What this is all about?

Grameen means "rural" or "village" in Bangla, so literally this translates to 'Stories from the Village.' I travelled to Bangladesh in 2010 and did an Internship with the Grameen Bank and was amazed by the people there especially in its rural villages. The 'desh' and its people are an inspiration and will always have a special place in my heart.

Since then, I continually see how important villages are, be it in rural Bangladesh, or in urban core neighbourhoods in Canada. A strong village is what brings people together and welcomes newcomers and supports those in need. Villages are what I fight for and this blog is how I do it.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Microcredit / Development Books to Read!


I was feeling ambitious a couple weeks ago so i went out and bought a bunch of books to read. Needless to say I haven’t actually had time to read them yet. But they are on my to do list.
The first book, which I have started reading is “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Erradicating Poverty through Profits” - by C. K. Prahalad. So far it seems like a very interesting book. It all about how big companies have to start seeing the developing world as a potential market, and treat them like customers.
Other books a picked up where “Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity” - by Stuart Hart and “Poverty Capital: Microfinance and the Making of Development” - by Ananya Roy.
More books for my wishlist include: “Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day” - by Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, & Orlanda Ruthven. And to provide a little balance: “Whats Wrong with Microfinance?” by Thomas Dichter. Also another book that my dad just brought to my attention is “War Games” - by Linda Polman looks very good, it takes a look at the impact aid has had on conflict in the developing world, whether it has help alleviate suffering or been a cause of further violence.
I keep remembering books that I forgot to put on here, so heres another couple (theres soo much!): “Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa” - Dambisa Moyo, “A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and The Business Solution for Ending Poverty” - Philip Smith, Eric Thurman and “The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else” - Hernando De Soto
Of course an almost essential read for this trip has to be “Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty” and “Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism” both by Muhammad Yunus.
I made a separate page for the list of books I mentioned, I will keep updating that page as i come across more books.
Cheers,
Mike
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)