Monthly Archives: October 2011

NetImpact Inspiration and Vision

1 Comment

I returned today from the NetImpact conference in Portland.  It was highly inspirational and visionary.  I have returned to Seattle full of ideas and excited about many things.  I volunteered, met many people and shared the experience with many people from BGI and other institutions.
I attended sessions on many subjects involving people from many companies and many different subjects.  I learned about watershed preservation projects, working in big companies and the effect on industry, the use of mobile technology in the developing world, and the future of microfinance.  I left with a better insight into many things and also with many questions.  
One of the most interesting sessions I attended involved a discussion of mobile phone technology and how it is being used to assist in many developing countries.  M-Banking is more progressive in several African countries than it is in in the US.  This has occurred due to the proliferation of mobile phones because the infrastructure is much easier to supply.  The mobile phone is used to accomplish banking, transfer health information, and much more.   
I listened to a session on water protection that involved a discussion on protecting water and trying to eradicate waterborne illnesses.  One of the question that I wanted to pose, if there was time was how to include the effects of proper sanitation in water protection in developing countries.  There are often discussions regarding water and waterborne illnesses that to not include sanitation.  The diseases are most often caused by improper defecating in a water source so the problem is upstream of the water.
I also attended a session on the future of microfinance that resolved some of my skepticism in microfinance.  Many questions are being asked in the industry which is leading to innovative solutions and some soul searching.  It does provide a service that is needed and it is beneficial.  It has provided and a pipeline for other innovations to be introduced into developing countries.

Microfinance and Development

1 Comment

I spent Saturday at the Social Ideas to Global Ventures workshop at UW and it was very informative.  It detailed how to take an idea and turn it into a viable business.  I was amazed at the people I met.  I met a young woman who was involved with a program in Ghana trying to provide more green space for youth in urban areas, a man who developed a audio device assist learning in rural locations in Ghana, and a young woman involved with microcredit in Ghana.
I leave West Africa and return to the US and end up in Seattle and go to a workshop and meet many people doing work in West Africa. It truly is a small world.  
I still am struggling with microcredit and the concept.  I recently read an article by Milton Bateman regarding microfinance and agree with several of the points as it pertains to West Africa as follows:
  1. The extremely high interest rate that was charged was not reasonable for almost any business.  For a business to be able to pay back a loan with 30% interest does not allow much leeway for profit to be reinvested. This is especially true of small farms where the crops do not mature for many months and therefore the monthly interest keeps accumulating.
  2. The markets are saturated with the same products and the same services and supply greatly outstrips demand.  In Ghana, everyone either produced soap, did batik or tie and dye fabric, or petty trading.
  3. Governments used MF as a means to cut funding to the poor and women.  Quite regularly local government officials referred groups to MF schemes.
  4. The schemes reinforced the informal sector leading to illegality and tax avoidance.  There was very little follow up of where the money was distributed and consequently the money did not go to business.  The money often ended up paying school fees, buying food or uniforms for children, or other non-business related expenses.
  5. Very little training was done to give the people business skills such as simple bookkeeping so most people did not know whether they are making a profit or not.
  6. People are so desperate for money they will agree to almost anything.  In Ghana a small company called Unique Trust started  in 1997 by giving small loans and has grown today to have assets of over 350 M USD.  The terms for their loans are 9% a month and you need to sign over to the bank 150% of the loan amount in collateral before receiving the loan.  This could be land, vehicle, etc. and if the loan is not repaid they repossess.
  7. Many of the recipients have little or no experience with credit schemes and little education was provided which leads to misunderstandings.

Diversity, Power, and Privilege

1 Comment

Just over 7 years ago I embarked on a journey that would change my feelings regarding power, privilege, and diversity forever.  Up to this point in my life I thought I basically understood diversity and the issues surrounding it.  I had friends of different races, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  Then I joined Peace Corps and went to Ghana.
For the first time in my life I was the minority in society.  I encountered strange looks, name calling, and unwanted attention that I had never experienced.  Upon talking to a black friend from PC about this, he asked how I would feel dealing with this and being the minority every day of my life and it made me realize how our experiences were very different.  I could never walk in his shoes, or he in mine.
He experienced a very liberating feeling in Ghana being able to walk down the street unnoticed and receiving virtually no attention.  I on the other hand was bombarded with catcalls of “Obruni” (the local term for white man).  The local children even had a song:
            Obruni koko ma chin
            Ya fritrey gongo
It was constant and became very irritating to receive attention based on the color of my skin.  Everywhere I went, the village, the city, the farm, I was called “obruni” After some time I started to stop people and gently remind them that I had a name and did not appreciate being identified just by the color of my skin.  I was constantly viewed as rich no matter what the circumstance and where I was.  When I asked whether you could look at a person who was black and declare that they were poor, the answer was always “no but you are still rich because you are white”  My monthly stipend in PC averaged about $125 a month but I was still considered rich.
I was regularly regarded as a potential ticket to America, a source of money, or worse.  I was once asked by a man in the village I lived in to have sex with his wife because he wanted a white baby.  The Chief of the village I lived in once told me that according to local tradition if you were in church and a white man came in you could leave because you had just seen God.  
There were times that my white privilege was beneficial.  For instance, I went to a premier league football (soccer) match between a club from my market town and one of the two leading clubs in the history of Ghana.  I did not know what I was getting into until I arrived; the “stadium” was a wooden fence around a dirt field and inside was another chain link fence.  Fans were smashed against the chain link fence in order to get a better view.  Fortunately, because of my skin color I think I was viewed as a scout from Europe and was allowed inside the chain link fence and sat on the sidelines watching the match.  For my personal safety I was happy to sit inside and enjoy the match considering some of the stories I had heard regarding football matches.  
I read “White Privilege, Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh and became more conscious of the tremendous privilege I have as a white male.  I became painfully aware of the fact that the world is controlled by rich, white, Christian, heterosexual men.  Being a white male opens many doors for me that may not be opened otherwise.  How do I use this privilege? What do I do with this information?
The first step for me is to be fully cognizant of the fact that I am privileged and how I use this. I am no longer oblivious of the fact that progression in this country or the world is not based on meritocracy. Daily I need to be mindful of the fact that my skin color and gender presents opportunities to change the status quo.  I need to use the arbitrarily assigned power and privilege that has been bestowed upon me to weaken the hidden system of advantage currently pervasive in society. 

OccupyWallStreet

1 Comment
“As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.” 

So goes the statement from OccupyWallStreet which has become a national movement with demonstrations in major cities all across the country.  

As I read, watch, and listen to resources dedicated to creating sustainable businesses one of the common themes that is continually presented is that the triple bottom line is not at the detriment of profit.  

Hunter Lovins states that according to a 2007 report “from those wild eyed environmentalists at Goldman Sachs showing that companies that are leaders in environmental, social, and good governance policies have outperformed the MSCI world index of stocks by 25 percent since 2005.”

The process of making business more environmentally responsible and socially conscious therefore will create more profit.  In a sense, I will try to convince corporations to be better citizens and one of the reasons that they should is that they will make more money.  This creates a dilemma.

How do I convince a company to be a better citizen and make more money which potentially allows them to have more power over the people?  Will the increase in profits enable a corporation to have more control over the masses?  Will a company that has made the choice to become more sustainable and make a higher profit continue the same corporate way in regard to the people?  

I agree that many corporations appear to have excess profit because they need to answer to shareholders and sometimes they massage the books to create this illusion.  Making a profit is not a bad thing and is generally a requirement for all businesses to continue operating.  The percentage of Americans who own stock, either directly or indirectly approaches 100%.  If you have a 401K, a retirement fund, a mutual fund, or an employee stock plan then you probably own stock.  Therefore most Americans want corporations to make a profit that will increase their holdings and net worth. 

Profit and corporations were viewed in a very different light in West Africa.  The vast majority of individuals viewed corporations as the ticket to a job and to some semblance of financial security.  Unemployment was so high that individuals would do almost anything to get a job with a company.  Social responsibility, environmental awareness, and high profits were generally not considered or discussed.  Even if a corporation made an extremely high profit most people would not have considered this a bad thing.

The problem is not too much profit but how it is used and how profit is perceived by the people.  In my opinion, creating a more responsible company that is environmentally responsible and socially conscious will heighten their awareness of being accountable to the world regardless of the amount of profit.