With banks out of the picture, microlending agencies step into the role usually held by the imperfect combination of relatives and often predatory money lenders. Microlending is most often associated with the developing world, but agencies have begun working in industrialized countries.

The Grameen Bank, the world’s first microfinance institution, was born in Bangladesh in 1983 by Mohammed Yunus, an economics professor who launched it to help alleviate rural poverty by providing much needed funds to entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Not only would the poor repay these loans, Yunus argued, but the Grameen Bank’s lending style would become a sound investment. In 2006, Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. By 2008 Grameen Bank had lent $7.6 billion.

As the internet age hit, microlenders began looking for ways to replicate the Grameen Bank's success online. With the rise of social networking, especially peer-to-peer media, these lenders found their answer. The question, however, remains: Will social media help create a sustainable market for microfinance?

It’s just one of the debates occurring during a Sept. 23-24 Harvard University conference, Can technologies help reduce poverty in developing countries?

One of the first microlenders to have an impact over the internet is the US-based Kiva, which began a few years after a couple traveled to East Africa in 2004. Kiva claims to be the world’s first “person-to-person micro-lending website.”

Here’s a good description of how Kiva works, from Tales From Beyond the Glimpse, a blog from Austria.

In Kiva's website you can lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back or use it for another loan (I like this idea because you can give a small loan once and use the same amount over and over)- and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so I suppose you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I made a loan to Adjo Solomé in Togo. I liked her immediately because she's working with a sewing machine!

I love the internet because you can do things like this directly now.

Kiva allows a potential lender to browse profiles of people needing finance. If a entrepreneur is selected and a loan made, Kiva then allocates the funds to one of its microfianance partners, an agency working on the ground. The recipient will then repay the loan, usually at interest. (The use of interest is controversial, but common, within microfinance.) Kiva's site allows lenders to follow the money throughout the loan process, keeping tabs on repayment and other personal updates. This has caught on to other lending sites.

What helps drives these sites isn't just the loans; it's the methods used to make the funds available. “Social networks are important,” writes Jon Camfield in his self-titled blog. “Trust — more commonly called social capital in this situation — is the strength and number of interpersonal connections. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the like are convenient ways to map out these connections (within a connected group of people), but hardly replace them.”

This is by no means new in development theory, and is often portrayed as either the keystone to successful development or a red herring (and to be fair, it's probably both).
Social Networks also provide a second important role. Beyond increasing trust to enable all sorts of transactions, and providing back-channels to smooth those along, they also improve (if not outright cause) technology diffusion. Spread throughout a network will be innovators, experimenters and early adopters who create, tweak and test new ideas, and then begin to spread them by word of mouth as well as through successful implementations.

The marriage of microlending and social media works two ways. First it allows a disparate group of people, perhaps the entrepreneurs, to communicate and become organized. Secondly, it allows them to reach out and relay their message with the larger world. Microlending organizations have latched on to this, leveraging technology to make sure potential lenders can put a face to recipients’ stories. Perhaps these personal bonds originate from the Grameen Bank, which began lending funds on the basis of trust and used peer pressure to insure the loans were repaid. Or, perhaps microlenders online use interpersonal connections as a bulwark against compassion fatigue.

Here’s an example of the personal touch from an interview in the blog China Philanthropy with Casey Wilson, the co-founder of Wokai, a microfinance site that has been called the Facebook for Farmers. Here Wilson relates a positive experience she's witnessed from microfinance.

On a micro level—one of my favorites is this woman from Sichuan who is 24 years old. When she was 18 she and her husband got married and were basically put into indentured servitude. His family put them in debt for living with them so they worked I the city for 4 years to pay off the debt and she was able to save up a little money when they moved back to Sichuan to start up a duck industry.
She bought a number of ducks. She started the business, and then 3 months in all of her ducks died. It turns out, at the same time she found out about our field partner. She went to them and got support and money to restart her duck business. I’m so impressed with her A—That she is so young and persevered through so much adversity and B—looking to see where she is with microfinance and where she would be without it. If our partner had not been there to help her she would have been left with nothing, her only options would have been to go back to the city, and she would never had the tools to lift herself from poverty. Stories like that are really inspiring to me.

The new French site Babyloan works on much the same manner as Kiva and Wokai, linking donors to entrepreneurs. But it is the first site to specifically target European donors.

It also has visions of building a social community. The Traveling Spouse, a blogger based mostly in France, reports:

Babyloan are hoping to develop the site into a social community, so that lenders can meet others and share experiences, even electing representatives to the board of directors.

By the reaction to this site, it has struck a chord with more than a few bloggers.

From Emmanuel Brunet, who lives and blogs in Paris.

Moi j'ai sélectionné Asfandiyor, Nishon, Gulchehra et Oygul, mes nouveaux amis du Tadjikistan.
Ils cherchaient 810 euros sur 9 mois pour acheter du bétail et ainsi produire du fromage, de la viande et probablement faciliter les activités agricoles. Dans 9 mois, ils nous remboursent les sommes données, sans taux d'intêret. C'est simple, ce n'est pas contraignant puisque l'argent n'est jamais perdu et ça donne un vrai coup de pouce.
L'argent remboursé pourra alors être injecté dans d'autres projets ou vous être rendu directement.
En quelques jours, les amis du Tadjikistan ont trouvé les 810 euros nécessaires à l'achat de bétail, grâce à d'autres participants de France et de Suisse.

C'est peut-être ça le développement (monétaire) durable… !

From the blog Les Enfants du Web.

L’intérêt est bien évidemment de suivre l’avancée du projet. Et on se dit qu’avec se genre de service notre argent arrive effectivement au destinataire…

J’ai donc décidé d’aider le projet de Chanthol Vorn, une cambodgienne qui veut développer sa petite épicerie ! Je contribue à hauteur de 20€ sur les 210€ nécessaire.

Je trouve le concept hyper intéressant mais le site en lui-même mériterait une interface un peu plus sympa. Que se soit au niveau des graphismes et de l’ergonomie, une version 2 n’est vraiment pas du luxe.

From Domi, who blogs at Mood-for:

Mmes Houessou et Gandaho veulent monter une petite boutique à Cotonou au Bénin pour nourrir leurs 4 enfants correctement. Elles ont déjà 340 euros sur les 460 dont elles ont besoin pour l’ouverture de la boutique. Je leur en ai prêté 30 et elles me le rendront dans 10 mois car, le saviez vous, les utilisateurs du micro-crédit remboursent mieux que la plupart des emprunteurs… Mes 30 euros, je pourrai ainsi les prêter à d’autres bientôt. C’est simple et efficace, c’est le micro-crédit à portée de chacun d’entre nous. Ca nous permet d’être utile.

The sites for Kiva, Wokai and Babyloan are full of functionality, great graphics and heart-warming photos. A participant in these projects cannot help but feeling part of a community. Interfaces also make sure the loan-making transparent. With all the technology supporting these sites, however, one blogger wonders whether these schemes will pass the sustainability test that often separates good development project from just good ideas.

David Costa, who blogs at Microfinance.fm out of Zürich, Switzerland:

my primary interest is looking at microfinance as an investment opportunity too and not as a donation.
Even in the case of Kiva the borrower has to pay interests but, at least, unless there is a default, the investor can re-use his capital or withdrawn it.
I am sure that donation and grants to not for profit institution like Wokai are important but from an investment standpoint these are not as scalable.
In the case of kiva there are more options: you can lend 4000$ and receive, if needed, part or all your investment back. In the case of wokai I can only donate
to their organisation – how they use the money is not really important from an investor standpoint. It is really not an investment.

Israeli ambassador to Switzerland was recalled and returned to Jerusalem following the Swiss presidents' meeting with the Iranian leader. Shimon Peres said earlier in the day: “There is a limit to Switzerland's neutrality, and there is a border which must not be crossed. Everyone should realize that Iran is a country where people are lynched in the street for no good reason. It is the world center for terrorism and bloodshed.”

As the national holocaust memorial day unfolds, Israeli bloggers reflect and question the meaning of the day's events.

Bravejeworld describes the events at the conference:

Mahmoud Ahmedinajad proceeded to prove all the anti-Durban I protestors right this afternoon as he launched into a predictable tirade against Israel and the Jewish people. Contrary to the principles and claimed purpose of the UN backed conference, Iranian's president proved to the world how hypocritical he actually is as by standing directly opposed to everything the Western world holds dear. As a result, many world leaders walked out of the conference as he began his speech to the delight and pleasure of the many spectators and thus reducing the conference to the shambles many were hoping it would be.

Dr. Ori Amity affirms how the Palestinian problem is certainly not related to race, nor is genocide, as Ahmadinejad claims:

True, the Iranian president is a ridiculous character, but especially with this type of person, we cannot stay silent. And before everything, it is necessary to refer to his accusation of genocide. With the Israeli Laissez-faire mentality, and some failures found here and there, if there was a masterplan to kill all Palestinians, we all would have noticed it by now: gas chambers in the Erez checkpoint, firing squads and death marches from Hebron to Jenin - someone would have already noticed, no?

The claims (towards Israel) over racism are somewhat right, especially with regards to the 1970's immigration law, which provides immediate citizenship even to the children and grandchildren of Jews, and not only to the Jews themselves. This is exactly the difference between discrimination on the basis of race versus religion. And still, the president is not worried about this law, but about the Palestinian problem. There are many different types of problems here, but certainly not based on race.

An important lesson learned from the holocaust is - never become indifferent to another person's suffering - especially if you are the cause. The Palestinian suffering is a fact, and the abstention from finding a solution for many years is unjust for both sides. This serves as a constant reminder that not everything is good, and if we will not act to fix the situation, we might lose that which today seems as most obvious.

Adi Shternberg brings up the example of Europe pre-WWII relating to the danger of non-action:

Hitler came into political rule in a legitimate manner. He made his way to the top against all odds, and proved he had political and strategical capabilities. All this would not have happened if the European countries would have stood strong and shown military might while it was still possible. Nazi Germany was far from powerful in its first years. France, England, Poland and Russia could have stopped the Nazi snowball in its first years… before it became too late; before history was written in blood.

The mere fact of organizing a conference such as Durban II during the formal holocaust memorial day, shows the historical and generational blindness that this ancient European continent has. Europe was totally destroyed during the world war, and could have prevented this. Europe lets this terrible conference take place - the type of gathering that supports the dark forces of the world. Europe can still stop this. It is not too late.

Navka writes:

Must it be on this day? When we remember the atrocities that happened in the world - the murder of millions of people because of hate, with no good reason.
Durban II conference opened, where the honorary guests Ahmadinejad gives a racist speech against Israel.
We must not provide these terrible people with a stage where they can open their mouths this way…

The World Economic Forum´s annual meeting of political and business leaders is taking place between January 23rd and January 27th in Davos, Switzerland. This year, common people can participate in this forum by giving their ideas to make the world a better place and posting it on the YouTube video sharing site.

This year, people from around the world will not only be able to view the forum sessions through webcasts, but they can also voice their opinion and be seen and heard by world leaders by uploading videos online. Through videos and through text on their YouTube channel, the World Economic Forum Davos Conversation organizers made their invitation:

The Annual Meeting has begun, and world leaders have been gathering at the YouTube corner in the Congress Centre to view and respond to the videos many of you have submitted.

And its not too late to join The Davos Conversation. You can still submit a video answering The Davos Question:

“What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?”

Some of your videos will be screened at select plenary sessions (January 23-27). World leaders will continue to watch your videos and make responses of their own.

Already, there are over 600 videos tagged with “davos question” uploaded on Youtube, 115 videos of world leaders and Davos participants answering the question,and 183 user added videos on their channel.

Answers are coming in from individuals as well as NGOs, and videos range from just text and a voice-over, to faces in front of a camera, to edited video-clips with subtitles. They all have provided at least an idea to help the world become a better place, and I´ve selected a few of the videos uploaded by users coming from developing countries.

For example, one uploaded by overseasdevelopment1:

Fletcher Tembo, of the Overseas Development Institute, offers his answer to the Davos Question, discussing the importance of supporting the voice of citizens around the world.

Others, like Iranian cyberpejman, speak about improving education, using online tools:

This Bangladeshi girl, Noor Akhter, through brac.net, a Bangladeshi effort to alleviate poverty, speaks about gender equality and how it is important for girls like her around the world to have the same rights as boys for work, education and opportunities:

And from Argentina, Tomás Alejandro gives his opinion on two steps we can take to make the world a better place: Help Africa more and stop war:

These are only some of the examples, there are many other videos uploaded by hundreds of others with many awesome ideas on the Youtube thedavosquestion channel. These videos are being shown at Davos in a special room where participants in Switzerland can leave their own replies, and bloggers are already reporting video responses from global leaders to their ideas.

The meeting was a resounding success. It also started a conversation on how different the Malagasy community in North-America is from the Malagasy community based in Europe.
Sipakv states that:

“ll y a beaucoup d’opinions negatives sur les Gasy d’Andafy sur le web et la blogosphere, je ne vais pas reprendre les arguments repris ailleurs, de toute facon, en general, je suis de l’avis que si on n’a pas de bonnes choses a dire, mieux vaut se taire… »

There are a lot of negative opinions of the Malagasy diaspora on the web. I will not repeat the arguments heard here and there. In any case, generally speaking, I am of the opinion that if you do not have anything positive to say, you are better off not speaking at all…”

Sipakv adds:

“This said I have to agree that the Malagasy communities I have found here in the US (cannot speak for the Canadian one as I don’t know it very well), are vastly different from the Malagasy in France. Maybe it is due to its reduced size, maybe it is due to our environment, maybe it is due to the background of most Gasies who have ended up here, who knows?
I, for one, have found our Malagasies here to have a less elitist state of mind and to be more tsotsotra ( author’s translation: easygoing) If you disagree with me, you Canadians or other Be Kintana (author’s translation: US residents), then you certainly have the right to do so and to comment on my observation. Something that has always fascinated me how our surroundings shape us…”

Tattum asks the Malagasy community what were the reasons for wanting to leave the country or deciding to go back:

“A ceux qui vivent à Madagascar depuis toujours, pourquoi vous (du moins certains) rêvez de partir?A ceux qui sont expatriés, pourquoi pensez-vous que vous ne reviendrez probablement pas vivre à Madagascar?A ceux qui sont loin, pourquoi voulez-vous rentrer à coup sûr? »

”To those who live in Madagascar, why would you (at least some) want to leave? To those who are expatriates, why do you think you probably would not return to live in Madagascar? To those who are far away, why would you want to return by all means?”

Hery who resides in Italy has a nice description of one of the idiosyncrasies of the Malagasy language as spoken by the youngsters nowdays. He writes in Malagasy:

“Ny teny hoe “Sady tsotra no simple” dia fomba fiteny anisan'ny tautologie ampiasain'ny tanora malagasy. Matoa izy mampiasa io teny io dia te-hanamafy bebe kokoa ny tena fahatsoran'ny zavatra lazainy. Tsy fanambaniana na fanamaivanan-javatra io fomba fiteny io fa efa “état d'âme” mihitsy.”

The phrase “ simple and easygoing” is a tautology used by Malagasy youngsters. They are using this figure of speech to emphasize their point. It is not to be mistaken with a condescending remark or a rhetoric to lighten a subject but to it really is a way to convey your mood of the moment.

Finally, Jogany and Harinjaka urge the community to participate in a fundraiser-blogathon for children in Madagascar on Sat. July, 28th.

In local politics, Mahmood Al Yousif is keeping us abreast with all that's happening on the ground.
He doesn't seem too happy that the first Bahraini woman to win a seat in Parliament, was elected by default and doesn't mince his words about it.

She somehow changed her residence to the islands of Hawar, those strips of land rich in bird life (it’s supposed to be a natural reserve with even osprey nesting there habitually) and very rich sea life around it too with the dugong making their home in the deep water channels around the islands. But in that constituency there are only 1,000 voters, and I’m not sure if the dugong and the shags are actually counted too, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say she won fair and square. However, before doing that completely, I must confess my confusion that in an election that every single seat is fought and every single constituency fielding at least 2 candidates, how come the political societies didn’t wake up to the fact that Hawar was up for the taking?

With local elections slated for November 25, Mahmood is also unhappy that the former Speaker is running again - despite announcing earlier that he wouldn't.

The last minute entrance, although he would like to think is being dramatic, the fact of the matter Harry is much better at it. Nevertheless, his excuse is that he was in conference with God, as he does every Ramadhan in the last 10 days. Don’t know what they were talking about (I think it really was just a single-sided conversation if you ask me, and Dhahrani has the hammer) but I guess he interpreted the conversation that he has to do his public duty and place his posterior on an already reserved Speaker of the House leather seat.

In the infectious world of blogging, Mahmood even passed the bug to his brother, Hani, who lives in the UK.

This week Hani tells us about the new craze - iphones, shows us a clip from a Japanese talent show which leaves him in stitches and introduces us to a new artist.

He's doing all this while he is busy with a shoot for a Johnnie Walker ad!

Away from work, Blayde is celebrating his/her (?) birthday with an influx of emails from the forums he/she is a member in. Head there and wish Blayde a Happy Birthday to make him/her feel a whole lot better!

Meanwhile, Bint Battuta is back in Bahrain after a globe-trotting expedition which took her to the UAE, Italy, the UK and Switzerland, from what I gathered from her blog.

Sandwiched between Moroccan girls at the Bahrain International Airport, Bint Batutta snaps when the girls behind her attempt to jump the line!

Away from local issues, Haitham Sabbah, an ‘Uprooted Palestinian Blogger‘ based in Bahrain, posts a picture of Jordan's First Family enjoying a late night meal at a “humble” and “crowded” restaurant in Amman.

The sighting is a rare one indeed for seeing Royalty in such surroundings is only alive in fairy tales!