Our Shared Shelf discussion
Sep/Oct - Half the Sky (2016)
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Encouraged to help
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Thank you! I just finished chapter 2 and already have the same feelings. I may have heard of kiva.org, but that's all. I'll have to go check it out.
I went to school with a guy that started a micro finance company in Africa for farmers and they started with Kiva and continue to use it for a small percentage of their loans. His book provided a bit more insight into the Kiva organization but he is a strong supporter and continues to this day (he's left Africa and the company he started) to donate through Kiva. It's definitely worth considering and contributing!
World Vision (mentioned in the book as a place to give as well) has something they've been doing for at least a few years. You have the option of sponsoring a child every month, of course, but leading up to Christmas they promote "World Vision Gifts". (worldvisiongifts.org)
http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to...
There is a section in here specific for girls and women that has some things mentioned in Half The Sky: bicycle, career training, small business loan, help stop human trafficking and more.
http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to...
I think I'm going to look at it with my kids this year and have them choose something they want to give for Christmas (they're 5 & 2, but it's never too early to start teaching them we can help others!) :)
I browsed kiva.org and it looks like an interesting initiative. I did wonder why there where so many women who wanted loans "to buy X for her husbands XY business" in the category that I looked at?
Lunaia- That's interesting. When I looked, women wanted loans for their businesses. I chose to support a woman who needed supplies for her salon.
I've been a micro loan giver at Kiva for a few years now. I have made about a dozen loans of $25 and you are slowly paid back. I haven't had anyone default on loans but haven't received payment in full of investment as I usually donate a few dollars to offray costs to Kiva and the intermediary agencies who administer the loans. I noticed that in Emma's interview with the authors they said microloans had had mixed results. I haven't made a loan in some time but will do some more after reading the book.If you want to read a book about a Kiva lender there is The International Bank of Bob. Bob has been a prolific Kiva lender and followed up his loans by meeting some of the people he has lent money to.
While the book was very dark, that's reality for these women so well done by the authors- I don't know how you couldn't be motivated to want to act after reading it. We are so fortunate to not have to worry about these things, but it is also disgusting that it is 2016 and they still occur. NPR just did a story recently on child bridges that hit me especially hard after just finishing this book. http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsands...
Bri wrote: "Just discovered there is actually a page on their website with all these organisations that you can get involved with: http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pag..."Thank you! I haven't finished yet and was hoping to find something like this or create it based on the book. :)
I´m really torn about how to help. Half the Sky is obviously written with the goal of encouraging people to help others, which I think is great. I´ve done volunteer work in developing countries in the past, sponsored a child in Nepal and been working as a volunteer in a fair trade store in my city. But I often wonder if my efforts actually have the desired effects. Or if they had any effects at all. During my volunteer work I came across a lot of corruption as well. While I´m a fierce believer of the benefits of volunteer work, I know and have to admit that there are also many problems. The issues in developing countries are extremely complex and hard to understand as a foreigner and a non-expert. There is corruption and fraud and sometimes the attempt to help can even harm people, rather than helping them. Most of the time you don´t have any proof that you have had a long-lasting effect on people.
I find that extremely frustrating and disheartening. But I´m still looking for a good way to help.
I was happy to see that the authors of Half a Sky had included some suggestions, but the very first one, kiva.org, turned out to be very controversial. I did some research on kiva and found people passionately arguing in favor and against the organisation (which left me thoroughly confused and annoyed. I so wish there were easy solutions!). But on wikipedia I found a list of issues and decided to trust that ressource.
Kiva works in cooperation with local partners, that means banks that give out the money to the lenders. These banks charge interest rates between 25% and 88% from people who have nothing! That means that the tailor in Tanzania borrows $100, but has to pay back up to $188 to the bank. The banks say this is because of the amount of work to give out the loan and the risk that the enterpreneur can´t repay. The kiva lenders don´t receive any interest, although they bear the risk of never seeing their money back. That means that they actually support not the small tailor or shop vender, but the banks. Moreover, there is no scientific study that shows if micro-credits have any long-lasting effect. In other words: Will the shop vender who bought extra supplies with my loan be able to expand her business and be independently successfull from now on, or will she need to apply for a new loan next year and another one after that and be permanently indebted to a bank? It is completely unknown.
It seems that the one success that kiva reliably produces is the warm, fluffy feeling of having done a good deed for the lenders. Don´t get me wrong. I love the worm fluffy feeling. I want it desperately. But if this is the only reliable result then kiva misses its goals.
As I said, I find this extremely frustrating. I wish there was an easy and reliable way to do good, but the system is so complex and had to understand that there seems to be no easy solution.
Wikipedia had some micro-finance alternatives to kiva, e.g. Zidisha; that´s a platform that connects lenders directly with borrowers, without the banks as middlemen and without any interest rates. I see some issues here as well, e.g. that poor people need internet access and computer skills to apply for loans, but it may be an improvement over kiva.
I also found www.givewell.org, an organization that evaluates and recommends aid organizions based on scientific research, cost efficiency and results. Reading through their recommendation I noticed a disturbing reaction in myself. Their top three recommendations are the Against Malaria Foundation, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative and the Deworm the World Initiative. The two last ones support treatment for parasitic worm infections. They are extremely const-efficient. For $ 0,80 you can treat a child and make a guaranteed improvement in their life. In comparision to kiva: for $25 you can reliably improve the lives of 31 people by treating them for worms or you can have a vague and uncertain effect on a single person.
I´m a rational, scientific-minded person, and I´m trying to base my decisions on evidence rather than on fluffy feelings. The worm thing makes sense to me. Ratio tells me that this is where I should put my money. But where´s the fluffy feeling? Where are the pictures and personal thank-you-letters from happy, worm-free children?
The authors of Half the Sky write about a weird effect in people´s willingness to help: Even if provided with overwhelming numbers and facts, people are less inclined to donate money to a cause. Individual life stories and photos are what convinces people to donate, even if they know that their donation is less effective. I guess this is just a normal, psychological effect, and I´m certainly not blaming anybody for it. Still, noticing it in myself, I´m trying to overcome it.
I want to donate to a cause that is proven effective. I want to know that I´m helping people. I also want a warm, fluffy feeling about it, but in the end of the day this is not about me and my feelings. This is about poor people in developing countries.
I find that extremely frustrating and disheartening. But I´m still looking for a good way to help.
I was happy to see that the authors of Half a Sky had included some suggestions, but the very first one, kiva.org, turned out to be very controversial. I did some research on kiva and found people passionately arguing in favor and against the organisation (which left me thoroughly confused and annoyed. I so wish there were easy solutions!). But on wikipedia I found a list of issues and decided to trust that ressource.
Kiva works in cooperation with local partners, that means banks that give out the money to the lenders. These banks charge interest rates between 25% and 88% from people who have nothing! That means that the tailor in Tanzania borrows $100, but has to pay back up to $188 to the bank. The banks say this is because of the amount of work to give out the loan and the risk that the enterpreneur can´t repay. The kiva lenders don´t receive any interest, although they bear the risk of never seeing their money back. That means that they actually support not the small tailor or shop vender, but the banks. Moreover, there is no scientific study that shows if micro-credits have any long-lasting effect. In other words: Will the shop vender who bought extra supplies with my loan be able to expand her business and be independently successfull from now on, or will she need to apply for a new loan next year and another one after that and be permanently indebted to a bank? It is completely unknown.
It seems that the one success that kiva reliably produces is the warm, fluffy feeling of having done a good deed for the lenders. Don´t get me wrong. I love the worm fluffy feeling. I want it desperately. But if this is the only reliable result then kiva misses its goals.
As I said, I find this extremely frustrating. I wish there was an easy and reliable way to do good, but the system is so complex and had to understand that there seems to be no easy solution.
Wikipedia had some micro-finance alternatives to kiva, e.g. Zidisha; that´s a platform that connects lenders directly with borrowers, without the banks as middlemen and without any interest rates. I see some issues here as well, e.g. that poor people need internet access and computer skills to apply for loans, but it may be an improvement over kiva.
I also found www.givewell.org, an organization that evaluates and recommends aid organizions based on scientific research, cost efficiency and results. Reading through their recommendation I noticed a disturbing reaction in myself. Their top three recommendations are the Against Malaria Foundation, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative and the Deworm the World Initiative. The two last ones support treatment for parasitic worm infections. They are extremely const-efficient. For $ 0,80 you can treat a child and make a guaranteed improvement in their life. In comparision to kiva: for $25 you can reliably improve the lives of 31 people by treating them for worms or you can have a vague and uncertain effect on a single person.
I´m a rational, scientific-minded person, and I´m trying to base my decisions on evidence rather than on fluffy feelings. The worm thing makes sense to me. Ratio tells me that this is where I should put my money. But where´s the fluffy feeling? Where are the pictures and personal thank-you-letters from happy, worm-free children?
The authors of Half the Sky write about a weird effect in people´s willingness to help: Even if provided with overwhelming numbers and facts, people are less inclined to donate money to a cause. Individual life stories and photos are what convinces people to donate, even if they know that their donation is less effective. I guess this is just a normal, psychological effect, and I´m certainly not blaming anybody for it. Still, noticing it in myself, I´m trying to overcome it.
I want to donate to a cause that is proven effective. I want to know that I´m helping people. I also want a warm, fluffy feeling about it, but in the end of the day this is not about me and my feelings. This is about poor people in developing countries.
Verena, I'm not sure how to entirely comment on what you said because I haven't looked into everything you have yet, but I have a thought...In the interview Emma did with the authors they said they wished they had focused more on the western world too. And in the book they talk a lot about how the best thing is for people living in the locations that need help initiate and drive the change.
So I wonder... What if you look for places to give to/volunteer with where you live? That way you're part of a change that you can monitor more closely and have more of an idea how you're affecting what's going on.
I haven't finished reading the book yet but am finding it really interesting so far. Harrowing and heartbreaking to hear about what women and girls are going through around the world. But motivating and inspiring to do something. But like everyone above it's knowing how to actual help out. I'm a teacher and am planning on doing 10 months of travelling from next September and teaching in various countries. I'm going to try and go a bit more off the beaten track and see if I can help out that way. It's only something small but hopefully it will help some people.
I'm definitely going to check out some of the sites mentioned above.
Verena wrote: "I´m really torn about how to help. Half the Sky is obviously written with the goal of encouraging people to help others, which I think is great. I´ve done volunteer work in developing countries in ..."Maybe you need to start one of your own. One that does exactly what you want.
Verena wrote: "I´m really torn about how to help. Half the Sky is obviously written with the goal of encouraging people to help others, which I think is great. I´ve done volunteer work in developing countries in ..."Hi Verena! I really appreciated your long comment :-) Especially now that I'm really considering using Kiva or any other microloan platform.
I think the microloan allows to really connect with the beneficiary, granting the "warm, fluffy feeling". I find this connexion quite interesting, as it helps the lender as much as the recipient. (By the way, Diana "The International Bank of Bob" looks super interesting!)
I was wondering if you could tell us more about your experiment of sponsorship of a child in Nepal? How did it work, what did you do?
When it comes to volunteering we also have to keep in mind that #voluntourism is more harming than doing good.Tbh, I want to help too but I don't know how! Maybe I can volunteer when I study a semester or two abroad, I don't know.
Verena, it would be really nice if you told us about the sponsorship of a child in Nepal?
Btw, when we get to know single stories our brain parts which are influenced by emotions work more than when we hear simple statistics. That's where the fluffy feeling comes from.
Also interesting: If you did algebra you're not so willing to donate money afterwards than if you didn't. (Grammar sucks again, I better have a nap=) )
I was looking for a chance to contribute little to women who need help.
In chapter 11, the authors introduce kiva.org, where you can give loans of as little as $25 to an entrepreneur of your choice.
I looked at the website and I found a woman from Turkey who tailors clothes and knits, just like me. She needs to buy new supplies, I support her. Looking forward to see how it works out!