Imagine I have a horse named Rusty. Everyday, I give Rusty water in a small, metal bucket for the rest of his life on the farm (yes, I have a farm in this imaginary situation… pretty exciting). After a while, Rusty gets comfortable with the idea of me fetching the water for him. In fact, he depends on me so much that last week he stood in one spot on his four legs and neighed away until I gave in to his incessant whining. He was spoon-fed. He had no motivation to find water for himself.
Now, I have a new horse on the farm, named Charlie. I don’t want to make the same mistake with Charlie, so I show him where the watering hole is. This simple lesson taught him to get water for himself, without relying on me to solve his thirst problem. While this saves me repetitive work, more importantly, it shows Charlie that he’s capable to find his own water and provide for himself.
This is microfinance in a nutshell.
If you give a horse water, you quench his thirst for one day. If you teach a horse how to fetch his own water, you quench his thirst for as long as he lives.
People who are targeted by Microfinance Institutions are usually in parts of the world that don’t give them access to readily available banking institutions. By lending capital to these people, you foster a sense of responsibility.
This is much different than giving to charity. Because the investment must be paid back in full with interest in a timely period, you’re able to teach people the value of being virtually self-dependent.
This is the quality that, we as entrepreneurs, fight for day in and day out: self-dependence. Just know that their are people in other corners of the globe that want to fight for the same thing – they just need a helping hand.
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* Horses in the Field of Peace by [JP] Corrêa Carvalho
* Nuts 2 by steffenz
* Jasmine Cultivation by mckaysavage
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- Optimism Is The New Sexy
- Advice From Seth Godin On The Entrepreneurial Revolution
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