Micro-Lending in Haiti?

[BrianFromWA]

Any of you financial gurus know if Haiti's ever been successful with microlending programs? I know it's worked a bunch in Puerto Rico, the DR, T&T, and West Africa, but I get the feeling from watching the news this week that it's never really caught on.

 

[maxiep]

Any of you financial gurus know if Haiti's ever been successful with microlending programs? I know it's worked a bunch in Puerto Rico, the DR, T&T, and West Africa, but I get the feeling from watching the news this week that it's never really caught on.

Haiti has lacked the sufficient infrastructure to make micro-lending work. When you have a society that young, ravaged by AIDS, with that level of unemployment and corruption, it's tough to make a go of it. People could borrow $300 (the average yearly income in Haiti) and it would be stolen.

Hopefully the OAS (IMO the proper organization to help) will step in and figure out a way to pull Haiti into the modern world. If you can offer protection from thugs and the government, the people have a chance.

 

[Buzz Killington]

probably the people there are kind of uneducated as well and not very entrepreneurial?

 

[maxiep]

probably the people there are kind of uneducated as well and not very entrepreneurial?

First, being uneducated and not being entrepreneurial aren't related. I would actually guess that people trying to function in a broken society with no real services are probably more entrepreneurial by default. If they don't scramble and hustle, they don't have food, clothing or shelter.

 

[Buzz Killington]

First, being uneducated and not being entrepreneurial aren't related. I would actually guess that people trying to function in a broken society with no real services are probably more entrepreneurial by default. If they don't scramble and hustle, they don't have food, clothing or shelter.

Sure they're related. if a society doesn't focus on education, they focus on mere survival and feeding. the point of education is to better one's self, and without a solid foundation to build on or desire, its hard to run anything more than just being a hunter/gatherer.

 

[maxiep]

Sure they're related. if a society doesn't focus on education, they focus on mere survival and feeding. the point of education is to better one's self, and without a solid foundation to build on or desire, its hard to run anything more than just being a hunter/gatherer.

Hunting and gathering is entrepreneurship at its most basic. The most educated people aren't the most entrepreneurial.

 

[hasoos]

I know that some companies had tried helping by recently opening some clothing factories there, but those probably got annhiliated in the quake. What I am looking at right now, is there is probably going to be a huge rush of humanitarian aid, but what they really need is aid in the type to help turn the country around and make it self sustaining for the long term. There was already a huge homeless and unemployment problem there before this happened. Getting them food and shelter for the short term isn't going to change that. That is one of the problems with an island nation. They are dependant on other nations for many of the things we consider "normal" to be shipped in from the outside. For instance, it is nearly impossible to build quake proof housing without ree-bar. How many Iron mines and the appropriate foundries do you think there are there? Top it off with the fact that they probably cannot afford to import it, and I see the same problem we are facing today, re-occuring in the future.

 

[Buzz Killington]

Hunting and gathering is entrepreneurship at its most basic. The most educated people aren't the most entrepreneurial.

no its not. its survival.

you can't turn a 3rd world shithole into being a society of business owners without a system and focus on improving education. otherwise you will have unskilled labor and/or management being run by outside influences.

 

[maxiep]

no its not. its survival.

you can't turn a 3rd world shithole into being a society of business owners without a system and focus on improving education. otherwise you will have unskilled labor and/or management being run by outside influences.

Who says survival can be entrepreneurship? You need food and can't just go down to the store and buy it. What do you do? What service can you provide? What can you barter? Plenty of societies became entrepreneurs without a great educational tradition.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.

 

[deception]

micro finance has often targeted and benefited the most neglected members of society- specifically uneducated, women living in patriarchal societies- e.g. muhammed yunas' nobel prize winning campaign in muslim dominated Bangladesh- where the overwhelming majority of recipients of these loans have been women. and strangely enough- the overwhelming majority pay these loans back promptly. however, i believe the difference between bangladesh and haiti is that bangladesh is a lot more secure (less violence and there isnt a coup every 5 years) and there is less corruption, which is instrumental in entrepreneurship because u arent constantly paying bribes to random ppl just to set up shop. nevertheless, i think micro finance in conjunction with basic infrastructure building programs can go a longs way in haiti.

 

[Buzz Killington]

On Kiva.org, the biggest microlending donation totals have been to atheists.