Do it because it IS possible!

The title of this blog reflects the sentiment weaving through yesterday's conference sessions and opening ceremony -- that the seemingly impossible IS possible, and it is up to us to work for change.  Being in the company of Muhammad Yunus, Ingrid Munroe (Jamii Bora founder), the President of Kenya, the Queen of Spain and the Princess of the Netherlands is enough to inspire anyone -- but of course the real inspiration comes from the feet on the ground doing the work to change their own lives and the lives in their communities.  Relentless, persevering, always hopeful, these agents of change are sometimes the NGOs, sometimes the religious, sometimes the very recipients of grants and loans who struggle daily to sustain themselves, their health, and their well-being, and who often go beyond mere sustainability to become role models for others seeking to rise up out of poverty.  The opening ceremony, with all its pomp and grandeur was exciting, but the real nuggets of the day came from the smaller sessions and the private conversations.  Many of the good people I met at Jamii Bora on Tuesday were there at the conference yesterday to bear witness to the organization's success, and Ingrid let them tell their own stories.  When I went up to them to say hello, well expecting that these women would not remember me with all the people they meet coming through their town of Kaputei, they surprised me with warm greetings of "Hello, Linda" and hugs and kisses.  Everyone you meet here becomes your friend! 
Some of the wonderful people I met yesterday include some founding members of RESULTS; a Kenyan woman named Rose who started her own microfinance organization to help women farmers in rural Kenya -- she now has 400 borrowers, most of whom are HIV-positive, and who are thriving on their plots of land raising cattle and harvesting crops, and doing it all in a sustainable way; Lesley, a young woman from South Africa who is setting up microfinance hub centers in major cities in the EU and Africa to act as local think tanks, engaging young people such as herself who are committed, brilliant and craving opportunities to change the world; a professor from UNC-Chapel Hill who wants to build a microloan program there and seeks our advice and guidance; a former street gang member and criminal, John, who now is a poster child for Jamii Bora and owns his own home; and a regional director of BRAC in Bangladesh who shared stories of how grants, rather than loans, or a tool for allowing the ultra poor to actually get ON the ladder that would bring them closer to a microloan.  We talked about food insecurity, poverty graduates, using the village elite as role models in small communities, the impact of health crises on microlending program success (or failure), and how we might best reach rural communities where the poorest of the poor are being left behind.  It was an intense day filled with more information than I could possibly digest, and I look forward to more today.

I am also going later this afternoon to re-visit Sr. Deb and to meet some new borrowers for our program and see the DREAM facility in action.  Today, I will be sending the GLOBE students new loan applications and pictures for the students to work on immediately.  Kenya -- welcome to GLOBE!