I am into microfinance business. And this business continues to amaze me keep me motivated. The essence of microlending lies in helping the poor sections of the society to earn their Livelihood respectfully.
Although, in India, particularly Rajasthan, this model has not been effective. Major reason being the women cannot judiciously decide on how to utilize their resources.
But on a better side, some incidents do restore my faith in this model and that humanity and maturity does exist.
A recent incident I came across was a woman, who borrowed a loan from me, had to pay her installment but she could not due to some reasons. So she took her 6 year old daughter's piggy bank and collected 100 ten ruppee coins to pay the installment. Luckily she had that much.
She brought along her daughter at the center and I asked her why did you allow mom to use your savings. She quietly responded that "my mom needed it, I had to."
I was awestruck for a moment and then smiled at her.
At that moment, I was satisfied and proud of myself that my business is and does creates value. Values that our economy needs. Values that the humanity needs.
One might argue the they have so little but they are happy and contended. And seeing them I realized it's not how much we have but what we make of it matters. Making the best use of money they borrow, spending it wisely and when it's time to repay, repay it with full sincerity. I felt that this is the essence of micro finance. But then I realized, perhaps, this is the essence of humanity.
The pic is of those coins she gave me for the installment.
