When Akhila asked me to write about a social cause I was passionate about I was eager to join in. I consider myself a philanthropist, but I often spread myself thin. I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders and am sometimes (too) empathetic to the point where it hurts every piece of my body.

I digress: I’m an animal rights activist and long-time horseback rider, so I’ve volunteered with Colorado Horse Rescue, United States Pony Club and with sea turtles in a science program in Costa Rica. I’ve volunteered at local soup kitchens, donated to cancer research, spent time weekly with children in an after-school program for African resettlement refugees, volunteer with Ladies Who Launch to help women entrepreneurs launch their business idea and worked at a non-profit for environmental studies and local sustainability.

Alas, when I try to focus my efforts and dive deep to find a beating pulse of my passion for social change it reverts to women and the lack of opportunity and inequality they’re faced with worldwide.

I see a large part of the solution toward empowering women through microfinance and socially responsible business.

The empowerment and combination of entrepreneurship is a piece of why it inspires me so much. Although I continually give time and effort toward a cause, I like the “teach them how to fish,” analogy and microfinance does just that.

What is Microfinance?

Microfinance is the “extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship.”

Non-Government organizations (NGOs), community-based development institutions, credit unions, commercial/state banks and microfinance institutions offer possibilities for financial services to the poor.

Bangladeshi banker and Grameen Bank founder and recent Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Muhammad Yunus is largely known as the pioneer of microfinance.

Poverty’s Greatest Victim: Women

Recently, at Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton pronounced: “Women do 66% of world’s work, produce 50% of world’s food, earn 10% of world’s income & own 1% of the world’s property.”

More than 2/3 of the world’s unpaid work is done by women-the equivalent of $11 trillion or almost 50% of the world GDP, according to a global UNFP study.

Half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. 1.8 billion of these people live on less than $1 a day…70% of them are women. Around the world, 340 million women are not expected to live to the age of 40.

Microfinance As A Solution

Comprehensive impact studies have demonstrated that:

• Microfinance helps very poor households meet basic needs and protect against risks;
• The use of financial services by low-income households is associated with improvements in household economic welfare and enterprise stability or growth;
• By supporting women’s economic participation, microfinance helps to empower women, thus promoting gender-equity and improving household well-being;
• For almost all significant impacts, the magnitude of impact is positively related to the length of time that clients have been in the programe.” (UNCDF Microfinance)

My friend Ali worked at Pro Mujer (“for women,” in Spanish) for over two years at a Financial Analyst for the microfinance, Spanish nonprofit that supported women in Latin-America. I’ve written about microfinance a few times before on my blog, maybe now you can see why. Their historical loan repayment rate in 18 years was 99%. Women want to succeed and create a better life for the family; they just needed access to credit and a lending hand; someone to invest in their dreams.

Ali told me a story about Angela Narváez. She is pottery maker and a client with Pro Mujer Nicaragua. Angela’s first loan was $80. Today, almost nine years later, her loan is $670. Angela uses her loans to buy clay, pieces of wood, paint and cement and to travel to larger markets where she can get a better price for her pieces. Angela said her family has also benefited. Her daughters attend school, everyone is eating better, and they bought furniture and appliances that have raised their quality of life.

So my “teach them to fish” theory comes to rest. I like to think about paying it forward, but in this case, you’re investing in the future, that will benefit beyond the ‘one-time donation.’ It’s like you’re a social venture capitalist, helping women with their own startup, worldwide.

Action

If you’re interested in learning more or even donating a loan for a specific woman in a specific country here are some great organizations (I’ve donated with) to get started: Pro Mujer, Kiva, and The International Alliance For Women.

“Poverty is not created by the poor. It is created by the structures of society and the policies pursued by society. Change the structure as we are doing in Bangladesh, and you will see that the poor change their own lives. Grameen’s experience demonstrates that, given the support of financial capital, however small, the poor are fully capable of improving their lives.”- Banker to the Poor - Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, Founder

The Changemaker

Grace Boyle is a 20-something adventurista. She lives in Boulder, CO and does Business Development for startup called Lijit. She blogs at Small Hands, Big Ideas where she writes about the startup world, technology and daily inspirations. She loves to travel, meet new people, laugh and she aspires to be an entrepreneur.

Connect with her over at her blog, Small Hands, Big Ideas, or on her Twitter at @Gracekboyle!

A couple of days back, I was on a plane from London to the U.S. and I had the opportunity to sit back, relax, and watch movies. I ended up watching the Kiera Knightley flick, The Duchess - and I was definitely not expecting what I saw. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s a tragic tale of Georgiana Spencer, who is married off to the Duke of Devonshire at age 17. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that her marriage will be loveless and that entire purpose of life is now to produce a male heir for her husband. She continues to disappoint the Duke on this end, provoking his anger and indifference over the years as she has two daughters. On top of this, her husband is not a man of faith, and he openly has affairs with countless women in their own house.

But she’s stuck in this loveless, painful, abusive relationship because of social convention and the constraints on women at the time. The double standard is stark - her husband is allowed to continue his unfaithful ways while she is required to pose as the picture perfect wife. People talk, they feel bad for her, but beneath all this, there is implicit societal acceptance of this double standard.

In much of North America and Europe the status quo has clearly changed since the 1700s. But the movie truly saddened me as I was reminded that my counterparts in much of the developing world are still stuck in lives governed by Victorian-era (or worse) social conventions. I’m from India, and I know that while the middle and upper classes there are becoming more liberal, the stigma of divorce is still unbearable. I’m not condoning divorce, but I am saying that in India - especially amongst the lower classes - this stigma coupled with arranged marriages, the practice of dowry, and the pressure to produce male children is still debilitating for many women. While women in the middle class are increasingly gaining employment and financial freedom, women in the lower class remain just as constrained as ever.

The situation seems to be similar in Pakistan, as an anecdote from a recent New York Times article alludes to. When Saima Muhammad, a woman living in the slums of Lahore, had two daughters, she experienced domestic violence and shame from even her close relatives:

“My husband beat me up. My brother-in-law beat me up. I had an awful life.” … Then when Saima’s second child was born and turned out to be a girl as well,her mother-in-law, a harsh, blunt woman named Sharifa Bibi, raised the stakes.

“She’s not going to have a son,” Sharifa told Saima’s husband, in front of her. “So you should marry again. Take a second wife.” Saima was shattered and ran off sobbing. Another wife would leave even less money to feed and educate the children. And Saima herself would be marginalized in the household, cast off like an old sock.

As you can see, the situation is desperate. I often regard myself as immensely lucky to have had the chance to grow up in the United States, where I have financial freedom and most of all - choice in how I lead my life. Many poor women in countries like India and Pakistan, among many others, are simply denied these choices. I could have just as easily been in their place.

The good news is that change seems to be abuzz in the air. Muhammad Yunus‘ groundbreaking Grameen Bank model focuses solely on women — and similar microcredit organizations are popping up everywhere, providing new hope for many women. Of course, microfinance has it’s critics and its effectiveness may not be known yet. It’s also not a panacea to all the world’s problems. But I still think it’s a good step in the right direction - ensuring financial independence for women. When women become the holders of the purse strings, they channel more of a family’s money towards the kids, and they gain bargaining power in the household. It’s common sense - but with microfinance, there’s a new way to concretely improve women’s financial freedom.

But beyond this, I think part of the next step is really reaching the next generation of men, and reaching them young. If we want to truly change the future, we have to create a society-wide shift in consciousness. We have to ensure that young children are taught to value their female counterparts, and that young men grow up with a different mindset than previous generations. We have to ensure that men themselves are strong proponents of women’s rights. My mother always tells me how her father, in the 1960s and 1970s in India, always insisted on his three daughters - along with his son - gaining the maximum education possible. Without my grandfather’s belief in his daughters, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am now.

A very good example of this is the project of Ashoka Fellow Magdy Aziz in Egypt. Aziz is working to promote gender equity in Egypt by teaching children about their rights and empowering them to exercise these rights. He is working to provide boys and girls avenues to freely express themselves while exploring gender-related themes in school. The program lays “the groundwork for long-term changes in social attitudes toward women inside and outside school walls.” By reaching kids when they are young and educating them in the language of tolerance, I really believe programs like this have the right vision for the future.

Strangely, even though this blog talks a lot about human rights, I haven’t once written about women’s rights or domestic violence issues. I guess it’s because I somehow feel like it’s already a movement in it’s own right, and I don’t need to bring attention it here. True, we have all heard of the issues. But just because there’s awareness does not mean there is sufficient effective action. There is ample room for innovation and change, but the best thing is - I think it’s happening right now, before our very eyes.

Photo credit: here

Here’s the second installment of Feature Friday this week: Beyond Good Intentions.

Beyond Good Intentions is a wonderful ten-part film series investigating the effectiveness of international aid. According to the website:

The Beyond Good Intentions film series follows the round-the-world journey of first-time filmmaker, Tori Hogan, as she investigates how international aid can be more effective. Shot on location in eight different countries, the ten-episode series takes viewers along for the ride as Tori meets with countless aid workers and recipients to uncover more innovative approaches to helping communities in need.

The film series is great because it brings to light a lot of the criticisms of international aid that are often unknown to the general public. People assume volunteering abroad is great — but perhaps it’s not truly sustainable. People assume the Peace Corps is wonderful — but is the program really effective? With the advent of Muhammad Yunus’ innovative approach to ‘banking for the poor,’ microfinance has almost universally began to be viewed as a panacea to the world’s poverty…but is it really delivering for the world’s poorest communities?

Tori explores these, and many more important, controversial, challenging questions. What’s more, she presents the information in a series of engaging and enjoyable short films which are accessible to the general public. These films don’t use grandiose rhetoric or useless jargon…which is what is usually employed in these debates, often put forth by academics. Tori makes these issues interesting and easily understandable, thus reaching a large proportion of the population and drawing in young people.

Check out the clip below, where Tori investigates the practices of Kiva and microlending. Click here to access their YouTube channel and watch the rest of the videos.

Today I want to feature United Prosperity, a truly innovative organization that takes the concept of microfinance to the next level. Most microfinance institutions (MFIs) simply provide small loans to poor entrepreneurs who want to pull themselves out of poverty through their small businesses. However, this approach does not strengthen the local banking system or create domestic linkages that allow the entrepreneur to eventually borrow from local banks. Instead, the entrepreneur is often constantly borrowing from MFIs and can never move on to the next stage.

United Prosperity tackles this problem in a very unique way. Instead of directly providing loans to people, United Prosperity invites you to donate part of a “loan guarantee” which a small business owner will receive. The entrepreneur can then take the loan guarantee to a local bank, use it as collateral, and then obtain a larger loan from the bank. This empowers entrepreneurs to be able to borrow from local banks, and thus strengthens local institutional linkages. I think it’s a very powerful and innovative idea, and I can’t wait to see how far it goes.

United Prosperity is also great at social media. I first stumbled upon the organization after following it’s founder - Bhalchander Vishwanath - on Twitter. Bhalchander consistently posts the latest news and resources related to microfinance, social business, and development. He interacts with his followers, getting to know people on a one-on-one basis. As a result, he’s created a powerful community around his passion for microfinance, and has been able to successfully leverage this community to bring attention to his organization - United Prosperity. After I ran across the organization, I was taken by the innovative idea and I suggested that we work together. Now, students from a group I am part of - the Student Microfinance Development Initiative - are working with United Prosperity on research, marketing, and publicity. This is a prime example of how social media can be utilized to empower nonprofits and how connections can be leveraged to bring attention to your cause. Ultimately, a personal brand can do much to raise awareness of an associated nonprofit - building and maintaining a community isn’t easy, but it’s vital. The bottom line is that social media works - and United Prosperity has been doing a great job of carving out a clear online space for itself!

As you can see, United Prosperity has a unique idea and a fresh approach. The organization is in need of more loan guarantors. So head over to their website today and provide a loan!

As I’m currently on Easter Break, I’ve been constantly traveling. Right now, I’m at Northwestern University, visiting friends, studying for final exams, as well as catching up on meetings and activities. It’s been an exciting time, but since I’ve been so busy I haven’t had much time to update and write here. Forgive me for being M.I.A. — but in the meantime, check out some of these links for the latest and greatest in human rights news and blogs:

1. To Africa, From New York: “No, I said I’d only waterboard if I HAD to, and then only for 20 minutes….”
   The Obama Administration released some previously top secret documents about tactics used by the CIA today, at the same time that he promised those who implemented these tactics immunity from prosecution
2. Change.org Humanitarian Relief blog: When Aid Becomes Morally Indefensible
   So do you ask for the food, know that most of it will be used to further the insidious aims of the regime that has driven the country into the ground, but hoping that at least a few hungry people will benefit - or do you ask for the aid to be withheld, hoping to cutoff one of the regime’s own lifelines, even if more people will go hungry?
3. Internet and Democracy blog: Connecting India: Why Elections Need The Web
   Despite India’s bewildering diversity of languages, customs and religions, technology is building a bridge to more robust civil society. I am heartened by the cacophanous and lively blogospheric debates about the elections, which now compete with the Indian MSM and party propaganda machines for attention…
4. UN Dispatch: Death and Destruction in Sri Lanka While Few Pay Attention
   For the past three months the Sri Lankan government has engaged in a military campaign against the Tamil separatists, believing that this offensive can deliver the once and final blow to the Tamil Tigers 25 year violent insurgency…According to a document leaked to the AP, the United Nations puts the civilian death toll at around 4,500 with 12,000 civilians wounded.  Five children a day are dying from starvation and diarrhea.
5. Change.org Humanitarian Relief Blog: Challenging the Western approach to advocacy
   If we genuinely want to get governments to respect the rights of citizens, then we need to inspire them to do so, rather than shaming them when they don’t.
6. On the Ground by Nicholas Kristof: Free Roxana
   Today Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American from North Dakota working as a journalist in Iran, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Iranian government. My heart aches for her and her family.
7. DPH: Vijay Mahajan speaks about new economics and micro-finance
   For the longest time there was only one bottom line and it was money. Then there was talk of a double bottom line, which meant monetary and social accountability. But now most leading corporations are trying to perform on a triple bottom line, namely profits, people and planet.
8. Mashable: How to use social media to champion international causes
   Essentially, your social networking profile makes you a public figure, and like Brangelina, you too can champion an international cause…If you’re a social media guru with an interest in international projects, below are a few ways you can contribute to humanitarian organizations.
9. Change.org Social Entrepreneurship blog: Plato and Brancusi on Branding and Responsible Media
   I wonder how much irresponsible media is actually symptomatic of an irresponsible worldview and irresponsible action which starts from the division of the world into the philanthropists and those to be helped? I wonder if the photos of fly-bitten, distended-bellied children are effect, not cause?
10. WSJ: Obama Can Make a Difference in Darfur
    The U.S. needs to lead the international community in presenting Sudanese regime officials with a choice. If they allow access to aid organizations, sideline their indicted president, and secure peace for Darfur and the South, then they will be offered a clear path toward normal relations with the U.S. and other coalition partners.