred Luskin (2002)
Why go out of your way to forgive those who have wronged you? Do it, says new research, because it's good for your body AND your soul. Read the review.
Great New Music!
Evangeline Made: A Tribute to Cajun Music Various Artists (2002)
Cajun food gives your mouth that "good" burn; a new collection of Cajun music gives your soul the "good" blues. Read the review.
Great New Film!
About A Boy (2002)
In a film adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel, two boys -- one 12 years old, the other 38 -- help each other make sense of it all. Read the review.
GoodThings on Public Radio
Have you been checking out GoodThings on Public Radio? Here are some of our favorite public radio pieces this week (follow the link below to the full summaries on our Web site):
:: Democratic Radio -- You've heard of campaign finance reform. Independent media advocates say "corporate radio reform" is on the way.
:: "One-Man Coup" -- A year ago, US Senator Jim Jeffords declared his political independence. What forced his hand? His steadfast belief in increasing funding for education.
:: Nothing Like A Summer Book -- What are you reading this summer? Author David McCullough says there's no better time, or way, to challenge your mind.
:: Living in Peace -- In Mexico, one woman is fighting tirelessly to improve the nation's mental health care system by helping the ill become contributing parts of real communities.
:: A Stake in Human Rights -- If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Amnesty International has a new strategy for making human rights an integral part of Exxon-Mobil's business plan.
:: Advancing Civilization Through Reading -- Each summer, the University of North Carolina gets its incoming students' minds churning by having them read the same book. This year's choice took courage, but it has some upset.
:: Speaking of Culture -- Among indigenous Hawaiians, there's been a renaissance in the speaking of their native tongue -- as well as a renewed cultural life.
Visit our site to read full summaries of these stories and listen to your favorites.
Talk to us:
What's the best public radio story you've heard this week?
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
