Chad Jordan's blog

April has been deemed the Month of Microfinance – a time to celebrate the movement and those it has aided in escaping extreme poverty, a time to question its current and future impact, a time to discuss, debate, and challenge.

Should it be client-centric or profit-focused?  Should interest be charged on loans?  Should it be holistic, including not just credit, but also insurance, savings, education loans, etc.?  Does it really promote national economic growth?  These are just a few of the questions a mere mention of microfinance ignites.

What does this look like to you?  A small tin building in the middle of a rainforest?  That's what it looks like to me, too.  But what happens inside this building is what counts.  Lives are changed within these sheet metal walls.  It's here that a group of people - mostly women - meet to discuss their futures.  They share ideas, they cultivate dreams, they band together.  This is a safe place for these women, a place where they can share their opinions - something that was unheard of two decades ago in the male-dominated culture of Bangladesh.