World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - (Page 17) Bangladeshi women wait for a volunteer to distribute their loan money collected from a microfinance agency at manikganj, Bangladesh. microfinance lending is transforming the rural economy and giving millions of women the chance to pull their families out of poverty. inhospitable to more social-minded programs like health education and could ultimately stray from the original goal of eradicating poverty. is it impossible to find a happy medium between the two perspectives? are microfinance’s social agendas and its financial needs mutually exclusive? grameen foundation Ceo Counts thinks not, although the strategies he proposes to unite the two may sound somewhat unorthodox in the business world. for one thing, he says it is important for microfinance lenders to use a profit model that focuses on doing a high volume of business and earning low profit margins, which w w w. h e i f e r . o rg is an inversion of the traditional way of thinking about profits. but it is better, he says, for lenders to make a large number of small-profit loans rather than try to squeeze more profits from each loan by charging higher interest rates. another key, he says, will be to ensure that investors in microfinance treat it not as a get-rich-quick plan, but as a long-term proposition, one that has the potential to reap its greatest rewards by successfully seeing people out of poverty. “over the long term—and particularly with the profits you can earn serving people after they’ve emerged from januar y/f e bruar y 2009 | wor ld a r k photo by RAFIQUR RAhMAN/ReUteRs /LANdov. 17 http://www.heifer.org
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Microfinance: A Lot for a Little Business is Buzzing in Honduras The World Grows Smaller Mixed Media Heifer Spirit Heifer Bulletin Calendar First Person World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 (Page Cover1) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 (Page Cover2) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 (Page 1) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 (Page 2) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Contents (Page 3) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Letters (Page 4) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Letters (Page 5) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - For the Record (Page 6) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - For the Record (Page 7) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The Good Life (Page 8) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The Good Life (Page 9) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Asked and Answered (Page 10) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Asked and Answered (Page 11) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 12) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 13) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 14) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 15) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 16) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 17) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 18) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Microfinance: A Lot for a Little (Page 19) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 20) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 21) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 22) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 23) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 24) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 25) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 26) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Business is Buzzing in Honduras (Page 27) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 28) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 29) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 30) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 31) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 32) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 33) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 34) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 35) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 36) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - The World Grows Smaller (Page 37) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Mixed Media (Page 38) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Mixed Media (Page 39) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Spirit (Page 40) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Spirit (Page 41) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 42) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 43) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 44) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 45) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 46) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 47) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 48) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Heifer Bulletin (Page 49) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Calendar (Page 50) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - Calendar (Page 51) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - First Person (Page 52) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - First Person (Page Cover3) World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - First Person (Page Cover4)
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