Blog FeedWhy a Freedom from Hunger Blog?
As Freedom from Hunger looks toward 2010 and our goal of helping three million families achieve self-sustaining victories over hunger, we wanted to share our journey through a more personal string of communications. It is my hope that this blog will be an ongoing conversation about hope, possibility and change. And, that by interacting with everyday people who support the dream of a world free from hunger, you will be inspired to become more involved.
We decided to launch the Freedom from Hunger blog as part of a very important celebration, Freedom from Hunger Day. Established in 2006, and declared an official day of awareness by the State of California, the day commemorates those around the world working tirelessly to end their own hunger. Initially, our blog will feature comments from staff in the field, stories of women who have won life-saving victories and news from all over the world of microfinance. But through the input of our worldwide community, this can evolve into a place of discussion for the future — a place where great minds and great hearts can work together until there are no more hungry families.
Over the years we have gone through our own evolution. We began as Meals for Millions, the organization that developed and introduced Multi-Purpose Food, a high-protein powdered food supplement still used today in relief efforts around the world. In the 1970s, we began implementing Applied Nutrition Programs, focusing almost exclusively on the health and nutrition of mothers and children. In 1988, Freedom from Hunger developed the world’s first integrated microcredit/health and nutrition education program. Today, our Credit with Education program is serving nearly 700,000 families in some of the poorest countries on earth and tomorrow brings the promise of millions.
These are indeed exciting times at Freedom from Hunger and we want to share them with the countless people out there who are passionate about making a difference in the fight against hunger. We hope you lend your voice to our blog.
8 Responses to “Why a Freedom from Hunger Blog?”
Kate | 09-21-07
I’m excited that you have a blog! Look forward to hearing all of the great things Freedom from Hunger is up to!
Claire | 09-21-07
I heard that PBS is airing a progam tonight on microfinance and how Compartamos in Mexico is charging high interest rates to their poor clients in order to please investors. What is Freedom from Hunger’s position on this? Do you charge interest? If so, why?
Amber K. Stott, Senior Communications Manager at Freedom from Hunger | 09-21-07
In response to the question above from Claire, Freedom from Hunger is an early leader on consumer protection for microfinance borrowers. We continue to stand by our beliefs that the poor should be the number-one focus of microfinance—not investors or the wealthy.
Freedom from Hunger uses a very different model than Compartamos, which charges interest rates that can be well over 100%. Freedom from Hunger believes in sustainability and lasting impact. We charge affordable interest rates on loans and set up repayment structures that are comfortable for the women to manage. The revenue earned from interest payments covers the cost of operating the program locally. Eventually, interest payments not only sustain the program, they fund expansion in the region.
The amount we charge varies from country to country and is based on the local prime lending rate. The rates are a welcome relief from the interest charged by local moneylenders who prey on women at vulnerable times (such as when their child is sick and they need money for medicine). Local moneylenders commonly charge an effective interest rate of 100% to 200% on their loans. It traps women in debt and the poverty spiral continues downward.
Likewise, Freedom from Hunger does not agree that profit-maximizing investors can hold shares in ownership of a microfinance institution without pushing the institution to charge the poor at usurious rates, as Compartamos does.
Alanna | 09-24-07
I was looking over the schedule for all the events that are happening throughout Freedom from Hunger Day on Friday, and I saw that there’s going to be an audio community meeting of women gathering in Peru. I’m completely excited for that AND the virtual tour! I’ve always wanted to visit Peru! Through this site I’m going to be able to observe a genuine experience of the human spirit rising above and beyond their own misfortunes that they happened to be predisposed to; and I’ll be fully engrossed in how they decide to do so in this culture. It’s crazy!
Marcia Metcalfe | 09-27-07
I will be tuning in tomorrow with a group of junior high students who are studying peace and social justice issues at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. Last week they developed their own definition of peace and we will be discussing this in light of what they hear and learn about India from Alay Barah tomorrow. Thanks for this great opportunity for these students.
Daffodil | 09-28-07
That’s a really interesting point to dissect in terms of looking at Freedom from Hunger’s attitude towards all of these sites and cultures. Peace is an ideal which we so often ponder on or analyze, but when you don’t actually see it, and you don’t have a regular example of what it could look like, it becomes less real…less possible. I feel like this organization actually manages to approach the lives of these women selflessly, and give them tools for survival not out of charity, but out of a magnanimous belief in the human spirit… out of hope really. I sort of just stumbled on this site today, so I’m actually really interested in finding out more on their programs…
Thanks!
Joanne Leslie | 09-28-07
In response to Alanna’s comment above, I was fortunate enough to be on the Freedom From Hunger trip to Peru in April. It was amazing to see what women such as Herlinda, the ice maker, and Victoria, the market vendor, were doing with their loans. I look forward to chatting with you more this afternoon on the special Peru blog.
Joanne
Chris Dunford | 09-28-07
To Daffodil (one of my favorite flowers!), let me draw your attention to a presentation I gave just this week to the Chicago Global Donors Network, a donor education forum, about microfinance and our particular approach that integrates microfinance to other services, especially education for better health and money management. In that presentation, it is clear that the success of microfinance depends on a fundamental belief that the poor are not passive victims of their circumstances, that they are ready, willing and able to use whatever help is offered to help themselves. To help themselves and their families, they have two powerful assets: they have the power of the individual human spirit, which gives them resourcefulness and resilience, and they have each other, the relationships, solidarity, “social capital” to survive in conditions that would kill most of us who have not grown up in their circumstances. Just think how much better they could do with a little outside help! That’s what Freedom from Hunger is offering them to support their self-help efforts to end their own hunger for good. You can find the presentation transcript on this Web site at http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/pdfs/2007_09_what_makes_mf_work.pdf
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us all.