Microfinance Revolution
ThinkImpact would like to welcome our guest blogger, Fehmeen Khan. to BigThink, to tell us about her experience with microfinance and the work she is doing.
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There are four choices for those who realize we’re in the middle of a microfinance revolution: oppose it, watch peacefully from the sidelines, occasionally support the idea in accordance with one’s personal capacity, or become an active participant of this noble cause.
I chose the third option.
Microfinance Hub was born the day I made this decision and I haven’t looked back since. The aim was to create awareness about the penetrating social implications and remarkable financial returns of this phenomenon, and a website seemed to be the most effective method of achieving this feat.
I had no exposure to this field prior to late January 2010; in fact, all I knew about it was that Professor Yunus, the ‘father of microfinance’, won the 2006 Noble Peace Prize and that my dad had only just joined a local microfinance bank.
But that was enough to get me started and I soon came across ThinkImpact’s blog, as well as a few other valuable resources that welcomed me into the complex yet fascinating world of microfinance. It did not take me long, however, to realize there was a relative dearth of information about this topic, despite the honest efforts of many well-wishers, and I thought I ought to do my part in filling this gap by shifting the focus of my site.
As a result, over the last couple of months, I’ve covered various areas related to trends, challenges, technology, services and the economic impact of microfinance itself, and in effect promoted other people’s efforts as well as my own. Many people from around the globe drop by my site each day and show their support in their own way; some leave comments, others subscribe, yet I attribute my greatest pleasure to simply being able to help answer their questions about microfinance.
No wonder my dreams continue to flourish. I know one day, maybe after a couple of years, Microfinance Hub will live up to its name and become a central source of simplified information for anyone interested in microfinance. Now, my aim is simply to educate others about this idea, so somewhere down this road, when the World Bank is forced to eliminate the concept of the poverty line because no one lives a life of economic deprivation, I can look back and be glad that I played a part in this revolution – a small part that was commensurate with my individual capacity.
Name: Fehmeen Khan
Website: Microfinance Hub
