If you would have asked me what Micro-lending was a week ago I would have been speechless. I had no idea about anything related to Micro-lending. How much can change in a week! I am now enthused about micro-lending. I am telling all of my friends about micro-lending and arguing my case to them for why they should give a loan. I have explored kiva.org and I think I am addicted. Micro-lending just makes sense. All of our articles that we read this week explained how micro-lending works. Basically entrepreneurs need capital but the only way they can get the capital they need is to take loans from 'loan sharks' who charge an unbelievable amount of interest, therefore perpetuating the cycle of poverty. It is impossible to get ahead with these loans that are impossible to repay. Micro-loans break this cycle. With a micro-loan there is not the exorbitant amount of interest. The organizations that give out these micro loans like The Grameen Bank work with the individuals getting these loans and create relationships that result in nearly 100% payment of the loans on a planned schedule. Because of these loans a family is pulled out of poverty. Children are able to go to school and there is actually a substantial profit being made for the family. This improves so many lives. I think there are still some questions regarding the logistics of micro-lending. My main concern is the issues of the traditional loan shark. Most of the individuals who receive these loans are women, most of the loan sharks are male. In traditional societies were most of these loans are going how does this affect the gender roles in these societies? What are the organizations who handle these loans doing to product their clients? Now that I understand the concept of micro-lending I want to learn about the field work that happens on a day to day basis with micro lending.
I can't begin to talk about my personal response to micro-lending because I think it is something I will continue to be involved in. As I was writing this blog I was also setting up my own account on Kiva.org. Micro-lending is something I can do that really does make a difference. Like Jessica Jackley spoke about the media portrays the poor as being scary, kiva.org gives a positive spin and not just dwells on how bad things are. Another aspect of kiva.org that really had an impact on me is the personal relationships that the website fosters. There isn't just one picture and I am helping someone like this person. I have a picture of the person I will help. I also have the story of the person, what they want to do, how they plan to do it, and how this will change their life. Being able to search by location, gender, and a plethora of other criteria make this one of my new favorite websites. Another personal response is the want to travel to all of these places. Just like Jessica talked about traveling around the world I want to go and see these places. Who knows where this new found form of activism will take me. That's perhaps the greatest thing I learned from Jessica's lecture is to follow your dreams/goals and the path will follow.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Environmental Justice
This week thanks to Majora Carter's timely visit to Decorah we focused on Environmental Justice. This is a topic that I thought that I was fairly knowledgeable about but soon realized that this was a topic I knew hardly anything about. Being at Luther has certainly made me much more aware of things like 'sustainability' and being 'green' but the readings this week hit home for me more than any of the environmental issues I have been hearing about for the last few years. These readings all had many common threads. The biggest one that kept standing out to me was the fact that we are all connected. Environmental issues effect everyone. However, they way they impact us is very different and most of that is determined by race, class, and gender. Living in Iowa I hear about the pollution and effects of global warming and may be slightly more aware of how global warming effects farmland. Being from Cedar Rapids I saw how powerful the environment can be and flood more than anyone ever imaged possible, first hand. But I don't have to worry about drinking the water from my tap or breathing in air that has increased amounts of pollution from any number of things. I am so fortunate for this. Polluted Promises really hit home with me. This was a community that did have to deal with not being able to drink the water, having to not touch the soil, and have increased occurrences of asthma and other diseases of the lungs. Because of race, class, and gender there are many problems for the people living in the towns all around the world that can relate to Polluted Promises. These are people who are at the margins of society and are not heard about many social issues, as demonstrated by the environmental issues. But this week was not just focusing on the negative aspects of this problem. Carter was so inspiring. She has made a difference and is turning her neighborhood around and from a literal dump for New York City to a beautiful south bronx neighborhood. Along with the positive changes for the neighborhood with the environment there is also a difference with less unemployment as members of the community are employeed in the green jobs that it takes to build and maintain this new aspect of the community. Throughout the readings community was expressed and how important community is in the environmental justice movement. I feel inspired by everything I have learned this week. Things are bad with the environment but they can get better, individual people like Carter are showing that one person can make a big difference every single day.
This discussion on the environment and how it relates to class, race, and gender made me reflect on my recent j-term trip. I traveled to Dubai to study the development there. The UAE is growing at an incredible speed and is going from being a desert to being a world leader. The founding Sheihk (leader) promised to make the desert green. This wasn't green in the environmental way but virtually turn sand into grass. I witnessed this first hand, saw grass growing in Dubai thanks to being watered over 10 times a day to withstand the desert environment. I also saw some amazing architecture and developments, such as islands being built to expand cities. However, the whole time we were there I kept thinking about the environmental impact. In the UAE there are extreme class differences as well as these environmental issues. I wonder if there are any environmental justice organizations in Dubai or the UAE. It would be interesting to see the correlation with pollution and class in Dubai. Everything is very segregated by class, especially where people live. These readings made me really reflect on Dubai and the UAE in a different way than when I was there and just noticing the environment, now I have a better understanding of the consequences of the pollution and how that effects the existing class structures.
This discussion on the environment and how it relates to class, race, and gender made me reflect on my recent j-term trip. I traveled to Dubai to study the development there. The UAE is growing at an incredible speed and is going from being a desert to being a world leader. The founding Sheihk (leader) promised to make the desert green. This wasn't green in the environmental way but virtually turn sand into grass. I witnessed this first hand, saw grass growing in Dubai thanks to being watered over 10 times a day to withstand the desert environment. I also saw some amazing architecture and developments, such as islands being built to expand cities. However, the whole time we were there I kept thinking about the environmental impact. In the UAE there are extreme class differences as well as these environmental issues. I wonder if there are any environmental justice organizations in Dubai or the UAE. It would be interesting to see the correlation with pollution and class in Dubai. Everything is very segregated by class, especially where people live. These readings made me really reflect on Dubai and the UAE in a different way than when I was there and just noticing the environment, now I have a better understanding of the consequences of the pollution and how that effects the existing class structures.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Definitions of Activism
Activism seems to be a word that is used a lot in society. Especially in the news, one can hear about activists doing this or this organization protesting or this person starting a petition. Using the word activist so often would lead one to think that this word has a very clear and precise meaning. As we saw in class on Wednesday, everyone tends to have a different understanding of what it means to be an activist. There were certain themes in all of our definitions. We found that in being an activist someone has to be actively doing something and have a strong believe behind their actions and usually involves changing, adapting, and enlightening different parts of society.
With these different definitions in mind I went to where I go to find most of my definitions when I have a question on a word, Webster.com. Webster told me that activism is a noun dating back to 1915 and is defined as, “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” My first thought when I read this had to do with the date. Two things came to mind that were happening at that time, first was the women’s suffrage movement and the other being the prohibition. Both of these events happened and changed society because of active movements by individuals and groups. The actual definition fits into what we discussed in class, talking about a specific issue that is being addressed. The other part of the definition that struck me was the similarity of movement, just like we talked about activism being associated with movement. I think that social movements often get associated as being the same as activism. I am not sure what to think of this association but I am sure as the semester progressed I will be able to answer that question if social movements and activism can be interchangeable. Webster does seem to a good job at describing in easy to understand terms what activism is.
After finding this easy to understand definition I looked on Jstore for a scholarly understanding of activism. I found an article that was entitled, "Its Just about Being Fair: Activism and the Politics of Volunteering in the Breast Cancer Movement,” in Gender and Society, Vol 3. No. 3 (June, 2004.) This article defined activism by comparing it to volunteering. I really liked how they compared this because I think it is easy to confuse volunteering with being an activist. The articles states, “Activists are presented as more cynical than volunteers but also…believe that conversation about important matter is an important aspect of what they do and social change. Volunteers, on the other hand, are said to be more focused on action and emphasis doing over talking…Activists are more likely to understand themselves as knowledge producers, volunteers as knowledge consumers.” This academic definition really emphasizes the reasons and believes behind an action, being “conversation focused” rather than the volunteers just “doing.” This also portrays the somewhat negative connotations that can accompany activism for being against the majority of society.
Combing the academic and the main stream definition really works to better understand what activism means to society. Since activism works directly with society this is an extremely import understanding so activists really can start their work, by understanding how they are perceived.
With these different definitions in mind I went to where I go to find most of my definitions when I have a question on a word, Webster.com. Webster told me that activism is a noun dating back to 1915 and is defined as, “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” My first thought when I read this had to do with the date. Two things came to mind that were happening at that time, first was the women’s suffrage movement and the other being the prohibition. Both of these events happened and changed society because of active movements by individuals and groups. The actual definition fits into what we discussed in class, talking about a specific issue that is being addressed. The other part of the definition that struck me was the similarity of movement, just like we talked about activism being associated with movement. I think that social movements often get associated as being the same as activism. I am not sure what to think of this association but I am sure as the semester progressed I will be able to answer that question if social movements and activism can be interchangeable. Webster does seem to a good job at describing in easy to understand terms what activism is.
After finding this easy to understand definition I looked on Jstore for a scholarly understanding of activism. I found an article that was entitled, "Its Just about Being Fair: Activism and the Politics of Volunteering in the Breast Cancer Movement,” in Gender and Society, Vol 3. No. 3 (June, 2004.) This article defined activism by comparing it to volunteering. I really liked how they compared this because I think it is easy to confuse volunteering with being an activist. The articles states, “Activists are presented as more cynical than volunteers but also…believe that conversation about important matter is an important aspect of what they do and social change. Volunteers, on the other hand, are said to be more focused on action and emphasis doing over talking…Activists are more likely to understand themselves as knowledge producers, volunteers as knowledge consumers.” This academic definition really emphasizes the reasons and believes behind an action, being “conversation focused” rather than the volunteers just “doing.” This also portrays the somewhat negative connotations that can accompany activism for being against the majority of society.
Combing the academic and the main stream definition really works to better understand what activism means to society. Since activism works directly with society this is an extremely import understanding so activists really can start their work, by understanding how they are perceived.
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