Perspectives on Peace: An Examination of Post-Conflict Societies

Thanks for bringing this up! I saw a documentary a while back called Women’s Bank of Bangladesh that showed how effectively microcredit is working in Bangladesh. I didn’t know about being able to participate in projects like this though.

I can’t find the video online but there is this one on youtube that gives a really good description of Grameen Bank that works in Bangladesh.

The organization was started by Muhammad Yunus and generally only women are allowed to join. They reasoned that women are better stewards of resources as they are the primary caretaker of their family. Money is loaned out to a group of women who then can generate income and repay back in terms.

enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijdQdrXsUPY&p=6B311471DA456492&index=1&feature=BF

I’m glad you mentioned Muhammad Yunus, his work on microcredit has really shifted the orientation of a lot of development work.

If anyone here is interested in development, there is a Terry talk going on on November 8 with Dambisa Moyo, who wrote Dead Aid and argues why international aid to Africa is ineffective. Should be a pretty sweet talk, and though it’s not on microcredit, should be an interesting perspective. Paul Kagame is very supportive of her views and apparently bought her book for his cabinet.

http://www.terry.ubc.ca

http://www.dambisamoyo.com

I’m gonna see Dambisa for sure! Should be a very interesting and possibly heated discussion

I only saw this now, but reading an article on the Grameen Bank in 2nd year is what initially inspired me to study international development. The thought that billions of dollars in top-down programs often realizes little progress in contrast to small sums of microcredit loans transforming the lives of families and villages is super inspiring!

I’ve read about kiva.org and it looks like a great organization. I mentioned a book earlier on in the course that mentions Kiva, it’s called “Half the Sky” by Kristof and WuDunn. Basically it looks at stories of oppressed women and shows how they have beaten all odds to transform their own and others’ lives. It looks at sex trafficking, maternal mortality and cultures that condone rape, ultimately with a message of optimism, that as the nurturers who care most deeply about their children and fellow villagers, women are in many cases unexploited assets that need to be placed at the core of development strategies in order to see real progress in international development. Such an amazing book!