Sunday, July 22, 2007

Madurai fair trade cotton tour

village Hindu festival North of Puducherry(Pondy)


Since I have been researching for my fair trade project, I came across a book that is not about fair trade, but the more I read it, the more I am becoming inspired to do something myself. In working on my project, I am finding Mr. Muhammad Yunus' book "Banker to the Poor" fascinating. He is a Bangladeshi who, along with the Grameen Bank which he started, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. He is a visionary and a compassionate man that took baby steps in the beginning to help the poorest of the poor. I am posting an excerpt from his book below.

"When she finally receives that $15 loan, she is literally trembling, shaking. the money is burning her fingers. Tears roll down her eyes because she has never seen so much money in all her life. She never imagined it in her hand. She carries it as she would a delicate bird or a rabbit, until someone tells her to put it away in a safe place lest anyone steals it.

She cannot believe such a treasure has been put in her hands. This generally is the beginning for a Grameen borrower.

All her life she has been told she was no good, that, being a woman, she only brought misery to her family, because they now had to pay for her dowry, which they could not afford. She has heard her mother or her father tell her many times that they should have killed her at birth, aborted her, or starved her. In fact, she has never heard anything good about herself, or about her being in the world. To her family she has been nothing but a mouth to feed; another dowry to pay.

But today, for the first time in her life, an institution has trusted her with all this money. She is stunned. She promises herself she will never let down the institution which has trusted her so much. She will struggle to make sure every penny is paid back. And she does it."

1 comment:

Steam Powered Pachyderm said...

Valli. Great to see that you are doing well and living life. I'm adding you to my blogroll over at dudehesthestallion.wordpress.com.

You are inspiring.