Jack Slattery
President, FOI
|
India RPCV Ron Tschetter to head Peace Corps
FOI sends our warm congratulations
and its best wishes to Ron Tschetter on his tenure as Director of the Peace Corps.
Tschetter, now 64, and his wife volunteered with his wife to work as family
planning advisers in India. (more on the
News Page)
Innovation and Invention - Fighting Poverty Worldwide
It was truly exciting that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 went to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank
for fostering economic and social development from below. Here are some important points the Nobel Committee noted:
|
- Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.
- Development from below advances democracy and human rights.
- Loans to poor people without financial security appeared impossible but the Grameen Bank developed micro-credit
into an important instrument in the struggle against poverty.
- Every single individual on earth has both the potential and right to live a decent life.
- Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to
bring about their own development. (http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_lau_announce2006.html)
An outgrowth of the Grameen program is India's CASHPOR Micro Credit program presently reaching 100,000 below-poverty
recipients in Eastern UP and Bihar and projecting 1,000,000 below-poverty household recipients by the year 2010.
(http://www.grameen-info.org)
As Volunteers in India we worked with the poor in agriculture, poultry, health and education. We gave technical
assistance to small projects while international donors worked at the macro level with large projects. Both
approaches are needed but the Grameen experience demonstrates the necessity of empowering local populations to
overcome poverty and the critical role of "social business entrepreneurs" in "...fighting the social battles in
ever innovative and effective ways."
(http://www.grameen-info.org)
An example of such an effort is the Full Belly Project (http://www.fullbellyproject.org), encouraged and supported by the Coastal Carolina RPCVs in Wilmington, NC. The project invented and manufactures a manually driven peanut sheller for use by village households in developing countries. Through a totally volunteer effort of former PCVs, college students and others, the "starter" shellers and their molds are manufactured in Wilmington (in a garage, of course, where all great works begin!!) and shipped overseas. The shellers can be manufactured in these countries with molds produced by the project. As a result villagers benefit from low-cost shelling and local entrepreneurs have an opportunity to start a small business making the shellers.
Is there a lesson for us? Poverty is growing in our country and no one seems to have answers for reducing it. Capitalism helps many but also leaves a lot of people behind. Can a Grameen-like approach be applied in the US to empower the poor and provide innovative opportunities?
A Big Thanks for replies to the last newsletter and your website contributions. This makes FOI more interesting
and relevant for all of us.
Namascaram,
Jack Slattery
Email: FOIndiaSlattery@aol.com
|
