Friday, October 28, 2005
Small Fortunes
This PBS documentary on Microcredit was absolutely fascinating. It shows how just a small amount of investment can truly changes the lives of thousands of people around the world. Watching women turn what we would consider trash - empty cement bags, juice cartons, cast-off hair - and transforming into lucrative businesses for their families was inspiring. I also imagined how several of them could even expand further, if they had the ability to market their business worl-wide. I imagine the bags and purses they showed would be a great product for a Hot Topic like outlet.
I was also struck by the woman who explained how every time it rains she has to spread banana leaves across the roof of her home to stay even slightly dry. I noted that innumerable people like her spend their entire lives like that, making less than 2 cents a day. In America, we also have people who have to spread leaves on the roof of their homes. If they can manage to do it for 45 days, they get a million dollars.
------------------------------------------------