Readings, Logs, Events, oh my! We have so much to do and so much to learn! I will admit though, I am not a complete stranger to the GLOBE program; I was first introduced to GLOBE by a close friend in 2010 therefore I had a very general understanding of the class. After having read over the syllabus, two weeks ago, I could already foresee how wonderful and yet intensive this course was going to be. All reading assignments, events to attend, websites to visit, and topics to research are listed in detail---and I love it! Although we are short one person (from the typical five-person group) I see it as an advantage. We are all very hands on and proactive with our ideas, and after having listed our objectives for the spring 2012 semester I know that we all have great plans to succeed. We fully intend to bring awareness to the St. John’s community of the GLOBE program as well as fund raise as much as possible to benefit our donors.
Our first reading assignment was to read Chapter 3 “Back in Chittagong” in Dr. Muhammad Yunnus’ book, Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle against World Poverty. This book is a personal memoir on Dr. Yunnus’ journey towards dedicating his life to eradicating world poverty. His decision to assist the poor, especially the landless poor, is brought to fruition once he returns to his home country of Bangladesh, after having studied in the United States as a Fulbright Scholar. He noticed that most scholars analyzed why people were poor but not how to end the continuous and vicious cycle of poverty. This realization is what most impressed me because he was able to successfully recognize the problem, shed light on the situation, and create a change. This was his “call to action”. Like Dr. Yunnus, we, the GLOBE Managers at St. John’s University, are also doing our part in responsibly creating a positive change. Naturally, on a much smaller scale yet nonetheless significant enough. I am extremely excited to see how the GLOBE course will develop our understanding of microfinance and its affect on reducing global poverty.
- Marketing and Fundraising Team
