Poverty and Haiti: Justima's Comments About Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Dear Prof. Yanus,

I am an Ex-Presidential Candidate of Haiti, a country evidently known for being poor, therefore I know a thing or two about poverty alleviation and reduction.

But what matters to me is systematic poverty elimination, thus eradication. While you should be congratulated on working on raising awareness about poverty alleviation and reduction with microfinance around the world, http://www.grameenfoundation.org/nobel_prize/vid_odette.php,
I ask myself, Sir, if the model that you use with a microcredit of about $US 200 does not instead feeds dependency and starvs poverty elimination.

For frankly, I don't see how in Haiti a woman who has 5 kids to feed by selling a few things in the streets can get herself out of the streets even if she increases her working capital by $ US 200. Yes, she will do better by her children by earning more. That's poverty alleviation. That's poverty reduction. But that is no poverty elimination that is her goal, your goal and mine.

In raising millions to aid millions, perhaps we might want to go beyond the just feel good strategy that is so satisfying for the soul of the giver and place the world squarely in front of its responsibility to do more than just hands out but to give poor people the kind of requisite minimal capital and opportunity that can aid them lift themselves in a sustainable way out of poverty and finally graduate themselves and their family, in one generation, to middle class.

I would like to work with you on helping the world graduate to that level of help that could be more meaningful.
Regards,

JUSTIMA, Emmanuel

emmanuel_fondationjustima@voila.fr
justima@live.com
HAITI.2@live.com


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