Celebrities | myKRO

Archive for the 'Celebrities' Category

Published by Jerry Ostradicky on 28 Jul 2010

Muhammad Yunus on the Simpsons

It was recently announced that Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Laureate who founded the Grameen Bank, will be guest starring on the TV show The Simpsons. This special episode will air on October 3rd and will focus on microfinance and the Grameen Bank’s work. Yeardly Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, has been a big supporter of microfinance and flew to Dhaka for a week long visit to study the work of the Grameen Bank. The Simpsons is the longest running TV show and has drawn quite the crowd of followers over the years. By introducing the concept of microfinance on the show, it has potential to reach a whole new audience. I’m definitely curious to see how much the show talks about microfinance and whether it takes a serious stance or a humorous one, for which the shown is know for.

Celebrities

Published by Jerry Ostradicky on 10 Jun 2010

Hugh Jackman Supports Muhammad Yunus

Although I don’t really follow or care much for celebrity gossip, it’s always good to see a celebrity in the news supporting microfinance. I came across this picture on the daily start where Hugh Jackman poses with Muhammad Yunus at the opening of the manhattan branch. Here’s what the Daily Star had to say about Jackman:

“Jackman is a strong supporter of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and a longtime advocate of microcredit. The actor has made a commitment to promote Yunus’s work on social business.
Professor Yunus invited Jackman to visit Bangladesh. Jackman assured him that he’d come to Bangladesh as soon as his schedule permits.
Jackman wrote a letter to Professor Yunus that he was inspired and moved by Yunus’s book ‘Banker to The Poor.’ The actor said in a recent article (The Oprah Magazine) ‘He (Yunus) is fighting at the frontline of poverty, and you couldn’t find a happier guy.’”

Celebrities always support non-profits as we’ve seen over the years, but very few of them are supporting microfinance. I’m hoping that the trend continues and microfinance will get some more exposure in pop culture.

Professor Yunus (left) with Hugh Jackman. *picture from the Daily Star*

Celebrities

Published by Jerry Ostradicky on 10 Jun 2010

Alex Counts and Yeardley Smith on Microfinance in Haiti

Here’s a short video where Alex Counts from Grameen and Yeardley Smith (actress known for the voice of Lisa Simpson) visit Fonkoze in Haiti:

Celebrities,Grameen,Videos

Published by Jerry Ostradicky on 02 Aug 2009

The Green Children Release New Song “Hear Me Now”

The Green Children are a pop duo from Europe that joined together with Muhammad Yunus in 2006 to help raise money for microfinance. Recently they joined with the Whole Planet Foundation in a new fundraising campaign for more microfinance projects in India. On August 1, they released their newest song “Hear Me Now” which is available on iTunes. This is one of the first times that microfinance initiatives have been available on iTunes, which I think is a great milestone. So everyone spread the word because 50% of the proceeds go to fund a new microfinance project!

Source: Mother Nature Network – The Green Children fight poverty on iTunes

Celebrities,Industry News

Published by Jerry Ostradicky on 30 May 2009

More and More Celebrities Are Supporting Microfinance

With the Simpsons having almost as many years as I’ve had in my life, the show has been there by my side growing up. So when I saw the Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, was with Alex Counts from the Grameen Foundation working with MFIs in Haiti, I was immediatley a big fan. They do a great job of documenting the journey on the Grameen Foundation Blog: Creating A World Without Poverty.

Celebrities

Search

Search for:
Community

Login with Facebook:
Last visitors

view more...
Friends on this site
To see your friends on this site, you must be logged in with Facebook:
view more...
No Pago! Reasons to Resist Microfinance in Nicaragua
By MRD
29/08/2010 2:17 pm
I’ve researched microcredit in Nicaragua on and off for the last two years. I’ve interviewed nearly three hundred clients from across the country. I’d say there are two main issues at play in looking at the limits to microfinance here. First, the vast majority of borrowers in the informal market. Investment in their business only lets them sell more bottles of pepsi, more gallo pinto or more cosmetics. The problem is one of adding value to the goods and services to people in this sector. I have interviewed so many people who have a group bank composed of people who all own pulperias and (presumably) just sell each other snacks. The ‘more’ successful clients I’ve talked with tend to be those involved in things like artesania where they can command a higher price, often by shipping their handicraft to another country (like guatemala or mexico).

Second, microfinance providers are prohibited from offering other kinds of banking services – they can only dispense loans. For agricultural clients who do no need more debt at the time of the year when the market is replete with corn and beans and the prices are very low, there is no place (other than under the matress) to put any savings. Both of these point to the immense problem of the dearth of small and medium enterprises here. Very few businesses served by MFIs have more than 1 to 3 people working for them including the borrower.

Finally, echoing the post I am a bit skeptical of the MNP motives. The MNP functions as a protection racket.However, the MNP works by members taking out as many loans as they can without any plans to pay them back. Members actually pay for the protection the group provides them from their creditors. If a loan officer comes to collect, they call up their MNP jefe and they chase them out of town or chop up their motorcycle.

I’d agree that financial literacy programs are important and underutilized. These loan products are quite straightforward – interest is a simple compound and borrowers know how much they owe every period and how much they will pay at the end of the term. If they dont think they can pay, they don’t have to borrow. You don’t get into $600,000 of debt in places like Jalapa by accident or financial illiteracy.

Alba Coruna not only gives out loans with low, subsidized interest rates but their clients do not appear on the country wide database of risky clients. For example, I can take out a whole bunch of AC loans, not pay all of them back, and then go in and try to borrow from a host of other MFIs linked in with ASOMIF (the industry association) and none of them will know how many loans I have outstanding. So I can then turn around and not pay them back either. Much more likely here is that these are soft programs to garner favor with the government backing them up.

To Catch A Dollar - Private Screening
By To Catch A Dollar – Private Screening — My Thoughts on Microfinance, Life, Web 2.0, Blogging, and Business
26/08/2010 11:02 am
[...] [via myKRO.org] 0 Comments [...]

No Pago! Reasons to Resist Microfinance in Nicaragua
By KingofPaupers
21/08/2010 7:44 pm
“These incidents are only a few examples of the bad feeling that microfinance institutions (MFIs) have inspired among a section of the rural population in north and central Nicaragua. So, why have the borrowers been protesting? Here are some reasons I’ve uncovered. High Interest Rates. Microfinance institutions in Nicaragua charge interest rates of as much as 21%. The protestors contend that this rate should be no more than 8%. Yes, 21% sounds like a large percentage of a small loan. However, microfinance institutions have high transaction costs, based on the labor-intensive process of managing repayments.”
Jct: Har har har. Mr. “High Interest” Microlending loanshark is given a Nobel Prize. I guess my boast of getting a Nobel Prize too as Mr. “No Interest” for my UNILETS Macrolending Millennium Declaration C6 for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.

Grameen (and Kiva) Need Your Help!
By myKRO » Hip Hop Microfinance Music Video - Exploring the World of Microfinance
19/08/2010 7:01 am
[...] the last month, Grameen has been making a big marketing push by putting out all sorts of videos. Drew recently posted a video where Grameen interns put together a rap video telling people to vote for the Grameen Bank in the Members Project. The [...]

No Pago! Reasons to Resist Microfinance in Nicaragua
By John Harmsworth
18/08/2010 7:40 am
In this submission I will play the role of the ignorant outsider as I am a fairly recent discoverer of Kiva. I was previously aware of the Grameen bank initiative but I had no knowledge of the practical issues in play. I have found myself somewhat frustrated in attempting to identify loan requests on Kiva that I feel represent a real opportunity for advancement for the individuals borrowing and communties they are serving.

Now that I understand better the types of interest that are charged on these loans I have even greater concerns. The off-setting factor which I would also have to investigate is the local inflation rate, but I find it hard to believe that loans at 20% for home improvement can be helpful to clients in the longer term unless their homes are unlivable.

I always try to identify people who are borrowing to improve their productive capacity and/or their ability to serve their local market with goods or services that are otherwise unavailable or imported. It seems to me that the MFIs may be missing an important responsibility in not providing guidance on what constitutes a wisely sought loan. While most poor people are probably quite intelligent about small amounts of money, they may not have experience with borrowing. I also have a problem with reading that an MFI had 6 people jailed for failing to repay a loan. No Western organization should be sanctioning debtor’s imprisonment in the 21st century.

At the same time it seems very likely that Mssrs. Ortega and Chavez have ulterior motives in their sponsorship ( control? ) of the Alba Caruna. Perhaps MFI involvement in Nicaragua has reached the saturation point and a refocusing is required. It seems to me that this would also be a good time to support an independent member owned credit union. This could be more community based which would reduce the travel requirements of the MFIs. After all, isn’t the intent of these programs to assist people to get out of the poverty trap?
Powered by Sociable!
Community
Get Updates

Subscribe in a reader
Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner
Recent Comments
Tags

accessibility Africa Alex Counts candidates Carbon Micro-Credits David Roodman Fonkoze General Global Financial Crisis Grameen Grameen Bank Grameen Foundation Haiti ING Kenya Kiva Kiva.org Lending Platform Lending Platforms loan sharks MFI microcredit microfinance Microfinance internships Microfinance jobs Microfinance Spam Microinsurance Microinsurance Innovation Facility Microplace Mifos mongolia Muhammad Yunus Oikocredit pioneers SeaMo Seattle Microfinance SKS United Prosperity Unitus Vikram Akula Vittana Washington CASH Whole Planet Foundation wokai Yeardley Smith
Categories
- Africa
- Asia
- Cambodia
- Celebrities
- China
- Event Recaps
- Events
- FAQ
- For-profit microfinance
- General
- Global Financial Crisis
- Grameen
- Industry News
- Interest Rate Debate
- Interview
- Jobs
- Kiva
- Latin America
  - Dominican Republic
- Lending Platforms
- Links
- MFI Highlight
- Microinsurance
- Microplace
- Private Sector
- Southeast Asia
- Southern Asia
- Uncategorized
- US
- Videos
- Vittana
Thanks
- myKRO logo designed by Jeff Turner, the President of Real Estate Shows.
Admin