Micro Finance for the world's poorest people. - Page 2 - PhillyBlog

Tannhauser · #11 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

It doesn't discriminate against men, as much as it targets aid to women. Are you going to say that the local battered women's shelter discriminates against men because it only accepts women?!

If it turns away or refuses to accommodate men who are battered by their wives/partners/whatever, then of course it does.
If I ran an aid foundation and decided to "target" men, or whites, or Christians, would you have a problem with that? Or are you okay with discrimination across the board? Get points for consistency at least.

GMonkey · #12 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

If it turns away or refuses to accommodate men who are battered by their wives/partners/whatever, then of course it does.
If I ran an aid foundation and decided to "target" men, or whites, or Christians, would you have a problem with that? Or are you okay with discrimination across the board? Get points for consistency at least.

I regularly do charity work on behalf of White Christian Males.

phillyaggie · #13 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

If it turns away or refuses to accommodate men who are battered by their wives/partners/whatever, then of course it does.
If I ran an aid foundation and decided to "target" men, or whites, or Christians, would you have a problem with that? Or are you okay with discrimination across the board? Get points for consistency at least.

Now this, I find funny. You're going to run an aid foundation for a group of people that's got it as easy and that has in the past several hundred years basically ruled the rest of the world. More power to you, dude. I guess anyone can have a reason to need aid. Do you have any stats on how many men get battered by their wives? Or are you just one of those guys that attacks anything that remotely supports women's rights.

But in all seriousness, if you were to run an aid foundation for white men (farmers) targetted in Zimbabwe, or Christians targetted in Darfur, then yeah, I would not mind that at all. I might even give your foundation a few bucks.

But you seem oblivious of the reasons why Grameen funds more women, so we may just have to agree to disagree and let other readers on here make up their minds in this matter...

Tannhauser · #14 (**permalink**) 05-21-2007, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

Now this, I find funny. You're going to run an aid foundation for a group of people that's got it as easy and that has in the past several hundred years basically ruled the rest of the world. More power to you, dude. I guess anyone can have a reason to need aid. Do you have any stats on how many men get battered by their wives? Or are you just one of those guys that attacks anything that remotely supports women's rights.

(On the battered husbands, a topic I have no interest whatsoever in, the number is usually around 800,000 men a year, and studies in Western Countries put it between 30-40% of all domestic violence. I don't know how accurate the studies are, but apparently it happens to some measurable extent.)

Do you find this charity funny? http://www.bestfriendsfoundation.org/BMWhatisBM2.html

I'm someone who attacks discrimination wherever I see it.

For the record, you have Southern Sudan and Darfur combined in your analogy. There's a negligible number of Christians in Western Sudan but they did face wholesale slaughter in the 90's in the South.

phillyaggie · #15 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

(On the battered husbands, a topic I have no interest whatsoever in, the number is usually around 800,000 men a year, and studies in Western Countries put it between 30-40% of all domestic violence. I don't know how accurate the studies are, but apparently it happens to some measurable extent.)

Do you find this charity funny? http://www.bestfriendsfoundation.org/BMWhatisBM2.html

I'm someone who attacks discrimination wherever I see it.

For the record, you have Southern Sudan and Darfur combined in your analogy. There's a negligible number of Christians in Western Sudan but they did face wholesale slaughter in the 90's in the South.

Dude, I'm a respectable guy, so why would I find a charity org driven to make respectable men out of boys any funny? However, reading through the web site, I found this:

Quote:

Best Men is a youth development program with a character-building curriculum, designed to provide positive and healthy answers to the challenges facing boys today. Due to the overwhelming demand for a boys' program, Best Men was created in the fall of 2000. It is modeled after the highly successful Best Friends program for girls, founded by Elayne Bennett in 1987. Since then, Best Men has grown into a national program with more than 1,000 participants.

So, would you pooh-pooh the very model program that your favorite charity is based on? It would seem so, because it "discriminates" by having the programs only for girls.

You just proved my point: there are programs and charities geared toward all sorts of needs and groups. Just because Grameen makes women in impoverished countries a little more independent and able to earn a living on their own, does not make it a bad org. If at all, in my eyes at least, its a worthwhile thing to do. Any number of case studies have shown that providing women in impoverished, illeterate nations a chance to earn their own living not only makes them well-off but raises the standard of living of the entire household and of their villages. In places like India, where mandating a certain number of elected seats on local village council to women has changed the way a village functions... women care to have potable water, sanitation, education for their children. You and I may take such things for granted, but believe me, its a whole 'nother world out there...

Here is just one sad example of how women get ill-treated...even when they are the ones trying to earn a living. Muslim women specially in India and other countries are held back by their own men.

Quote:

In the absence of men, the womenfolk are now also having to think about finding work or starting small businesses to support their families and many Muslim women across Gujarat are now applying for micro-credit from NGOs.
I attended a meeting of Gujarat-based NGO Anandi in Falanagar Colony. Many such small women's networks have been formed across the state to help women.

Held back
"Initially they are given a small loan to start a small business. They use that money to buy some thing, part of which they consume and the rest they sell to repay the loan," says a volunteer.
And more women are joining as micro-financing is catching on.
But many Muslim women in Godhra say they are being held back by none other than their husbands.
"My husband does not want me to go out of the house and interact with other men, this is irritating," says Shamima Sheikh of Falanagar Colony.
Her husband has recently relented "but still creates problems occasionally".
Shamima's husband and other male members of the colony refuse to speak on the issue. The riots may have brought about some positive changes in the Muslim women of Godhra, but the men folk, it seems, are yet to catch up.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6399551.stm

Tannhauser · #16 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

So, would you pooh-pooh the very model program that your favorite charity is based on? It would seem so, because it "discriminates" by having the programs only for girls.

You'd have a great point, if only I'd said that it was my favorite charity, or one that I even supported (for the record, I don't but I give them kudos for realizing the wrongs of their ways and adding a program for males as well.).
Unfortunately, I didn't.
I was only providing a link to a charity that's exclusively for males, since you seemed to have laughed at the idea in a previous post.

I still believe it's wrong for a charity (in particular) to discriminate based on sex, race, religion, etc.
Need should be the only basis for alotting aid.

But you do what you want with your money, I'll do what I want with mine.

Mr. Brightside · #17 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 12:14 PM

I feel your pain man.

phillyaggie · #18 (**permalink**) 05-31-2007, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

Need should be the only basis for alotting aid.

But you do what you want with your money, I'll do what I want with mine.

Funny. I just pointed out that women in impoverished and male-dominated nations need more help and orgs such as Grameen are practically the only thing going for them.

Quote:

I feel your pain man.

After reading more of Tann's posts, I feel his pain too...

SisterCityPA/NJ · #19 (**permalink**) 02-24-2008, 03:30 PM

Good News for U.S. Microcredit Users

Last week Muhammad Yunus, you'll remember him as a 2006 Nobel peace prize laureate and founder of the Grameen Bank, brought his lending model to the United States with a program based in New York. He and Grameen have considerable experience in helping the poor start sutaintable micro-enterprises around the world. Dr. Yunus is fond of relating that the poor have a better loan repayment history than many U.S. corporations.

Project Enterprise (PE)is a microfinance organisation in New York based on Grameen principles- group lending and accountability. PE helped an African-American woman to start a Harlem-baseda wig business with a $1,700 loan and in less than five years leveraged her current success as the owner of a thriving $3.2 million company.

Think Globally and Act Locally....Sister Cities