Technology and Communications
Team
Log # 1
By Andrew Chan
I am so glad to have the opportunity to participate in the GLOBE
program. In the first two classes, I have learned much more about
the history, roots and implementations of microfinance. The Two
Cups of Tea presentation was a truly inspiring event. After the
event, I felt more aware and informed of what is going around in
the world. I was inspired how even children can make a difference.
This was a motivating factor for me to get more involved and a
catalyst to put my best effort in this course. The readings that
were assigned have been very interesting. I particularly liked The
Economics of Microfinance by Beatriz Armendariz. As an economics
major, I have been studying economic theory. This background helped
me understand how the concept of microfinance operates in theory.
The other readings especially Banker to the Poor, by Muhammad
Yunus, let me see poverty in a different perspective and how
methods were initiated to alleviate it.
As part of the Technology and Communications Team, I am excited
to work with my team members to make sure our websites are well
maintained and that we can establish efficient and timely
communications with the Daughters of Charity, our clients, and our
donors. I hope that we can improve the website, make it more
informative and spread awareness about our program. I can’t wait to
meet with the Fall 2009 managers to discuss our objectives and
strategies with them and to get their feedback. I welcome the
challenges and tasks up ahead and hope we can make this semester
another success!
Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log #1
By AJ Magali
The course of events that have led me to join GLOBE is something of
a personal story. I was born and spent the first ten years of my
life in the Philippines. The country is a Third World Nation, one
mired by corruption and poverty. I had a naïve, innocent
understanding of poverty and what it means to be truly poor. During
the break before the semester, I returned to the country where I
was born for the first time in thirteen years. What transpired was
somewhat eye-popping and it awoke me to a new view of how to see
destitution. I saw beggars in ragged clothes, there were people
living in shantytowns with houses that could barely survive the
rain, and worse I heard reports of people drowning when a typhoon
hit the country a few months before my visit.
When I arrived into the D’Angelo Center for the first GLOBE
class, I entered with a single-minded purpose of figuring out how
to use microloans and microfinance to better arm the people of the
Philippines with the understanding that they could start their own
businesses to better their lives. I was dead set in making a
difference in people’s lives.
Yet, when I arrived into the classroom, I was shocked with the
back- stories that brought the students together to collectively
serve a purpose. I was not the only person that had an emotional
tie into the group. Everybody did. Everyone in the class had a deep
understanding on the ideals that were built from Muhammad Yunus’
mission. Each member seemed like they were willing and primed to
make sure that they could make a difference.
And with that said, I’m quite excited in this upcoming semester
because I feel like the group assembled will be up to task in
making sure that we further the cause that the past GLOBE classes
have started. Their seed, we will sow. And what makes this class
and this group so great is that this is not a one-man effort. It’s
a team effort. And we’re about ready to make our impact.
Finance and Risk Assessment Team
Log #1
By Minela Feratovic
I am honored to be part of GLOBE, a program that utilizes the
concept of microfinance. I have heard nothing but good things about
the program from my peers. I am prepared to expand on the success
of this very program.
Microfinance is a revolutionary approach to benefit low-income
women and men. This economic development is an excellent move
toward alleviating poverty. It is not charity because the
loan recipients are learning how to work their way out of
poverty. These entrepreneurs have capabilities that they can
use to successfully accomplish the needs of their business.
Most of the entrepreneurs are women because they are more likely
than men to use the money they make to help their household. The
Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, is a prime example of how
small loans help the poor. Yunus is an inspiration. His
microfinance initiative proved that the poor are bankable.
In the last class we started to get down to business. We were
shown a video of a woman who received a loan that helped her
tremendously. It motivated me because I know that this program has
the power to change someone’s life for the better. A history lesson
followed the video. I learned that microfinance is not a recent
development. It’s been in existence for quite some time. Only
recently has microfinance generated a great deal of interest. The
microfinance approach is undeniably working and I am more than
ready to jump on the bandwagon.
I am thrilled to be on Finance and Risk assessment team. My
team will play a critical role in the entrepreneurs’ fight against
poverty. As a group we hold the decision to approve or deny loan
requests. This will prove to be a daunting task because we are the
ultimate decision-makers that help pave the way the applicant
escapes from poverty. As a group we prioritized our critical
tasks. Developing measures of the project’s success and
evaluating the progress is one of our top priorities. Even
though we prioritized the tasks we were given, we understand how
important it is for us accomplish each task with all of our
efforts. My team will face challenges throughout this
semester but we are ready to do whatever we can to tackle them.
It’s early into the semester and I am extremely excited about
the progress the Spring 2010 is making. Every microloan manager in
the class is eager to make a long lasting impact. We have a strong
group dynamic that will undoubtedly make the program better than it
already is. I am enthusiastic about the program’s future.
Accounting and Program Audit
Team
Log #1
By Gabriela Papadopulos
It has been only two weeks since the first meeting of The GLOBE
Microloan Program but for this short period of time we have
established a strong entity, I would name it a family sharing one
ultimate goal: to reach out to the poor and give them a
chance to survive, grow their potentials and engage in
constructive activities . Being aware of existing inequalities, I
remain struck by the fact that half of the world population lives
on $2 per day and 1 billion live on less than a dollar. It is
painful to admit that poverty is of such a great scale, and
therefore it is my obligation as part of the program and as a
member of the accounting team to facilitate the shift of funds from
those who have them in excess to those who are in need.
Microfinance focuses on what formal financial institutions seem
to omit, i.e. the vast majority of people who are stamped as
deprived of credit reliability due to insufficient income or lack
of any collateral to guarantee the repayment of their loans. Isn’t
it paradoxical, however, that impoverished people who are typically
disqualified by banks, display a 98 % rate of loan recovery, which
significantly reduces the default risk for lenders. A possible
reason for this is their higher working ethics and motivation to
justify the chance they have been given.
We should also not forgo the importance of microfinance to women
who appear to have the best credit ratings. The impact of miniscule
loans on their lives goes much further than the reach of our
imagination. The ability to control their own income and manage
their funds transgresses the oppression of female rights and
empowers them as individuals, mothers, wives and members of their
societies. Being able to develop small business enterprises and
provide for their children’s education and healthcare is what marks
a significant improvement in the quality of life of their families.
I could closely relate females and their trustworthiness as
potential borrowers to an article written by Nicholas Kristof where
he claims that men in the poorest families tend to spend 20 % of
their income on alcohol, cigarettes and other extravagant
activities as opposed to women who would reinvest 40 % of their
gains into further development of the small businesses they are
running.
If anything, one thing is certain- there is a long list of goals
down the road for us to achieve. However, there is nothing more
rewarding than being part of a program that prepares households and
individuals to join the mainstream of economic and social
development.