To continue this stream of thought regarding the interconnection between the realms of anthropology, community interaction, and social entrepreneurship, I distinctly think of two clear examples that embrace these concepts that everyone should investigate:
Kiva is a micro-financing organization based online that connects donors with local entrepreneurs working within their own communities. With their mission to “connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty,” Kiva exists as a very successful example of bridging the disconnect between those who have the ideas but who are short on funds with people who have funding but no appropriate outlet world wide. The network is uniquely designed to provide the entrepreneur with a short-term loan, which will be paid back over time and can then can be re-issued in the future. I became personally connected to this site when relatives of mine gave a donation in my name for Christmas three years ago. Literally, it is entrepreneurial investing.
Check out their website at http://www.kiva.org/about
“Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson is a personal account of the achievement of “peace through education.” The book details Greg Mortenson’s determined quest to build schools in some of the most dangerous areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Raising money on his own, as of 2009 he has established/supports 131 schools which have provided education to 58,000 children, 44,000 of them being girls, throughout volatile regions in the Pakistani and Afghani countryside. Among many testimonials from political and military figures alike, “Mortenson is a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls.”
Check out his website at http://www.threecupsoftea.com/ and his new book “Stones into Schools” coming out this December.
Just some inspiration as we head into the last few days before break. One idea can go quite far…..
~ Kathryn Angstadt, Georgetown College 2010