Friday, December 17, 2010

Supporting #Mifos in the light of the Indian #microcredit crisis

The BBC informs us about the problems the microcredit industry faces in India. There is a problem and, it is not a simple one. The problem is that without microcredit many people are not able to get a loan at all except from loan sharks and consequently it is a lifeline for many people and typically it is the only way for people to start a business, to earn a living.

The stories of people in India and Bangladesh who default on their loans are heartbreaking. Then again, the stories are about parents who want to give their children an education, who paid for essential health care, who lost everything due to a flood. Lets recognise that an appendicitis left untreated does kill that a lack of education is what holds people back and compare this to mortgages for a second house or loans for a second car with people who default and just walk away...

When you read the BBC article and associated articles, you learn the difference in interest people pay microcredit organisations and usurious money lenders. You learn that there are politicians everywhere that do not have the public interest at heart.

Mifos is a tool to administrate microcredit. Microcredit emancipates people by providing them with tools to function economically. At translatewiki.net we support open source software. Mifos cuts the cost of microfinance and each implementation of Mifos in yet another language will help people realise their Indian dream, Bengali, French or American dream.
Thanks,
     GerardM

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