There is a woman, a 34-year old war refugee in southern Azerbaijan. Her story will give you hope, and maybe will remind us all of the possibilities in each of us.
Her name is Shakhla Bayishova. To get to where she lives, head toward where the trouble is – Azerbaijan is tucked in between Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran. Only 7% of the land there can be farmed.
When she fled her home, she began washing and fluffing fleeces for making mattresses. Eventually, she learned to sew and moved up from processing and started manufacturing her own mattresses. She sewed the mattresses by hand, which is, to say the very least, a slow and labor-intensive process.
Sewing machines are wonderful. A $400 machine would geometrically increase her productivity. But capital is difficult to find for a refugee in the mountains in that inconvenient corner of the world.
Microbanks have sprung up in some of these places, and loan very small amounts of money to people who have no collateral except their own will to work and thrive. Shakhla received her $400 loan in December 2007, and now – less than a year later – she has repaid more than two-thirds of the loan.
A portion of the money that was pooled by the microbank for Shakla’s loan was raised by students, including Julia Blyth, at Ohio Wesleyan University here in Delaware. Their group is called Student Initiative for International Development, and I have no idea what their politics may be, nor does not matter -- they have changed the world, in at least one place, and for one family.
That loaned capital, soon to be repaid, will be loaned again, and wealth again will be created. And they will have changed the world again.
(For more information about microlending, visit http://www.kiva.org/.)
Her name is Shakhla Bayishova. To get to where she lives, head toward where the trouble is – Azerbaijan is tucked in between Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran. Only 7% of the land there can be farmed.
When she fled her home, she began washing and fluffing fleeces for making mattresses. Eventually, she learned to sew and moved up from processing and started manufacturing her own mattresses. She sewed the mattresses by hand, which is, to say the very least, a slow and labor-intensive process.
Sewing machines are wonderful. A $400 machine would geometrically increase her productivity. But capital is difficult to find for a refugee in the mountains in that inconvenient corner of the world.
Microbanks have sprung up in some of these places, and loan very small amounts of money to people who have no collateral except their own will to work and thrive. Shakhla received her $400 loan in December 2007, and now – less than a year later – she has repaid more than two-thirds of the loan.
A portion of the money that was pooled by the microbank for Shakla’s loan was raised by students, including Julia Blyth, at Ohio Wesleyan University here in Delaware. Their group is called Student Initiative for International Development, and I have no idea what their politics may be, nor does not matter -- they have changed the world, in at least one place, and for one family.
That loaned capital, soon to be repaid, will be loaned again, and wealth again will be created. And they will have changed the world again.
(For more information about microlending, visit http://www.kiva.org/.)
1 comments:
I've putting small amount of money into Kiva for 2 years. I don't really keep track of it (for lack of time), but it's nice to feel like I'm connecting with folks who need a little boost around the world.
Funny thing is...when investing in people who are really trying to do something legit, based on hard work...the money seems to get paid back every time.
And with those procuring microloans thru Kiva, I at least understand how real value is being created (hard work, human hands). I wish I could say the same for the banking wizards here in the US (convoluted numbers games, seared consciences).
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