One Hen is a book about microfinance that is based on true events. It follows the story of two African boys: Kojo, who receives a small loan to buy a hen, and Kwabena Darko, who today is one of the largest poultry farmers in West Africa. The book has gotten rave reviews, but what I like the best is that there is a website that accompanies the book.  The website offers an interactive way for children to learn about microfinance through various games, like quizzes, mazes and memory tests.  Additionally, the website shares stories about microfinance and even encourages children to get involved.

Facebook and Myspace are the two biggest social networking sites that people use.  Although Myspace started as the leader, Facebook is emerging as the Worldwide leader.  At first I thought it was just people in the US that used these sites, but after a recent trip to Southeast Asia, I found that people from all over the world are using Facebook.
My favorite application that Facebook has is CAUSES.  In Causes, you can join different organizations that support non-profit organziations across the World.  Recently, I have noticed that microfinance has started to emerge in the Causes application.  Here is a highlight of some of the microfinance causes that I found:
Microfinance Platforms:

• Kiva.org — Make a loan, change a life - With over 14,000 members and more than $13,000 in donations in the group, Kiva has done a great job of making microfinance a big presence in the social networking world.
• Microplace: Although far behind Kiva on the social networking scene, Microplace is fairly new, so we should hopefully see a big jump within this group as more people become aware of the things Microplace is doing.

MFIs:

• Peacework Microfinance for Education Fund - Provide Financial Capital for Students’ Education: A group started by three people from Arkansas US, this group supports the Peacework Development Fund
• U.S. Microfinance (ACCION): With 298 members and with the donations going to ACCION, this groups goal is “To improve the lives of low and moderate-income individuals in the United States by providing microloans and other financial services.”
• Microcredit and Microfinance: Economic Opportunity for All - The number 1 Facebook group under a microfinance keyword search with 656 members, this group was set up by members of RESULTS  with a strong goal to “reduce the number of people living on less than US$1 a day worldwide by granting small loans to start a business”

Other:

• Microfinance Alliance: Together, Working for Economic Opportunity - With 46 members, this groups goal is “To educate, inspire, and activate a passion for bettering the plight of the world’s poor through microfinance.”
• Bali Microfinance Initiative: With a more focused approach to a Facebook causes group, the Bali Microfinance Initiative, intended for launch in May 2008, focuses on using microfinance and education to fight global poverty, specifically in Indonesia.

I really think that Facebook has done a great job with these groups.  I know a lot of people who have joined specific causes just because their friends were in it.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that these people will become heavily involved in microfinance right away, but at least it will give them an introduction.

About Causes:

Facebook Platform presents an unprecedented opportunity to engage our generation, most of whom are on Facebook, in seizing the future and making a difference in the world around us. Our generation cares deeply, but the current system has alienated us. Causes provides the tools so that any Facebook user can leverage their network of real friends to effect positive change.

• Syria’s First MFI Opens
• Violent Protests Against Nicaraguan Microfinance Institution
• GF Secures $5 Million Financing Deal for Nigerian MFI LAPO
  
• China’s Emerging Micro-finance Industry
• Guaranteeing Growth for the Poor
  
• Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Lok Capital invest in Kolkata micro finance firm news

• Fields and Microfinance
  
• Finance in the Third World
• Nigeria: Soludo Proffers Solution to North’s Poverty
• Senegal: Microfinance Online
• India: MFIs Under Pressure to Raise Funds

Last night I attended SeaMO’s event, Microfinance and Microbrews, which is a great bi-monthly networking event held in Seattle that the SeaMO puts on. Not only did I get to hear some great stories from Lea Werbel about the Grameen’s Village phone, I got to meet some great people who are as equally interested in microfinance.

I recommend that other people around the country involved with microfinance think about putting on networking events in your city to help people in microfinance get in touch with each other. It is a great way to meet people in the industry and collaborate on ideas.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced this year’s award winners today. Out of the 8 awards given, the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions was the only organizations to receive an award. CARD MRI, a partner organization of the Grameen Foundation, provides more than 10 different products such as microcredit loans, savings, microinsurance, and other financial services.

Some of the other equally as important recipients include:

• Grace Padaca, from the Philippines, for Government Service. She is being recognized for “empowering voters in the Philippines’ Isabela province to reclaim their democratic right to elect leaders of their own choosing, and to contribute as full partners in their own development.”
• Therdchai Jivacate, from Thailand, for Public Service. He is being honored for “his dedicated efforts in Thailand to provide inexpensive, practical, and comfortable artificial limbs even to the poorest amputees.”
• Prakash Amte and Mandakini Amte, from India, for Community Leadership. They are being recognized for “enhancing the capacity of the Madia Gonds to adapt positively in today’s India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions.”
• Ahmad Syafii Maarif, from Indonesia, for Peace and International Understanding. He is being honored for “guiding Muslims to embrace tolerance and pluralism as the basis for justice and harmony in Indonesia and in the world at large.”
• Akio Ishii, from Japan, for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. He is being recognized for “his principled career as a publisher, placing discrimination, human rights, and other difficult subjects squarely in Japan’s public discourse.”
• Ananda Galappatti, from Sri Lanka, for Emergent Leadership. He is being recognized for “his spirited personal commitment to bring appropriate and effective psychosocial services to survivors of war and natural disasters in Sri Lanka.”

About the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation:
The Asian equivalent of the Nobel Peace Price, the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation’s mission statement “is to honor outstanding individuals and organizations working in Asia who manifest greatness of spirit in service to the peoples of Asia.”
The Foundation’s work is supported by stable organizational resources and strong working relationships with with local and international partners. Because of this, the development initiatives of the Magsaysay laureates are better known and more accessible to the public, and are increasingly supported by media and other relevant institutions within and outside Asia.

CREDIT, a licensed microfinance institution in Cambodia since May 2004, has raised almost $2,000,000 on Kiva over the past 27 months. However, it hasn’t always been a MFI — the faith based organization was started in 1993 by World Relief US in Cambodia and was registered as a private limited liability company (LLC) in 2003. Today, World Relief Corporation has a 74% shareholding in the company, World Relief Canada owns 17% and World Hope International has the remaining 9% share. At the end of 2007, CREDIT had a portfolio of US$10.3 million in outstanding loans reaching 18,771 clients. There are some interesting statistics about the MFI on their Kiva profile — 91.3% of their loans are to women, with an average loan size of $737 and their repayment rate is 100%.  The average interest rate borrowers pay to CREDIT is 11%, which is half the average interest rate for all field partners on Kiva. If you ask me, that’s an impressive track record.

Vision: Economically active poor and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to develop the livelihoods and experience full and productive lives.

Mission: To provide inclusive financial services tailored to the clients’ needs through excellent services and positive relationship while maintaining organizational sustainability.

CORE Values:
Motivation - Christ’s love

Values about clients -

• Committed to the poor and upholding their dignity
• Belief in the God-given potential of the clients
• Clients are business partners not beneficiaries

I was lucky enough to visit Southeast Asia back in March and got a general feel for what everyday life was like. I can’t pin down exactly what it was, but Cambodia was definitely my favorite country I visited on the trip that included Thailand, Vietnan and Hong Kong. Whereas in places like Vietnam and Thailand, it seemed many (not all) of the locals wanted to help you only to get your money; the people in Cambodia seemed genuinely interested in helping others. Oh yea, and that temple called Angkor Wat is beautiful. I’m certainly going to make it a point to visit a CREDIT office next time I travel to Cambodia.

A few weeks ago I discussed an article about how Morgan Stanely was pulling its microfinance funding after trying to make a big push into the sector. Although Mogan Stanley defended that claim, I was pretty skeptical that they were actually going to make anything happen. From what I have always known, microfinance has been in the hands of NGOs and entrepeneurs who are trying to make a difference in the world. However, things are definitely starting to change as microfinance is being picked up in the mainstream media. In his article Big Banks Move Into Microfinance-For-Profit (C, BCS, GE) Gregory Davis briefly talks about big corporations leading the way into the microfinance industry. From Citigroup and Barclays, to GE, big companies are starting to invest millions of dollars into microfinance. Although I am happy to hear that big corporations are moving in the right direction, it got me thinking about what their real motives are. Initially I was assuming that they are in it for the money, to earn a profit from charging people high interest rates. However, I recently came across an article, The Green Marketing Machine, and I began to wonder how much of the investing was just for PR. Greenwashing, which is a term used to describe how companies are misleading their consumers by leading them to believe that their practices are environmentally friendly, has started to become more popular as people are becoming more aware of what is going on in the world. Although I don’t think that companies are doing this maliciously, I would be naive to think that they are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. At this stage, I think it is to early to tell how big of an impact big corporations will really have, but I will definitely continue to write about anything that I hear. I encourage other to do the same, because whether their intentions are good or greedy, I think that the attention that will be brought to microfinance will ultimately be beneficial.

• Notes from the 2008 Asia Pacific Regional Microcredit Summit
• Adapting the Grameen Model to NYC
• Microfinance in Uganda - Part 1 of 2

• Why Kiva?
• MyC4 starts offering loans in Rwanda next week
• Late Securitization and Micro-insurance
• What Microfinance Means for China’s Growth