If you really cared about social causes, you wouldn’t just cast a vote to get the government to handle them—-anyone can do that. If you really care, act it out in your own life. Reach into your pocket and your schedule and do something to help those that you say you care about in the polls. Yes, it does require sacrifice. Tired of all the talking/advocating without any of the personal action, especially with elections this year. Just me?

On a side note——is the government really the best agency to help people? Or could we do a better job if we actually sacrificed some and did something ourselves about the things we say we cared about?

I’m not above this either, I could do more. Oyyyyy the internal circles of thought I get worked up in.

MICRO-LENDING AND MAKING A DENT IN MY PERSONAL HYPOCRISY…

I’ve been pondering, researching, debating, and passionately promoting micro-loans for roughly the past 2 years. As both an economics fiend and ardent humanitarian, I view micro-loans as a long-sought intersection of efficiency and compassion. (Which makes me deeply, nerdily happy.)

So here’s the deal: there are people in poverty across the globe who have skills and are willing to work their tails off to pull themselves, their family, and to some extent their community, out of poverty. But they don’t have the initial capital to finance their entrepeneurial enterprises. Take, for example, a woman in Uganda who knows how to sew, but doesn’t even have enough money to cover her family’s basic necessities, let alone buy materials. If this woman takes out a micro-loan, she finds herself able to purchase enough cloth and beads to sew beautiful objects to sell. She takes the profit, pays back the loan, and uses the remaining profit to keep expanding the business until she is self-supporting—-maybe even sending her kids to school. Micro-loans aren’t a band-aid fix—-rather they empower those in poverty to lift themselves out in a sustainable and expandable way! (A simplified explanation, but you understand the point.) Furthermore, micro-loans can help women in many countries be freed from abusive and repressive domestic situations. Studies show that in many cases, as women bring income into the household, male household members (and often the mother-in-law as well) greatly decrease or altogether stop physical and verbal abuse, and often allow the women to freely come and go from the house when she was not able to before. An important caveat: micro-finance is not a silver bullet, perfect solution. It definitely needs to be applied to the appropriate cases and the appropriate places, and in conjuction with other methods of battling poverty. That being said, they are one of the most effective and efficient means I have found to date.

It was this past Saturday, sitting in a RedEye cafe (another intersection of efficiency and compassion——yay social businesses!), that my own hypocrisy struck me: I had been ranting about how wonderful micro-lending to the poor was, and had never actually lent myself! This led me to discover a beautiful gem of a website:

www.kiva.org

Kiva.org allows you to search profiles of individuals all over the world who have asked for micro-loans, and lend in amounts as small as $25. You can study in-depth the individuals, their reasons for applying for a loan, and what they would like to do with the profits before choosing, as well as research the micro-bank you would be lending through——all the data and stats are on the website! People from all over the world partner together to provide enough for the micro-loans—-you only need to contribute a minimum of $25. You will receive status updates of what the person is doing with the loan and how successful it is. When the loan gets repayed at the scheduled time, you can choose to donate the money, take it back, or lend it again. So the same $25 can help people again and again and again for as long as you are willing to lend it out again! You can create a portfolio on this website of multiple micro-loans and build it over time. It’s brilliant :)

So I made my first micro-loan this past weekend, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!

Also consider sponsoring a child through any one of the plethora of child sponsorship organizations out there. But research them first! Some offer more services to the kids than others, use their funds better, etc. I sponsor through Compassion International and am very very pleased with the organization.

www.compassion.com

Another one that seems to be very solid is World Vision.

www.worldvision.org

I mention child sponsorship because it has something very much in common with micro-lending: it allows someone who has much to drastically change the life of someone who has almost nothing, even when they are on the other side of the world.

There is a limitless number of ways to impact the world around you for good, but these are great places to start. :)

I love to dialogue with people about humanitarian aid, so don’t hesitate to message me if you have questions, comments, or would like to discuss more options for helping those in need!

I’ve resolved to buy the majority of gifts that I buy in the future from impovershed women around the world. For example, one Christmas gift I bought this year was a handpainted tote bag made by survivors of sex trafficking in Calcutta. There are many many organizations that sell a variety of products hand-made by impovershed women around the globe, and I really think this is a better way to spend my money. Costs the same, but helps change lives and empower women. Plus I bet the people receiving the gift will be happy to know the money went to that cause as well.

So, if you’re on board and want to try something similar, message me and I’ll give you the names of some organizations. :)

Just another patch in the broader idea I’ve been trying to implement in my life lately—-voting with my dollar. We have power as consumers, and we support what we buy. Starting to think twice about what each thing I buy is actually supporting.

is that economists significantly need greater compassion for the disenfranchised and desperate, and the disenfranchised and desperate, and those who are trying to help them, significantly need greater understanding of economics.

Without a grasp of economics, the best of intentions fall flat or worse, harm those they are trying to help. Without compassion for the suffering of humans, I’m afraid economists are greatly injuring the world—-whether through actions that harm others or through failing to act in ways that could truly help.

I’ve hit many walls and frustrations in my journey to marry economics to aid work during my time at university, but I refuse to quit. They have to be soldered together to see any change.

Just the musings of a college girl while studying for finals…