Accounting and Program Audit
Team
Log # 1
By Marie M. St Jean
Before I came into St John’s University I always wanted to find
an organization where I can help people when it comes to providing
them with the monetary needs in order to run a business. Speaking
from a personal point of view my mom is one of those people relying
on a loan to run their business. And most of the time depending on
how good business is she is able to pay her loan but at other times
she is not. Due to the economic turmoil going on in Haiti she has
not been able to continue on with her business. As a result I have
become more interested in micro financing.
When I got to St John’s I heard of the GLOBE program but I
thought it was a club so I spent most of my time here looking for
it especially at the activities fair but it was not until last
semester that I realized it was an academic program. So instead of
pursuing a minor in French I decided to take the GLOBE class and so
far I must say that it’s the best decision that I have made in
picking my classes. Although it is a three hour night class the
amount of information that we learn and the activities that we do
makes the class very interesting and if one is interested in
philanthropy projects like I am the class become more fun.
So far in class we are learning about some of the pioneers in
microfinance more specifically Muhammad Yunus. He is a Bangladeshi
economist and also the founder of Grameen Bank. Grameen Bank is an
institution that provides small loans to the less fortunate
businesspeople, the loans possess no collateral, and he does this
in an effort to help them be financially self-sufficient. As a
professor he felt that he was not using his talents to its full
capacity, his story teaches us that we need to be more concerned
about the people around us and that we ought to be more
companionate. Not in the sense of just giving back but also
actually helping others move up the ladder with the information
that we learn, either in school or by experience.
One thing that I found to be interesting in Yunus’s book Banker
to the Poor was when he realized that forty-two families were in
misery due to the lack of twenty-seven dollars. At that point if he
was any regular person he would have just given them the money and
hoped that they would use it for a good cause but he went above and
beyond. He went by the notion that one should teach the horse how
to get the water instead of getting water for him. And his effort
of getting banks to give out loans to the “unbankables”, as he
called those who did not have creditworthiness, illustrates his
persistence in bringing about change in those people’s lives and
allowing them to get out of poverty. Which is one that I think that
us as a society should try to do, that instead of just giving out
donations we can also use our talents and experiences to bring
about change in someone else’s life.
Finance and Risk Assessment
Team
Log # 1
By Megan Lane
I know what poverty is. I see the poor sleeping on benches in
Penn Station and asking for money in Port Authority. Sometimes I
give them a dollar and sometimes I buy them a sandwich. Other times
I walk right by, as so many of us do, pretending they don’t even
exist. Poverty is not my problem to solve. Poverty is a problem of
the poor, right?
I think Americans, as well as the rest of the developed world, have
a skewed view of poverty. We have done nothing to deserve our
privileged births in a country where we are afforded so many
opportunities. We find it hard to imagine the adverse conditions
and hardships that people face in many parts of the world. Like us,
they have done nothing to deserve their upbringing in such
unfortunate conditions. While poverty seems foreign, it is
something we should be deeply concerned about. Poverty is not a
problem of the poor, it is a problem of humanity.
I’ve always liked doing service and became interested in GLOBE
in order to help the neediest of the needy. Our business classes
teach us how to make money, maximize shareholder profits, and run a
successful corporation. Where does social justice fit into the
equation? I joined GLOBE because I am positive that the two do not
need to be at odds, as many people assume, but can exist in harmony
and collaboration. GLOBE is a way to use our business skills to
help those who need us the most.
The people we help through GLOBE would otherwise be stuck in an
endless cycle of poverty. They want to lift themselves up but do
not have the opportunities to do so. By providing them with loans,
we allow them to start their own businesses, giving them the
ability to support themselves for the rest of their lives. As
Jeffrey Sachs describes in his book The End of Poverty, we help
lift our borrowers onto the bottom rung of the development ladder,
so that from there they can climb on their own.
The Spring 2012 GLOBE managers all have one thing in common: we
want to save the world. We may not eradicate poverty as a whole,
but we will certainly make a difference in the lives of the
individuals we lend to. If poverty is a problem of humanity, then
GLOBE is a way of becoming human.
Marketing and Fundraising
Team
Log # 1
By Tiffany Wong
Last semester my dean mentioned to me that I was eligible to
apply for GLOBE. At that moment I really wasn’t sure if I wanted to
apply or not. So I decided to speak to my friend who was a former
GLOBE manager from the Spring 2011 Semester. She encouraged me to
join and stressed what a great experience it would be. But, I still
had no idea what microfinance was. So after speaking to my friend,
I really began to think that maybe I should find out more
information about this program. I decided to attend the information
session, which was able to provide me with a deeper understanding
of what GLOBE and microfinance actually was. From that moment I
knew that I wanted to be a part of this program.
After going through the application and interview processes, I
realized that I wanted to do this not just because of the hands on
experience I would gain but for a personal reason as well. I come
from a family who lived in poverty and fortunately most of my
family was able to pull themselves out of it. But I felt that this
program could have helped them. I knew that not everyone is as
fortunate as my family and there were a lot of people still living
in poverty. I needed to help them.
It was made very clear to me that this program was not to be
taken lightly. It was going to be a lot of work and it would take a
lot of commitment. Honestly, this frightened me for a while and I
wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it. But after reading the book
by Nicolas Kristof, “Half the Sky”, I realized that no commitment
would be too big. I needed to do this because of how this program
and microfinance can change someone’s lives. We were not only
helping them to better themselves, we were also giving them an
opportunity to turn their dreams into a reality. Reading about
those women in the book made me so sad. And it really affected me
to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night. I wondered how people
could be so evil and do such hurtful things to someone else. It
didn’t make any sense to me. As I read I began to think that if
given a chance, microfinance could’ve helped any of these women
escape the nightmares that they were living in.
It’s only been 3 weeks, but I am so happy that I am a part of
this program. I feel such joy every time I walk into that classroom
every Tuesday because I know that us being there is helping to
change the life of another person. Being a part of GLOBE gave me a
sense of belonging. There are four separate teams, but I feel like
we are all a family. My group is amazing and I must admit I was a
little nervous at first. I was afraid that maybe we would bump
heads. But I am so impressed with how easily I was able to
communicate with them. Because of the experience that I have gained
from GLOBE so far, I have recently signed up to volunteer at a food
pantry where I will be handing out goods to the homeless. GLOBE has
really opened my eyes up to the reality of poverty and I want to do
whatever I can to help those in need.
As the semester goes on I am really looking forward to: building
meaningful relationships with my fellow GLOBE managers, making a
difference in our borrower’s lives, obtaining a better
understanding of microfinance, and doing whatever it is I can do to
make this GLOBE semester a very successful one.
Technology and Communications
Team
Log # 1
By Boryana Yordanova
A few months ago I went to do some shopping in the city and I
found a T-shirt at UniQlo with the following sign: “The only place
where poverty should be is in museums.” – Muhammad Yunus. I was
quite impressed by this quote but the name Muhammad Yunus did not
mean anything to me. So as soon as I got home, I opened my laptop
and researched it. I started reading and I caught myself going from
one web site to another for three hours. It was incredibly
interesting to learn about Muhammad Yunus and his beliefs, the
Grameen Bank, what microfinance is and to read about the stories of
the hundreds of people that were able to escape out of poverty.
This, therefore, is one of the many reasons why I decided to join
GLOBE.
And what exactly is GLOBE? This is what St. John’s students were
asking me when they saw the GLOBE table at the Activities Fair on
Monday. I responded that GLOBE is an academic program in St. John’s
University that provides micro loans to entrepreneurs in the
developing world. However, GLOBE is so much more than that. It has
been only two weeks since our first meeting but for this short
period of time we have established a strong entity. It is not just
a program, GLOBE is a family sharing one ultimate goal: to reach
out to the poor and give them a chance to survive, grow their
potentials and engage in productive activities. For me, GLOBE is a
way to change the world. I am excited that I have the opportunity
to apply all the theory and concepts that I have been learning in
the classroom and help people escape the never-ending cycle of
poverty. It is that simple.
In the first week, the class was divided into different teams
and each team had to establish their overall objectives. I am a
part of the IT team and our objectives are many and bold but
definitely reachable. I was interested in this team because one of
our responsibilities is to spread the word about GLOBE and get
people to become more involved in the program. I believe that our
team will do a wonderful job maintaining the Social Media
platforms, take pictures and videos of every event that we host,
and most of all, we will make sure that students on campus and
people around the GLOBE get familiar with the program.
Reading the assigned books for the class made me think a lot
about the existing inequality in the world. One of the things that
shocked me the most is the fact that half of the world’s population
lives on $2 per day and 1 billion live on less than a dollar. What
can you possibly buy for $2? Do you buy food, do you buy clothes
and shoes for your children, do you pay for their education? Many
people when they think of poverty, they think of not having an
iPhone or not being able to buy a car or an apartment or just not
having a sufficient amount of money. But while reading Creating a
World Without Poverty by Muhammad Yunus I realized that living in
poverty in the developing countries means being deprived of basic
requirements needed for survival. Yunus stresses the importance of
access to health care, education, electricity, shelter, and all
these things that we take for granted. It is heartbreaking to admit
that poverty is of such a great scale. Therefore, I am dedicated to
give all my best to raise as much money as possible to help
countless of people.