Banking on the Poor
For many people,there seems to be no escape from poverty;in other words,they are poor,and they have no hope that this will ever change.In addition,they have the social problems of poverty.Imagine this situation:a poor woman has an idea for a small business to lift her and her family out of poverty.She needs a little money to begin this business.She goes to a bank to borrow the money,and the banker interviews her.At this bank,as at most banks,the borrower must meet three necessary conditions:character,capacity,and collateral.That is,if this woman wants to borrow money from the bank,she must show that she is honest(has a character),is able to run her business(has capacity),and owns a house,land,or something valuable(collateral)for the bank to take if she cannot pay back the money.So what happens to the woman?The bank won’t lend her the money because she doesn’t have any collateral.
One possible solution these days is microlending.This is a system of special banks and programs that are loaning money to people in“borrowing groups.”For example,an international organization called Good Faith lends small amounts of money to people who want to go into business.Each person must do two things to borrow money:take classes in business and join a borrowing group.This is a group of microentrepreneurs-i.e.,people who own and run their own small business.Everyone in the group must approve the loan of every other group member,or Good Faith won’t lend the money.To receive a loan from Good Faith,people still must have character.They find capacity in the business classes.But collateral is not necessary any longer.Instead of collateral,there is peer pressure;i.e.,group members make sure that each person pays back his or her loan.They want to keep their“good name”and continue doing business with good faith.
Good Faith has had many successes and only a few failures.In Pine Bluff,Arkansas,a small town in the United States,one person was able to open a hair salon,another a plant shop,and a car decorating business-all with loans from Good Faith.In a developing country such as Bangladesh,a person can begin a small business with only$10 to$15.Because of many small loans from Good Faith,there are now 1.6 million new entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.Of course,not all these loans were a success.At first,Good Faith lent half of the money to men and half to women.Unfortunately,most of the Bangladeshi men spent the money on themselves,not the business.Now good Faith does business mainly with women’s borrowing groups in that country.
In any country,women are the poorest of the poor.They produce more than half of the world’s food,but they own just one percent of the world’s land.They are 51 percent of the world’s population,but very,very little money goes to programs to help them.In the late 1980s,Anne Firth Murray took the initiative and began the Global Fund for Women.This fund now has more than$3 million.It has given money to over 400 women’s groups in 94 countries.Unlike Good Faith,which helps people begin businesses,the Global Fund for Women helps to solve social problems-e.g.,violence and lack of education.For instance,the fund has helped a group of Palestinian and Jewish women who are working together to stop violence against women.It is giving money to a woman in village in southern India;she has started a literacy program to teach poor women to read.
Good Faith and the Global Fund for Women have lesson for banks around the world:it’s a“safe bet”to lend money to the poor.With careful planning,education,and cooperation,most people use the money well and they plow the money and knowledge back into their communities.There is hope that they can begin to break the cycle of poverty for themselves,their families,and society.
参考译文：
穷人银行业
对许多人来说，似乎没有办法摆脱贫穷；换句话说，他们很贫穷，而且他们没有希望这种情况永远改变。此外，他们还存在贫困的社会问题。想象一下这种情况：一个贫穷的女人有一个小企业的想法，让她和她的家庭摆脱贫困。她需要一点钱来开始这项事业。她去银行借钱，银行家采访她。在这家银行，如同大多数银行一样，借款人必须满足三个必要条件：性质、能力和抵押品。也就是说，如果这个女人想从银行借钱，她必须表明她是诚实的（有品格），能够经营她的生意（有能力），并且拥有房子、土地或者一些有价值的东西（抵押品），如果她不能还钱，银行可以拿走。那女人怎么了？银行不会借钱给她，因为她没有任何抵押品。
目前的一个可能解决方案是小额贷款。这是一个由特殊银行和项目组成的系统，它们把钱借给“借贷集团”里的人。例如，一个叫做“诚信”的国际组织把少量的钱借给想做生意的人。每个人都必须做两件事情来借钱：参加商业课程，加入借贷小组。这是一群微型企业家，即拥有和经营自己的小企业的人。小组中的每个人都必须批准其他小组成员的贷款，否则善意不会借钱。要从善意中获得贷款，人们还必须具备品格。他们在商务课上找到了能力。但抵押品不再是必要的。不是抵押品，而是同伴的压力；即，小组成员确保每个人偿还他或她的贷款。他们想保持自己的“好名声”，继续真诚地做生意。
诚信有许多成功，只有少数失败。在美国阿肯色州的小镇Pine Bluff，一个人开了一家美发沙龙，另一个开了一家工厂，还开了一家汽车装饰公司——所有这些都是通过Good Faith贷款的。在孟加拉国这样的发展中国家，一个人只需要10到15美元就可以创业。由于许多来自“良好信念”的小额贷款，孟加拉国现在有160万新企业家。当然，并非所有这些贷款都是成功的。起初，善意把一半的钱借给男人，一半借给女人。不幸的是，大多数孟加拉国人把钱花在自己身上，而不是生意上。现在，诚信主要是在那个国家的妇女借贷组织进行的。
在任何国家，妇女是穷人中最贫穷的。他们生产世界一半以上的粮食，但他们只拥有世界1%的土地。他们是51%的世界人口，但是很少，非常少的钱去帮助他们。在20世纪80年代后期，Anne Firth Murray采取主动，创办了全球妇女基金会。这个基金现在有超过300万美元。它已经向94个国家的400多个妇女团体捐款。与帮助人们创业的良好信念不同，全球妇女基金帮助解决社会问题，例如暴力和缺乏教育。例如，该基金帮助了一群巴勒斯坦妇女和犹太妇女，她们正在共同努力制止对妇女的暴力行为。它正在向印度南部一个村庄里的妇女捐款；她已经开始一个识字项目来教贫穷妇女阅读。
“良好信念”和全球妇女基金给世界各地的银行上了一课：向穷人贷款是“安全的赌注”。通过周密的计划、教育和合作，大多数人很好地利用了资金，他们把资金和知识重新投入他们的社区。人们希望他们能够开始为自己、家人和社会打破贫穷的循环。
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作者：lzg 文章来源：国和网校 发布时间：2020-02-20 浏览：
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