Help people help themselves: That's the idea behind microcredit. Small
loans-sometimes no more than $50-can radically improve the life of a
poor family. Where development aid and billion-dollar loans fail,
microcredit is emerging as the success story in the battle against world
poverty. People who were previously considered "unbankable" no longer
have to look to loan sharks for funding. With microcredit, they can
become owners of small businesses. And it turns out they nearly always
repay their loans on time. In many countries, professional organizations
have become active in the field of microfinancing. To research this
book, Kamp traveled to Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia and India to speak with
the people who grant microcredit and those who receive it. Their stories
make it clear that microcredit is a tremendous stimulus for economic and
social development and, in particular, for people's self-awareness.
Co-founder and editor-in-chief of Ode magazine, Jurriaan Kamp has
published two previous books, Because People Matter: Building an Economy
That Works for Everyone (2000) and It Is Possible (1998). Praise for
Jurriaan Kamp's Because People Matter: "A wonderful and concise handbook
of how modern economic theory has dealt a body blow to the prospect of a
humane world. Jurriaan Kamp shows the vectors of change that can lead us
away from being economic ciphers to a system that enlivens and redefines
what it means to be a human being." PAUL HAWKEN, Environmentalist,
Entrepreneur and Author of The Ecology of Commerce "A powerfully
persuasive chronicle of why opposition to the current brand of
globalization is certain to grow." JEFF GATES, Author of The Ownership
Solution and Democracy at Risk ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Co-founder and
editor-in-chief of Ode magazine, JURRIAAN KAMP has pubilished two
previous books, Because People Matter: Building an Economy that Works
for Everyone (2000) and It Is Possible (1998).
