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My INTERESTS are in Philanthropy~ Boxing~ Mixed Martial Arts~ GO GREEN!~ No More Utility Bills~ Making Our World A Better Place For Our Children~ Social Awareness~ Experiments~ True Justice For All~ The Building Arts~ Healthcare~
Poverty~ Family~ Psychology/Sociology~ Alternative Medicine~ Children's Rights~
Entrepreneurship~ Affordable Housing~ Architecture~ Feng Shui~ Historical Preservation~ New Urbanism~ Community Planning~
GrassRoots Organizations~ NonProfits~ The Truth~ Everlasting Life~ Stem Cell Research~ Paranormal Studies~ Vernacular Building Designs~ Southern Plantations~ Sustainable Living~ Saving the Environment~ Carpentry~ New Inventions~ Technology~ Low Country(Charleston,SC)History~
Interior Design~ Public Education Reform~ Life Skills Training for Youth and Young Adults~ Knowledge Is Power~ Networking~ Real Estate~
Restoring Abandoned Properties~ Grant Writing~
Bartering~ Money Matters~ GOD~ Investing For The Future~ Reinventing The Wheel~ Internet Marketing~ Balancing Family, Career, and Friends~ Self-Help~ Drug Addictions~ ADHD~ Legal Medical Marijuana~ Spirituality~ Astrology~ Karma~ Other Peoples Religion~
Adaptive Reuse~ Recycling Just About Everything~ Current Events~ Learning Something New Every Day~...
There are so many people I find interesting and would love to meet. The list just gets longer and longer... I couldn't possibly name all of them! I especially enjoy meeting new friends, business partners, and like-minded people from all walks of life who have a positive mental attitude.Some of the following people have have inspired me with their work and contributions to society, whatever they may be...TY PENNINGTON and PAIGE HEMMIS from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition~ JACKIE KALLEN, The First Lady of Boxing~ KELLY RIPA~ SUZE ORMAN, Money Consultant~ RON LEGRAND, Mentor and Real Estate Millionaire~ TOM BRADY of the New England Patriots~ BRETT FAVRE of the Green Bay Packers~ JACK WAGNER & HEATHER LOCKLEAR~
BRITNEY SPEARS and Her Boys~ RICHARD DAVIS of "Flip This House"~ BRAD PITT & ANGELINA JOLIE and the Jolie-Pitt's: Shiloh, Maddox, Pax & Zahara~ TOMKAT and SURI CRUISE~ GOD & JESUS CHRIST~ JOHN KNOTT of The Noisette Company~ BEN GRAMLING of Gramling Brothers Real Estate Development~ IVANKA TRUMP and her father THE DONALD~ MARTHA STEWART~ BARB SCHWARZ, Founder, Home Staging~ JEANETTE FISHER, Design Psychology~ ERICA SOFRINA, Feng Shui Master~ HILLARY CLINTON~ JULIA ROBERTS~ SANDRA BULLOCK~ MEG RYAN~ ALANIS MORISSETTE~ KID ROCK~ JUDGE JUDY~...
Join the Hillary Grassroots Campaign
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/HILLARYCLINTON2008
WHY DON'T THEY JUST GO TO A BANK?
The poor rarely access services through the formal financial sector. They address their need for financial services through a variety of financial relationships, mostly informal. (CGAP)
WHY IS THIS?
For a moment pretend that you are a poor goatherder... or ANY unfortunate soul... maybe even you... walking into a bank:
~ You don't have any money to open a savings account with
~ You don't have any collateral to secure a loan with
~ You don't have a credit record as you have never been formally employed and you've never taken out a loan before
~ You might even be unable to complete the necessary paperwork as you are illiterate.
Formal financial institutions were not designed to help those who don't already have financial assets – they were designed to help those who do. Just imagine trying to get a loan in the United States without any savings, an employer or a decent credit report.(CGAP)
SO WHAT DO POOR PEOPLE DO?
Credit is available from informal commercial and non-commerical money-lenders but usually at a very high cost to borrowers. Savings services are available through a variety of informal relationships like savings clubs, rotating savings and credit associations, and mutual insurance societies that have a tendency to be erratic and insecure."(CGAP)
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF MICROFINANCE?
"Several years ago two friends of mine were speaking with a group of 40 clients at a micro-bank in South Asia. Through the translator, they asked the 40 women what impact the bank had had on the husbands of the non-borrowers; not their husbands, but the husbands of women who are not with the bank. The clients said, 'Before we took our loans, our husbands were day-labourers, working for others whenever they could find work. When we took our loans our husbands stopped being day-labourers and worked with us - bicycle rickshaw, husking rice, growing garlic on leased land. This caused a shortage of day-labourers in this area, so the husbands of the non-borrowers who were day-laborers-their wages went up.' That was the impact of this bank on the husbands of the non-borrowers."
- Sam Daley-Harris, Microcredit Summit Campaign, Director
(CGAP)
COMPREHENSIVE IMPACT STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT:
~ Microfinance helps very poor households meet basic needs and protect against risks
~ The use of financial services by low-income households is associated with improvements in household economic welfare and enterprise stability or growth
~ By supporting women's economic participation, microfinance helps to empower women, thus promoting gender-equity and improving household well-being
~ For almost all significant impacts, the magnitude of impact is positively related to the length of time that clients have been in the program. (UNCDF Microfinance)
Poor people, with access to savings, credit, insurance, and other financial services, are more resilient and better able to cope with the everyday crises they face. Even the most rigorous econometric studies have proven that microfinance can smooth consumption levels and significantly reduce the need to sell assets to meet basic needs. With access to microinsurance, poor people can cope with sudden increased expenses associated with death, serious illness, and loss of assets.
Access to credit allows poor people to take advantage of economic opportunities. While increased earnings are by no means automatic, clients have overwhelmingly demonstrated that reliable sources of credit provide a fundamental basis for planning and expanding business activities. Many studies show that clients who join and stay in programs have better economic conditions than non-clients, suggesting that programs contribute to these improvements. A few studies have also shown that over a long period of time many clients do actually graduate out of poverty.
By reducing vulnerability and increasing earnings and savings, financial services allow poor households to make the transformation from "every-day survival" to "planning for the future." Households are able to send more children to school for longer periods and to make greater investments in their children's education. Increased earnings from financial services lead to better nutrition and better living conditions, which translates into a lower incidence of illness. Increased earnings also mean that clients may seek out and pay for health care services when needed, rather than go without or wait until their health seriously deteriorates." (CGAP)
Empirical evidence shows that, among the poor, those participating in microfinance programs who had access to financial services were able to improve their well-being—both at the individual and household level—much more than those who did not have access to financial services:
~ In Bangladesh, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) clients increased household expenditures by 28% and assets by 112%.
~ The incomes of Grameen members were 43% higher than incomes in non-program villages.
~ In El Salvador, the weekly income of FINCA clients increased on average by 145%.
~ In India, half of SHARE clients graduated out of poverty.
~ In Ghana, 80% of clients of Freedom from Hunger had secondary income sources, compared to 50% for non-clients.
~ In Lombok, Indonesia, the average income of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) borrowers increased by 112%, and 90% of households graduated out of poverty.
~ In Vietnam, Save the Children clients reduced food deficits from three months to one month."
(CGAP)
WHY DO SO MANY MFIs FOCUS ON WOMEN?
"Today I'm a very respected woman in the community. I have come out of the crowd of women who are looked down upon. Due to the loan that I received... you have made me to be a champion out of nobody." - Rose Athieno, Produce Reseller, Uganda
Microfinance programs have generally targeted poor women. By providing access to financial services only through women—making women responsible for loans, ensuring repayment through women, maintaining savings accounts for women, providing insurance coverage through women—microfinance programs send a strong message to households as well as to communities.
Many qualitative and quantitative studies have documented how access to financial services has improved the status of women within the family and the community. Women have become more assertive and confident. In regions where women's mobility is strictly regulated, women have become more visible and are better able to negotiate the public sphere. Women own assets, including land and housing, and play a stronger role in decision making. In some programs that have been active over many years, there are even reports of declining levels of violence against women. (CGAP)
IS MICROFINANCE THE SOLUTION TO POVERTY?
"My own view is that we have to approach extreme poverty a little like the way in which a doctor might approach a patient. By that I mean do a diagnosis and understand what is it that is really ailing the particular country, the particular region. Sometimes its terrible governance and the question is how to improve the governance and the hope for the kind of change that is needed. In other places it's the terrible burden of disease that may be addressable by good public health measures. In other places it is to show how to grow more food. In other places its how to get business going and microfinance has proven to be an incredibly powerful tool.
Once the basics are in place, the people are eating and can survive, then microfinance can play a huge role in helping a poor community find ways through the market to get new opportunities, to earn new income, to start saving, making investments and start the process of climbing the ladder of economic development in your children, in your business or your farm and continuing up the process of improving skills, specialisation, new business ventures and so on. We've learnt that microfinance can be a wonderful tool for that." - Jeffrey Sachs, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Director
Microfinance is but one strategy battling an immense problem.
In the last two decades, substantial progress has been made in developing techniques to deliver financial services to the poor on a sustainable basis. Most donor interventions have concentrated on one of these services, microcredit. For microcredit to be appropriate however, the clients must have the capacity to repay the loan under the terms by which it is provided. Otherwise, clients may not be able to benefit from credit and risk being pushed into debt problems. This sounds obvious, but microcredit is viewed by some as "one size fits all." Instead, microcredit should be carefully evaluated against the alternatives when choosing the most appropriate intervention tool for a specific situation.
Microcredit may be inappropriate where conditions pose severe challenges to standard microcredit methodologies. Populations that are geographically dispersed or nomadic may not be suitable microfinance candidates. Microfinance may not be appropriate for populations with a high incidence of debilitating illnesses (e.g., HIV/AIDS). Dependence on a single economic activity or single agricultural crop, or reliance on barter rather than cash transactions may pose problems. The presence of hyperinflation, or absence of law and order may stress the ability of microfinance to operate. Microcredit is also much more difficult when laws and regulations create significant barriers to the sustainability of microfinance providers (for example, by mandating interest-rate caps).
EXAMPLES OF SOME ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES:
~ Grants can be used to help overcome the social isolation, lack of productive skills, and low self-confidence of the extreme poor, and to prepare them for eventual use of microcredit. Small grants and other financial entitlements can work well as first steps to "graduate" the poor from vulnerability to economic self-sufficiency. A successful example is the BRAC Income Generation for Vulnerable Groups Development program in Bangladesh. This program has graduated more than 660,000 destitute women through free food, training, health care, and savings to BRAC's mainstream microcredit program.
~ Investments in infrastructure, such as roads, communications, and education, provide a foundation for economic activities. Community-level investments in commercial or productive infrastructure (such as market centers or small-scale irrigation schemes) also facilitate business activity.
~ Employment programs prepare the poor for self-employment. Food-for-work programs and public works projects fit this model. In many cases, these programs may be out of reach for cash-strapped local governments but within the purview of donors.
~ Non-financial services range from literacy classes and community development to market-based business-development services. While non-financial services should be provided by separate institutional providers, there are clear, complementary links with the demand for and impact of microcredit. For example, improved access to market opportunities stimulates - and depends on - securing credit to cover the costs (product design, transport, etc.) of taking advantage of those opportunities.
~ Legal and institutional reforms can create incentives for microfinance by improving the operating environment for both microfinance providers and their clients. For example, streamlining microenterprise registration, abolishing caps on interest rates, loosening regulations governing non-mortgage collateral, strengthening the judicial system, and reducing the cost and time of property and asset registration can foster a supportive climate for microfinance.(CGAP)
I like just about everything except "Bang Your Head" heavy metal and rap. I really like COUNTRY ROCK and POP. Some of my favorite artists are KID ROCK ~ NICKLEBACK ~ KELLY CLARKSON~ MADONNA ~ TRAIN ~ FIVE FOR FIGHTING ~ ALANIS MORISSETTE ~ AEROSMITH ~ ENRIQUE IGLESIAS ~ TINA TURNER ~ USHER ~ MARTINA MCBRIDE ~ SHANIA TWAIN ~ FAITH HILL ~ TIM MCGRAW ~ LYNARD SKYNARD ~ 3 DOORS DOWN ~ MATCHBOX 20 ~ GRETCHEN WILSON ~ DAUGHTRY ~ FERGIE ~ WENDELL & KENDELL MAHON ~ AC/DC ~ JOHN NATHANIEL ...
MY FRIENDS ROCK!!!
JUST CLICK ON THEIR LINK TO CHECK THEM OUT:
~WENDELL & KENDELL MAHON~
Country / Acoustic / A'cappella
~PG Humphrey~
Southern Rock / Country / Fusion
~GYPSY DRIFTER~
Southern Rock / Country / Christian
~SASHA ELEYCE~
Jazz / Country / Alternative
~JOHN NATHANIEL~
Rock / Pop / Acoustic
~THE VELVET GOLDMINE~
Rock / Other / Other
~A.REX~
Indie / Pop / Rock
~SOUTHERN REIGN~
Classic Rock / Country / Blues
~CALLING WENDY~
Pop / Acoustic / Folk
~THE DALIDRAMA~
Rock
~EPIPHYTE RECORDS~
Electronica
~KYLE REYNAERT~
Acoustic
~SHANNON HALEY~
Country / Pop / Southern Rock
MILLION DOLLAR BABY~ Derailed~ LIFE~ CINDERELLA MAN~ Diary of a Mad Black Woman~ 300~ Braveheart~ TROY~ Gladiator~ ALEXANDER~ THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS~ Crash~ THE DEPARTED~ Against the Ropes~ SOMEWHERE IN TIME in Time~ FAR AND AWAY~ The Breakup~ DANGEROUS MINDS~ Miracle in the Woods~ PRETTY WOMAN~ Steel Magnolias~ THE HILLS HAVE EYES is really scary because it would be my worst nightmare!~ Failure to Launch~ The DaVinci Code~ FOUR BROTHERS~ Derailed~ Babel~ MY BABY"S DADDY~ WITHOUT A PADDLE...
EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION~ The Young and The Restless~ The Bold and The Beautiful~ Pubilc Broadcast Station(PBS)~ Educational Television(ETV)~ KITCHEN KNIGHTMARES~ HGTV~ Flip This House~ E!~ TMZ~ American Idol~ Brothers and Sisters~ HOUSE~ Bones~ THORNBIRDS~...
"LIFE Strategies" by Phillip C. McGraw,Ph.D.~
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot: A Fight Plan For Dealing With All Of Life's Hard Knocks" by Jackie Kallen~
"The 21 Success Secrets of $elf-Made Millionaires" by Brian Tracy~
THE BIBLE: A life skills guide from our creator~
"Reasoning from the Scriptures" by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.; International Bible Students Association~
"When I'm On My Knees" by Anita Corrine Donihue~
"Relational Intersections: 101 Rules for Relationships" by Billy Hornsby~
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte~
"How To Develop Attitudes And Habits For A Successful Career And A Happy Life" by Gene P. Brady~
"Codes of Love: How To Rethink Your Family and Remake Your Life" by Mark Bryan~
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens...
JESUS CHRIST...My Lord and Saviour.