Post Title. 03/21/2011
Not “Business as Usual", but “Unusual Business “ Microcredit Conference 2011 – A Microcredit “brain trust” came to Victoria By Pieta VanDyke Victoria Harbourside Rotary Club While most residents of Victoria were enjoying a sunny spring afternoon, many of the world’s experts on microcredit came to share, debate and present their knowledge in the area. They were in attendance at the city’s second Microcredit Conference, sponsored by Rotary District 5020 and the Rotarian Action Group on Microcredit. The keynote speaker was Phil Smith of Tulsa Oklahoma, Smith is a co-author of “A Billion Bootstraps”, the seminal book on the subject. In his introductory talk he talked about the “social collateral” model where a peer group guarantees the loans of its members. Each member has an interest in the well being of the group. He noted that it is a tool towards women’s empowerment in the third world. Ninety percent of micro loans are made to women – they are more motivated to succeed, as they have to feed their children. They work harder than men, are less likely to die in war or to leave their families. Smith addressed the criticisms that are sometimes directed at microcredit. Recently we have heard about “loan abuse” in India and that borrowers there do not know what they are getting in to. What we are seeing in India, he said, are banks getting on to the microcredit bandwagon, charging high interest rates and using coercive repayment tactics. Smith could not help noting that while microcredit abuse charges are being leveled at India, the US banking system has itself been guilty of issuing “abusive” home loans. With regard to Bangladesh’s removal of Mohammed Yunis from the Board of Directors of the Grameen Bank, Smith noted that this is simply a case of a government seeing the influence that microcredit is having, and wanting to have power over the poor for itself. The speaker travelling the greatest distance was Gert Van Maanen, who came from the Netherlands. Gert was on the Board of Directors of the ING Bank when he joined the Board of Oikocredit, one of the world’s most prominent microfinance institutions. He told of his initial incredulity at learning about the “negative asset test” used to determine eligibility for a microcredit loan. The fewer assets a person has – the more likely they are to be eligible! Van Maanen noted that there is a major movement among the poor to join this movement. In 2007 there were 155 million microcredit clients, of whom 106 million met the criteria of being among the world’s poorest. Since each of these people supports approx. 5 people, there are over 775 million people in the world who are supported by parents who are economically independent thanks to microcredit. Van Maanen identified roles that conference attendees can play – 1. Choose who you want to ally with (i.e. a specific MFI, country, or donor body), 2. Advocate to friends, government, and CIDA to support and invest in microcredit, and 3. Convert other Rotarians to using this tool – especially Rotarians in the south. Another speaker who made the switch from the formal to the informal economic system was Damian von Stauffenberg, who made the move from the World Bank to found MicroRate – the world’s first rating agency specializing in microfinance. Von Stauffenberg noted that while receiving charity diminishes the dignity of a person, microfinance enables individuals to create wealth. It is a transaction between equals. By repaying their money, participants become co-owners of a project. Other notable speakers included Julio Villalta, a Rotarian who is currently the finance Director for the Development Bank of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and was the founding member and President, in 2000, of the Uniendo America Foundation, a Rotary Foundation for microcredit in Honduras. Joyce Bontrager Lehman, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spoke of the need to develop opportunities for microsavings for the very poor. The Rotary Foundation was represented by staff member Candace Embling, who outlined new funding and grant options being developed for use by Rotarians. Representatives of World Vision, Opportunity International Canada and Oikocredit provided information tables and spoke in workshops. Youth attending the conference learned how they can participate in international aid projects, and a presentation was also made by Lisa Helps, the founder and Executive Director of the Victoria Community Microlending Society, about how microfinance can work in our community. Speakers remarked on the energy in the room – noting that everyone in attendance was there because they wanted to help those most in need. Conference organizers were gratified to hear Phil Smith state that he had learned things at the event. He congratulated the organizers, saying that it was not Microcredit 101 or even Microcredit 201, but due to the high level of debate and discussion, the conference would qualify as Microcredit 301! Add Comment Microcredit Conference 02/19/2011
Am busy working with other Victoria area Rotarians to organize a Microcredit Conference on March 4 and 5, 2011. Amazing speakers coming to adress the conference - international authors and experts on the topic. Check our website - http://www.microcredit2011.org Post Title. 08/28/2010
INSPIRED! I was very excited to attend the opening of the textile arts show "Articulation" by Lesley Turner and other members of theArticulation and Surface Design Association. Have a look at Lesley's blog - http://lesleyturner.blogspot.com and have a look at the photos of her work. I am now very inspired to do more creative fabric work and to break out of the boundaries of traditional craft work. I'll post pictures! Roses for Rotary 11/04/2009
 On the weekend of October 30 and 31, 2009, the members of Harbourside Rotary Club assembled and delivered 11,000 dozen roses! These had been sold to our friends and contacts, then personally delivered by Harbourside members. Since this was on Hallowe'en weekend, we wore costumes both for the Friday evening assembling session, and for delivery the next morning. For the deliveries, fellow member Pat Morris and myself dressed as "Gangstas with a Heart of Gold"! About time! 10/09/2009
Its almost a year since I've posted on here - and I've sure been busy! Enjoying the endless summer that we've been having in Victoria. We still have temps close to 20 degrees Celsius in mid-day! I am busy volunteering at Our Place, taking long term care residents on outings, and am now the International Chair on the Board of my Rotary Club (Harbourside Victoria). I am no longer working in the care facility kitchen, which leaves lots more time for sewing!! Christmas 2008 - new job! 12/20/2008
Am getting ready for Christmas. Looking forward to getting together with friends and having Bram and Sarah over for dinner. This week I started a new job as a Dietary Aide at Beacon Hill Villa, a long term care facility a couple of blocks away from my home. My intention is to work on an "on call" basis, preferably just for a couple of days a week. That will help me pay off some bills, and start a new travel fund. This week I have already worked two training shifts - noon to 8 pm. It is hard work! We are busy making sandwiches and setting up the snack carts, making coffee and tea, sanitizing surfaces, helping the cook 'plate' the meals (taking the elevator to the 4 residential floors), helping the dishwasher, bringing up the snack carts, and doing a final floor mop. Next week I will do 2 training shifts as a dishwasher, and I volunteered to work on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. So that is a month's worth of work in two weeks! Our Place Thanksgiving dinner - I was pleased to be able to help serve Thanksgiving dinner to over 800 people at Our Place drop in centre. I attended this lecture by Dr. Helen Caldicott at the McPherson Playhouse. She is an excellent speaker and tireless researcher on issues related to nuclear power. She told of her role in trying to stop France from doing air-borne testing of nuclear weapons over Tahiti in the 1970s. She challenged President Mitterand as to why he did not do this testing in the Mediterranean - only to be told that there is too high a population there! Clearly he valued the lives of people in Tahiti and Austrialia far less than Europeans! I was also struck by the high levels of radiation that still exist in areas of Europe as a result of the Chernobyl accident. Farmers in Britain are asked not to raise lambs, as they would be unhealthy to eat. All men on the planet have plutonium in their testicles as a result of Chernobyl. She also raised concern about the health effects of uranium mining in Australia - direct impacts of increased rates of cancer - raising it to a national issue in that country.r new blog post. Oct. 2, 2008 - Volunteering at Our Place 12/20/2008
OUR PLACE - I've been volunteering in the coffee bar, and today I was able to take the Food Safe course, which was taught by Brian, the head cook at Our Place. As usual at OP, the students were a mixed crowd with lots of interesting observations and questions. I think I passed the test. The photo (below) was taken at the opening of the new Our Place building in June, 2008. I am on the left, with my arm around my coffee bar buddy, Ken. In the middle is Dan, with his fiance (now his wife) to his right.  CITY HALL - In the evening I went to City Hall to attend a meeting of Council's Standing Committee on the Victoria Harbour Airport. Councillors Madoff, Coleman, and Holland make up this Committee. Staff provided an overview of jurisdictional issues related to the airport. It is interesting to hear that Transport Canada has virtually all the jurisdiction with regard to the airport, including responsibility around noise and emissions, but does not carry out any monitoring of noise related to float planes. This airport was certified as an airport in 2000 and is the only certified water airport in Canada. In all the time that this facility has been operating, it has been operating under draft Water Airport Regulations. Final Regulations have been drafted, and will be released in December, at which time there will be a 30 day period for public response. | About me
I retired from the British Columbia public service in 2005, following a 28 year career. During this time I was a Senior Policy Analyst and at various times held responsibility for employment and labour relations policy, women's programs, child care policy, prepared reports to the International Labour Office, and managed domestic and international human rights, including preparing status reports on UN Conventions. I managed a $124 million child care subsidy program, and was the lead for British Columbia during Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I also provided input to draft UN conventions on persons with disabilities, and the Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal Persons. One of my favorite roles was representing British Columbia on the Provincial/Federal/Territorial Committee of Officials on Human Rights. From 1987 to 1990 Iheld the position of Alderman (as it was then) Victoria's City Council, with primarily responsibility for Parks and Heritage. Currently I hold the position of Chair of the World Community Service Committee of Victoria's Harbourside Rotary Club, and am busy drafting an application for funding for a clean water project in Honduras. I volunteer with seniors at Beacon Hill Villa, taking residents on outings, and have a blast volunteering in the soup kitchen at Our Place. I enjoy sewing, and have been an avid dragonboater. I have not paddled regularly the past couple of years, but I did sit in with the MS Warriors for a race in Nanaimo this summer. This is a team made up of people who have multiple sclerosis, and they are a very fun, inspiring group of people. ArchivesMarch 2011 Categories |
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