Fall 2015

Each semester, students enrolled in the Global Microloan Program will update this site with their weekly program logs. The Fall 2015 student teams include Technology and Communications; Marketing and Fundraising; Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits; and Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment.

Marketing and Fund Raising: Nancy Bai*, Jerombi Slater, Crystal Valentine, Lewsha-Camille Washington, Asia West

Technology and Communications Team: Nathan Basista, Emmanuel Geffrard, Virginia Gilman, Jessica Roberts*

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team: Aaron Jimenez, Tariq Lallmohamed, Danny Loyola, Akilah McLemore, Mateo Myers, Victor Villalpando*

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits Team: Nicholas Brino, Laura Dease, Christian Fignole*, Mandy He, Jhoanny Perez, Shannon Seery

*Team Liaisons

Learn More

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log #1
By: Jhoanny Perez

Joining GLOBE has been an honor as a student. It is providing me with the knowledge of how I can use my skills to create better situations in the lives of people. These past weeks, I spend reading about the approaches to better managing and developing our program so that it reaches the poorest of the poor, and there after I had the chance to see the poorest of the poor recently after learning to access their level of necessity and their potential to succeed in our classes at GLOBE. I am happy to be able to reflect on what GLOBE has taught me and on my experience in a new country.

This past week, I spend four days in Haiti. I travelled there with Airline Ambassadors International a nonprofit created to provide aid and love to orphanage children.  As said above, I saw the poorest of the poor recently after my 2nd week in GLOBE and it emphasized even more why I want to do this kind of work.

In my experience in Haiti, I remembered that Muhammad Yunus taught us in Bornstein’s book that listening, observing and training the unskilled and inexperienced can go a long way for a community and that is what I learned in Haiti.  The people of Haiti are very poor, but they are hardworking, dedicated and faithful to others. They know hunger; they know poverty ever since they were born into villages with no water, no toilets, and no showers and yet they have learned more than us how to survive.  I saw children selling sodas, and water to every car in traffic. I saw people hand making furniture to sell. I saw women selling food, hair products, and clothes and promoting their products even if they lived surrounded by others who were also trying to do the same. This can serve as a lesson to GLOBE, it talks about where GLOBE needs to go next.

I am glad I had this opportunity to see a country that can be reached by us in the near future.   For the ones we should be reaching out to are these countries crying for love, crying for survival. It was the entrepreneurship love that Haitians have that stood with me. It is people like them who are willing to clean anything and manufacture anything for just a piece of bread, those are the borrower’s worth of our approval, the ones who are ready to work to feed their neighbor, their mother, and their children.  After this experience I am excited to be back in class again, and ready to defend and advocate for the hard working people who deserve a chance at opportunity. 

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team

Log # 1
By: Victor Villalpando

GLOBE has been an eye opening experience since the first day I set foot into the class. As a member of the finance and risk team, it excites me that to have the opportunity to change the lives of people living in less fortunate conditions through the use of micro lending. With 5 loan applications pending, I am eager to underwrite and prepare these current loan applications before the end of next month.

Putting myself into the perspective of the borrower, I would be so thrilled to have my loan application approved, not only for the sake of starting a business, but for the opportunity to change my way of living and to break the cycle of poverty. If I were a borrower, I would feel very fortunate to have access to financial services through GLOBE. Being treated as a client and not a beneficiary is something that I would value as a microfinance client, which would further give me incentive to act financially responsible. Having put myself into this perspective, it is my obligation and responsibility to originate as many loan applications as possible to help change the lives of others. My contributions throughout the semester will live up to have a greater impact than I can ever have acting as an individual. GLOBE serves as a vehicle to impact the lives of those in poverty while embracing the ideas of stewardship.

As a GLOBE student manager, it is rewarding to have the opportunity to be on the other side of the transaction and be involved with making the recommendations for specific loans. Having gone through the first loan applications, my experience reading each individual borrower’s story allows me to be immersed into the life of someone less fortunate and give perspective as to how lucky I truly am. I can see myself in the city of Managua every time I read the application of our borrower, Maria Madriz, and it has been a humbling experience thus far. It is rewarding to be working in a global setting with my contributions in New York making a difference in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

With that being said, microfinance has proven to help lift individuals in society, and give an empowering role to women across the globe. While it is difficult to measure how microfinance alleviates poverty, it is easy to observe how it lifts individuals in society. Most microfinance clients across the globe have been women, this is truly admirable. This evidence gives me reason to believe that with more access to banking services, communities can raise their standard of living over time.

Having considered how the current banking system is evolving, we are living in an era of dynamic change in the industry. With all the innovations in today’s system, I am eager to see how technology, specifically FinTech (Finance Technology), can make an impact across the world to those in need of financing. I envision a future where we can utilize the ideas of modern day commerce to bring more access to microfinance into the troubled rural areas of the world. Initiatives should be taken to spread the prevalence of micro lending not just in 3rd world countries, but also in the urban poverty-stricken cities that exist among our communities. This can greatly improve the efficiency of how modern financial services work in today’s world.

Overall, I have enjoyed reading through the loan applications as well as talking about the great things that the past GLOBE classes have done to help our portfolio of borrowers. I know that with a strong initiative, I will be able to say that the actions taken during the course of this fall semester will lead to a lifetime of benefit to our new and existing borrowers that we are able to help. With strong teamwork and coordination, my team will be able to act quickly upon all the loan applications that come across our way.

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 1
By: Nancy Bai

I’ve been exposed to poverty; never for long, but I have seen it, I have felt it, and I have lived in it. What I saw, felt, and lived in horrified me, pained me, and deeply saddened me. The word “poverty” is described as “the state of being extremely poor,” but there is so much more to it than those six words. It wasn’t until I’ve seen it myself that I realized, poverty is about nutrition, mortality, and many measures that goes beyond money.

I saw poverty for the first time when I traveled to Sichuan, China to help the victims of the Earthquake in 2008. I met a woman there who still haunts me to this day; she was a mother of six children who became widow when the earthquake took away her husband and the majority of the land they owned. Luckily, with government aid and help of volunteers, she was able to recover most of her land and rebuilt her home. Yet poverty was still very much in presence; it rained on the family like a dark cloud and its raindrops soaked me with hopelessness. Throughout my travels across different cities and different countries, I was faced with poverty again and again. It shocked me how present it is in countries that appeared the most sophisticated and modernized. 

When I joined GLOBE, I thought it was a nice idea and I warmed to the idea of providing people with a solution rather than a temporary relief, but I was ignorant, I thought I wouldn’t learn anything more than what I had already know. After all, the best way to learn is hands-on. I was wrong, within the first week, I was given so much new information about finance and microfinance. More importantly, I gained a little bit of knowledge on poverty. In class, I was introduced to a wonderful man named Muhammad Yunus through my class readings. His knowledge on poverty and his vision of transforming is truly inspiring. He says that, often, we focus our efforts on relieving the poor, but instead we should be finding the cause of poverty, the root of it all. Only when we fully understand it, can we truly defeat it. Muhammad also taught me that there are many levels to being poor; a woman who lives on $5 a week is categorized differently than a family who lives on $5 a week. It has occurred to me that the poverty I have seen might not even be in its worst form. Poverty is uncomfortable, of the many times I’ve seen it, felt it, and lived in it, it never gets any easier. I look forward to learning more about poverty and create ways to counter and relieve it. The members of the Marketing Team are passionate and excited. Together, we are ready to bring on change. 

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 1
By: Nathan Basista

I am excited to work with the GLOBE class this year, and after reading the stories from the website, I have felt the impact of the micro-loans that GLOBE sends around the world to our borrowers. Certain borrowers stand out, such as Emela Romila, a widow living in Nigeria with her three children, who had surgery to correct their congenital cataracts. After successfully paying back the loan’s full amount from operating her own trade business, Emela was able to provide medical check-ups, eyeglasses, and books for her children. She says that she was able to have her self- esteem restored and was able to be more productive to her society. Stories from the successful loans make me feel fortunate to be part of an organization that is putting forth actual efforts to alleviate poverty and empower female entrepreneurs in developing areas of the world. This fact becomes increasingly more relevant to me, as I continue to learn more information about the global poverty that afflicts billions of people worldwide.

The knowledge that over a billion people live with just one dollar a day shows me that a micro loan of a few hundred dollars can help someone establish a business that can bring them into a position where they can support their family, and even help support the community they live in. Being a part of the Vincentian community here at St. John’s University even further compels me to put forth my efforts to help the poor, which is why I am glad to be a part of a class facilitates the process of loans from the funds of our donors to the entrepreneurs, one loan at a time.

Learning about the initiative taken by Muhammad Yunus to help microfinance be realized by the world as a legitimate way to help alleviate poverty, has captured my interest. I am happy to be a part of the worldwide movement of microfinance that aims to help close the gap between the bankable and the “unbankable.” GLOBE has shown me how I can actually be a part of group that helps alleviate poverty through empowering individuals to help themselves.

I am excited to be a part of GLOBE’s Information Technology team for the spring of 2015. As a team, we have created goals to increase the awareness for GLOBE for this upcoming year. Our program creates a lasting impact on the lives of our borrowers, and I am glad to impart this effect on our GLOBE community through spreading the word to students, and the online community following GLOBE’s journey.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log #2
By: Nicholas Brino

This week my team worked on formulating our goals for the semester with a lot of help from past GLOBE managers and Dr. Sama.  We focused on setting goals for the internal auditing process, external auditing process, and developing business templates for the borrowers.  Our last goal, which focuses on creating health pamphlets for borrowers to promote good hygiene throughout their lives.  We found out that one of the main reasons as to why borrowers cannot pay back their loans is due to poor health of either the borrowers or their families.  This disheartening fact led us to make it a priority to address the health of our borrowers and their families.  Due to the fact that all of our borrowers live in developing nations, many do not have access to the proper healthcare.  Building off of the work of past GLOBE managers, we set a goal for our team to create some type of health resource for our borrowers to assist them in basic health practices; some which many seem elementary to us but can do a lot of good for them.  Practices such as simple hand washing or covering your mouth when you cough can help prevent the spread of germs from person to person.  Being able to work with past GLOBE managers in the past week’s class also proved to be an invaluable experience.  Hearing from the past managers about their experiences and what worked for them and what didn’t work so well. 

My group chose to run with the idea of our borrower’s health and incorporate this into our term research paper.  More specifically, we are going to research the effects of our borrower’s health on their ability to pay back their loans.  As I mentioned before, the main reason for borrower’s not paying back is the ailing health of themselves or their families.  I personally found this topic to be one of the most important that we have talked about so far in our young semester.  Our borrower’s work so hard day in and day out to make their business succeed and something as small as not washing their hands can be completely detrimental to their businesses and their lives.  I am so excited to be able to immerse myself in the topic that most interests me.  Health is something that most people in developed nations take for granted, but is a necessity for most.  Therefore, being able to research this topic, see its effect through this research, and make a lasting impact on our borrowers is something that not many college juniors can attest to.   

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 2
By: Aaron Jimenez

This week has had very big progress extending from last week! Our group has finalized our first recommendation on a loan application that has been waiting to be approved since June, 2015. This has been a significant accomplishment in our team and I am glad that we have had the opportunity to first hand help a second time borrower from GLOBE.

Touching up further on our finalized recommendation for our loan application, it has been great to see that we have helped one our clients in Nicaragua specifically Maria Madriz. Maria wants to extend her business by creating a new job and hiring new employees to assist her in developing her business and local community. Furthermore, she also hopes to develop better communication with our GLOBE team. This is very exciting because we are seeing the dedication and effort that individuals like Maria are putting in to succeed in bettering their community. As a team, we came to the agreement that since Maria is a trustworthy borrower that we would help her financially by lowering her interest rate from 5% to 3% to help ease the financial burdens that come along with her new ideas and goals.

This week’s reading from Joanna Ledgerwood involved how political and economic environments of a country affect how microfinance is provided. Government, economic, and social policies, as well as the different financial systems influence how microfinance organizations distribute financial services to the needy. This chapter involved a macroeconomic approach when placing policies and regulations within microfinance providers and enterprises. The three main financial systems that were covered within the chapter were formal, semi-formal, and informal. These financial systems are very important when analyzing the demand and supply of financial services, but in this chapter we focused on the supply side.

The information in this chapter can apply to GLOBE in many ways. This chapter shows that it is very important when assessing a loan recommendation to identify macro level policy and regulation, as well as the risk factors and the stability of a country. Going forward in GLOBE, our team has seen that these factors are crucial and necessary when assisting our clients in their work. Finally, I have noticed that it is important to meet up weekly as a team to inform and collaborate with one another in order to meet our objectives for this class with hopes to succeed in helping out our current and future borrowers. 

Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 2
By: Jerombi Slater

            The Globe journey continues with meeting the former Globe managers and submitting my very first log. A former marketing GLOBE liaison shared some great advice with us. She made it clear to us that we should form a schedule and keep in mind that deadlines approach rather quickly. As marketing managers, we have a great deal of work to complete; however, it’s very rewarding and fun in the end especially considering that we have a desire to complete all of our objectives, and keep Globe on the map of success.

GLOBE continues to excite me. I find myself talking about it everyday. Each week makes me feel stronger as an individual and a marketing manager. I dedicate each week educating myself on more ways to help the poor, alleviate poverty, and strengthen the purpose of women in the world. This past week, my group and I spent our time reading, comprehending, and reflecting on the female gender. As you know, women have always had a hard time establishing a concrete purpose in life. We as women have to work twice as hard as men to stand out and receive recognition.

Over the years, things have gotten better for women. For example, MFI’s like GLOBE are extending their helping hands to help more women get on their feet. We are encouraging them to use their voice and make a difference in their lives as well as the lives of their children. A lot of women are still trapped in bondage after being manipulated into working false low paying jobs. Finances seem to be the barrier standing in between women and their entrepreneurship, and that is Globe comes in.

Ultimately, I am beyond happy to be a part of this organization. It makes me feel like I’m doing something to help those that have been crying out for help. Most unethical individuals could care less, considering that helping other does not benefit them. Selfish individuals will never prosper. I am a devout Christian, and I believe that God comes to visit me various forms. I know Globe is one those forms. It constantly challenges me. I never had a class like this before. I love it, and everything we do.

In the weeks to come, I look forward to engaging in activities for Globe out of the classroom. I’m excited about the upcoming bake sale, treat for change, and our surprise large event that should definitely raise a great deal of awareness for GLOBE. In addition to that, the logs and oral presentations are a lot of fun, and that make the class flow more smoothly. The Fall 2015 managers is a great group of individuals. Although we’re not all perfect, we manage give our all when it comes to Globe.

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 2
By: Jess Roberts

In this week’s assignments, we discussed and read about the culture and country context of Microfinance and social business, as well as specific developments of social business as a field, and how it evolved successfully through the actions of Muhammad Yunus. His social business developed specific definitions of poverty for the specific area of operation, which gave them solid goals to pursue and a specific clientele to target. Through this and other operational guidelines, Muhammad Yunus was able to make a model for a successful social business that any institution can follow to create a business that makes a difference in developing countries.

The stories about the people positively affected by Microfinance programs are very inspirational. Muhammad Yunus tells the story of his visit to one specific residence in the Chittagong region in Bangladesh, and it puts the reality of our cause into perspective. A woman named Surfia Begum makes her wages laboring to create bamboo stools, but because she does not have the capital, she borrows from the middle-men to purchase bamboo in exchange for selling her handwoven stools for only a total of two cents profit at the end of the day. As Muhammad Yunus said, “In my university courses, I theorized about sums in the millions of dollars, but here before my eyes the problems of life and death were posed in terms of pennies.” It is a powerful story, and it shows why so many are trapped in a cycle of poverty - they have no way to build up capital of their own, due to exploitation, lack of resources, or other reasons. What Microfinance does is more than charity, though, because it helps people to help themselves and future generations. The system that Muhammad Yunus created makes possible for individuals to break out of the chain of poverty, providing education and higher quality of life for the children of these developing countries.

It is amazing to know how the effects of one action can multiply, from helping one individual, to their family, to their entire community. What we do at GLOBE is a make a tangible difference in the lives of those we work with, and as the Technology and Communications Team, beyond enhancing our own internal technological processes, it is our task to show the difference GLOBE is making in lives around the world. It is incredible to be working toward such a goal, while still in a school course.

This week in class we met with former GLOBE Managers, and after a class discussion we were able to meet with the former Managers of our specific teams, where we were given advice, as well as updated on where our team left off last semester. We collaborated on ideas for new and continued directions of our team, and overall I was happy to have knowledge from the former GLOBE managers. We were able to come up with a number of ideas and objectives, as well as exchange contacts to collaborate again in the future.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log #3
By: Christian Fignole

Our group has decided to focus our attention to health problems in poor countries and how that affects the ability of those people to successfully carry on with their businesses and succeed with micro-loans. Health problems are one of the major reasons why it is that people have such a hard time paying back their loans and one of the worst side effects of poverty. I wanted to focus more on the issues that women, in particular, have to deal with because women make better borrowers – they default on their loans less often than men do—and at the same time also have to deal with other obstacles that men don’t.

So for example, Muhammad Yunus in describing the difficulty he had starting out said that one of the issues in interviewing the village workers was that the women, who needed the loans as much as men did, were not allowed to speak to men if there was no one else in the house. And so the conservative culture of some places, like that village he visited, could pose a problem of scope. Women make up most of the world’s poor and should be targeted for microfinance programs and yet there may still be a cultural barrier preventing their participation. And as we’ve also learned, women have a lot to gain in participating in microfinance, like independence and improved confidence and everything else that would usually come with economic mobility.

What Muhammad was referring to in his anecdote was something that was characteristic in Islamic culture in that village, (although I’m sure not exclusive to it). I point that out because there was something else in Islamic culture and microfinance that was fascinating to me with regards to what we’re studying. I recently learned that the Catholic Church at one point forbade interest as usury (even at 1%). And so it was interesting to also learn that under Islamic law (or at least some interpretation of it) that interest is also not allowed and that microcredit institutions operating in those areas have to find a way around that and be creative.

I’m really interested in the different ways that these institutions have to adapt to the culture in which they are operating. When it comes to microfinance or any sort of institution that seeks to make a change, one size does not fit all and I’m excited to hear about the different ways that these organizations work.

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team

Log # 3
By: Danny Loyola

Our group has decided to focus our attention to health problems in poor countries and how that affects the ability of those people to successfully carry on with their businesses and succeed with micro-loans. Health problems are one of the major reasons why it is that people have such a hard time paying back their loans and one of the worst side effects of poverty. I wanted to focus more on the issues that women, in particular, have to deal with because women make better borrowers – they default on their loans less often than men do—and at the same time also have to deal with other obstacles that men don’t.

So for example, Muhammad Yunus in describing the difficulty he had starting out said that one of the issues in interviewing the village workers was that the women, who needed the loans as much as men did, were not allowed to speak to men if there was no one else in the house. And so the conservative culture of some places, like that village he visited, could pose a problem of scope. Women make up most of the world’s poor and should be targeted for microfinance programs and yet there may still be a cultural barrier preventing their participation. And as we’ve also learned, women have a lot to gain in participating in microfinance, like independence and improved confidence and everything else that would usually come with economic mobility.

What Muhammad was referring to in his anecdote was something that was characteristic in Islamic culture in that village, (although I’m sure not exclusive to it). I point that out because there was something else in Islamic culture and microfinance that was fascinating to me with regards to what we’re studying. I recently learned that the Catholic Church at one point forbade interest as usury (even at 1%). And so it was interesting to also learn that under Islamic law (or at least some interpretation of it) that interest is also not allowed and that microcredit institutions operating in those areas have to find a way around that and be creative.

I’m really interested in the different ways that these institutions have to adapt to the culture in which they are operating. When it comes to microfinance or any sort of institution that seeks to make a change, one size does not fit all and I’m excited to hear about the different ways that these organizations work.

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 3
By: Crystal Valentine

It was a regular Saturday night, I chilled with my friends, we laughed and joked and then the conversation “got deep”, we started talking about people. The different faces and races, different creeds and kinds of people. The conversation jumped around within a circle, everyone speaking on their unique experience with different types of people. It just went on and on and on and so did my thoughts.

I realized something. There’s a problem. Not only is there a problem, I’m apart of this problem. I realized that I am apart of a spreading infectious disease, kidnapping the minds of the privilege future generations, hindering the progressive initiatives within human connection and subjecting not only myself but others, to an open wound of:  blind ignorance.

How could this be? A young college educated woman such as myself, be so utterly, blind and ignorant. Did you know? Almost half the world, over three billion people lives on less than $2.50 a day. Did you know? Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Did you know? 1/4 of all humans live without electricity (approximately 1.6 billion people.)

Did you know?

If you didn’t know, then you are also a victim to blind ignorance.

If you did know, then applause, you are enlightened!

But what are you doing about it? How are you serving the poor?

What organizations are you involved in?

What steps are you taking to help alleviate poverty?

Looping in and out of the conversation as it twist and turned, I told myself “do not continuously be a victim to blind ignorance” start by asking questions because questions lead to answers. There are answers, there are steps, and there are organizations that are finding ways to help poverty.

One very interesting way, which I discovered fairly recently is, Poverty mapping. In simple terms, the spatial representation and analysis of indicators of human wellbeing and poverty within a region. Poverty maps can be used to inform policy makers on what intervention to select on the details of its possible design. The assumption is that the relationship defined by the model holds for the larger population as well as the original sample. This creates a platform for planning and targeting purposes, defining the specifics to take steps closer to alleviating poverty.

“I will not be blind” and the conversation shifted.

Technology and Communications Team

Log # 3
By: Jess Roberts

It’s extremely interesting to learn more about the way the Microfinance industry was so successfully created, through developing processes by learning from the failures of traditional banks as well as through trial and error. In countries such as Bangladesh, where even wealthy women have been excluded from the ability to receive loans from traditional banks, it is amazing to see the positive effects of Microfinance. Women face so many obstacles, both in fighting for equality and in overcoming poverty, especially in the most rural areas in developing countries. By the very nature of Microfinance, specifically developed for this purpose, the focus of institutions is on women in these poor countries, in order to decrease the vast gender inequality. In the initial experiment of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus decided to have at least 50 percent of the loans be granted to women, which was not easy to begin, because of the way women have been marginalized by institutions in their society and by their communities. Before Grameen Bank, in Bangladesh less than one percent of borrowers were female. I was surprised to read about the initial opposition from so many directions, including officials and professionals. However, not only are the women more reliable and likely to pay their loan back, they are more likely to spread the positive effects of their increase in revenue to their children and their communities, therefore bringing the entire community up with them. The stories in the readings of the processes of implementing the first experiments in lending microloans to women show moving glimpses into just how much Microfinance institutions transform lives. “To her family she has been nothing but another mouth to feed, another dowry to pay. But today, for the first time in her life, an institution has trusted her with a great sum of money. She promises that she will never let down the institution or herself. She will struggle to make sure that every penny is paid back.”(Yunus, pg 65 Banker to the Poor)

In regards to the question we discussed in class, is Microfinance a helping or hindering hand, with institutions like GLOBE and Grameen bank, microloans are made ethically and have interest rates that are fair for the borrower. This in turn translates to empowering borrowers to have the ability to expand the skills that they already possess. Most of our borrowers are women, which means the microloans give women in rural areas the opportunity to help themselves and their families out of poverty. I am a firm believer that Microfinance is a helping hand, giving impoverished women opportunities to make positive change for themselves, in their lives and the lives of future generations.

This past week, the IT Team has been collaborating closely with the Marketing Team, in order to create and finalize advertising media for the upcoming GLOBE events Treat for Change and the Halloween Bake Sale. The IT Team has also been making progress toward the group research paper on the ways technology is shaping the industry of Microfinance, as well as pursuing goals of creating social media schedules for continuity, and progressing toward an extensive Borrower Database. It is important to make headway early in the semester, because the next few weeks will only get busier as more GLOBE events take place.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log #4
By: Shannon Seery

Last class provided me with great visual insight. Hearing from Dr. Brenton and visualizing his beliefs and findings through mapping was both noteworthy and innovative. GIS mapping is something that I was unfamiliar with. The work that Dr. Brenton does is extraordinary and very inspirational; I am happy to have been fortunate enough to gain some of his keen insight. One of the most intriguing things I believe shown to the class by Dr. Brenton had to be the ‘View form the Global South’; or more simply the upside down map of the world. I might have found this so interesting because it was the first time I have seen such a thing. The map itself struck such a cord with me that I even went as far as showing my roommates when I got home that evening. We all automatically got into an overwhelming discussion, and the energy in the room was electric. As I was providing much of the meat to the discussion, because I was the one who attended the lecture, I was so impressed with how interested they all were. The most intriguing part of the conversation for me was everyone’s automatic response and confusion to the map.

When one looks at this ‘upside-down map’, with no further explanation, many feel that it automatically is just upside down, or wrong. But when asked to give it some thought as to what is the symbolism behind the image one becomes so absorbed with this idea of the ‘view form the global south’. It’s so interesting that the simple placement of objects (continents) can change a direct focus of attention so vividly. To view the map from the south, we are truly viewing those who NEED our immediate assistance, whether that be by donations, or by mere education informing many of the un-thought of places of this earth. 

I would say that I am a visual learner, as I feel many are. Even for those who aren’t, images can leave quick powerful impressions on the mind, whereas a lecture or a reading has failed to do so.  When one takes an image as simple and standard as a world map and changes it, it automatically says something to the viewer. A world map is so ingrained in one’s mind, at least the shapes and where they are supposed to be placed, that this simple gesture of flipping the orientation of the map, has great power.

After seeing this image and learning of its immediate meaning I feel we may be able to use this image to promote GLOBE. By incorporating an image that promotes confusion, we will be able to get people thinking of the borrowers and what they face. Although I feel it is important to show images of our borrowers once they have borrowed the loan, and images that show all the promotion of the program I feel that it is equally important to hit people with the harsh facts. These images are the true facts that I feel will really strike home with ones innate emotions and feelings. Maybe we will be able to incorporate the image in our marketing or presence on campus to automatically capture attention and interest of its viewers.

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team

Log # 4
By: Tariq Lallmohamed

As a social entrepreneur, I will do my best to demonstrate my persistence, my passion to alleviate poverty, and my integrity. Watching videos Professor Sama provided the class with highlighted the importance of how systemic change starts within a social entrepreneur. I will disregard the negative comments about social entrepreneurship and focus on changing the way people think about making a difference in the world. 

As a class, I believe we are collectively working toward creating systemic change. The Marketing team is diligently working toward raising capital in order to create sustainable funds for the microfinance fund; the Technology team is creating streamline processes that will benefit the outreach of GLOBE through the medium of social media; and the Audit and Enterprise team is ensuring each team is reaching their objectives which is crucial in measuring GLOBE’s impact on social entrepreneurship. As a member of the Finance and Risk Assessment team, my team and I have been successful in achieving our team’s objectives. We are prepared to present our loan recommendations to the Steering Committee and have them approved in order to create systemic change in our borrower’s lives and have them create change in their local communities.  After our audit report, our main goal is continue to work on improving the flow of communication with our GLOBE teammates.

The next class will bring GLOBE to its midway point in the semester. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything else.  My goal is to promote this class to others who are interested in making a difference.  I met a few students who asked me about GLOBE and how they should learn more about the program.  I will make it my obligation to spread the GLOBE brand to others on campus.

Muhammad Yunus once stated: “Once poverty is gone, we'll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They'll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society - how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.”

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 4
By: Jerombi Slater`

Once again another successful GLOBE week has concluded. By now the managers have begun to donate to Treat for Change, and prepped for the bake sale that is approaching sooner than later. I must say that I’m extremely excited for the borrowers. More money means more funding for our female borrowers. I predict that it will be the best Treat for Change event GLOBE has ever had. I really appreciate all the dedicated managers that worked diligently to put this all together. If it wasn’t for their help, we couldn’t pull it off in such a beautiful manner. I honestly believe it’s not just an event for the GLOBE managers, staff, donors, or borrowers, but also an event that the entire St. John’s University campus can engage in to support a healthy future for GLOBE. We want to continue to connect, grow, and stay strong with our campus, and hopefully other campuses that share the same interest in the microfinance industry.

In addition to Treat for Change, the marketing team has been working on our objectives. It can be challenging at times, but I believe in my team especially with Dr. Sama as our leader. We’re all women with ambition and drive that makes us great candidates for the job. It’s more then achieving the objectives and being audited. It’s also a learning process that requires a lot of time and effort. As women we must work twice as hard as men in order to receive half of the credit they receive. Slowly but sure that’s changing, and minor things such as setting objectives and fulfilling those objectives will highlight our intellectual capabilities, and naturally cause individuals to take a second at women as respectable leaders in this world that we live in today.

As previously mentioned, GLOBE is filled with both events and academic requirements; however, there is another factor that comes with the territory. You will not find two experiences that are exactly the same considering that GLOBE affects each individual differently. Fortunately, we all share the happiness of helping people in poverty, and reaching out to people who haven’t been extended a helping hand in poverty. The latest topics for the marketing team include the target market and an impact analysis with a concentration on the poor. I must say, just when I thought GLOBE couldn’t possible get any better than it already is, a light bulb of expansion went off in my mind.

The idea of creating a target market for those who have yet to be served is fantastic. It is my hope that one day GLOBE can be the first microfinance organization to make a difference in a developing country that does not have technology resources or expertise to grow as a nation. Time flies, and GLOBE managers must continue there GLOBE journey elsewhere. Hopefully, these upcoming events, info sessions, and the final presentations will motivate the new managers to continue where we left off. Luckily, it’s still fairly early in the semester, and we still have plenty of time to continue our activities that allows us to make a difference. We also look forward to recruiting people to join our expedition through the galaxy in which the GLOBE exists.

Technology and Communications Team

Log # 4
By: Virginia Gilman

Our presentation this week was on Global Warming and the effects that it has on poverty. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that the efforts to aid in the alleviation of poverty are being wiped away from the hardships of global warming. For example, Bangladesh is 2-3 feet above sea level; this welcomes flooding from the rise in sea level due to the melting of ice in Greenland. Due to this their rice fields and business are washed away, forcing them to start over again. All of our efforts and time is being washed away because of Global warming.

This topic is just as important, if not more important than poverty. Due to the fact that if we can’t save this planet and create a safe environment, poverty will not have a chance to be better, rather they will have to start over again and again due to their location and affects from global warming. “Recent studies measure the rise at between three and eight millimeters a year. It doesn’t sound like much, until you realize that about 20 percent of Bangladesh, home to some thirty million people, lies three feet or less above sea level. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, has warned that a significant part of Bangladesh is likely to disappear completely by the end of this century.”  Proving that our efforts to alleviate poverty will not be long term.

The only way to alleviate poverty for good is to fix the Global Warming issue first. People think that donating a dollar a day to children suffering in third world countries will help the environment and world in the long run more than recycling or stopping the use harmful gases. In order to create a sustainable world, the world needs to be able to sustain.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log #5
By: Christian Fignole

We are on day 43 of 100 of the GLOBE program, as the marketing team pointed out in their mid-term presentation. That number is obviously including the time we spend outside of class and weekends because being part of GLOBE does require a lot of commitment outside of the classroom. That is where the majority of the work is being done after all. Doing the mid-term progress report, especially right after we’ve finished our first audit, has given us an opportunity to see exactly where we stand as a group. And one thing that is very clear is that the time really does fly, as someone else pointed out. And with that in mind, we are making very good progress on the things we set out for ourselves.

As a group, we are constantly in contact with one another using GroupMe and we also attempt to meet up on a regular basis to plan out our presentation and actions moving forward. We are doing very good in that area. A possible issue we might face, what with time moving so quickly, is that for all of the goals that we’ve made for ourselves, some ideas have to be reconsidered so that we can focus our time on doing things really well as opposed to spreading our efforts among many things and only ever coming close to realizing them. I think, at the end of the day we will get it all done – but I like that we are putting priorities on things.

Our main focus is health; that’s the topic of our research paper as well as one of the foundations of our goal to implement some basic health resources in the areas we operate in; because health issues are a major reason that some borrowers are not successful. And because we are focusing so much on that part of our goal – one of the ideas we had about building on a previous class’ glossary of terms for micro-businesses has to be re-examined. It is something that we still really want to do and a lot of ideas were being thrown around as to how we can make it useful and engaging for our borrowers (i.e. use real examples, stories, nothing too complicated, etc.) But that’s taking somewhat of a backseat to the larger goal of building a standard business template (we’ve already come up with a rough draft for one) and focusing on the health side of things (we’ve made lists of on-campus organizations we can get in touch with as well as general research that we can share with borrowers). An easy solution that I think we’re all interested in is to that would be to just combine the two projects (the glossary and business template) and keep it simple.

We looked over the progress the other teams were making in their goals in the internal audits and there was a lot of promising results. The IT team for example was able to increase our following on Instagram by a large percentage early in the school year. And one of the things I really liked about the format of their objectives was that there were specific percentages tied to their goals. So they’d say “increase following on Facebook by however many percentage points” and they are accurately able to measure their progress. As a team, we tried to add deadlines to our goals because our ideas tend to revolve around creating rough drafts, revising them, implementing things and doing research for a certain date–so we have a general sense that we are where we want to be; even if it’s not as scientific as the other systems others came up with.

We have revised the internal audit form and it looks fantastic, in my opinion. Another of our goals was to revise the external audit form – but we came to the conclusion that it was better to focus on uniformity and consistency with regards to the forms that are already out there. It was another of those projects that we discussed early on in the semester and we brainstormed a few ideas and after talking it over – we decided that we didn’t want to change things for the sake of change itself. And uniformity was a big motivator behind that – it’s one of the areas we’ve made a lot of progress on; that is, we made a uniform internal audit form and that was something we wanted to carry over to the external audits. We didn’t want to cause confusion for the borrowers who might be receiving two different sets of questions and for the new students who have to make sense of everything.

This has all been a long way of saying that we have made a lot of great progress, and even though we are really happy with where we are as a team (I know it might not have come off that way because I was trying to be critical – we even resisted the urge to not give ourselves a perfect 10 on the internal audits), there is a lot left to do. I’m really happy with where we are with our goals and I have great and hardworking teammates that are really doing amazing things with the limited time we have.
 

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 5
By: Akilah McLemore

This week was a great week for me in GLOBE. We are half way through the semester and making loads of progress. Our GroupMe application was exploding with messages this week since we were all preparing for our midterm progress presentation. It was extremely important that we all participated so that we could best inform our other GLOBE managers about our progress. I was assigned the task of handling Martita Machado’s loan recommendation. I created a loan amortization schedule. We presented this loan and our other three. I think we pulled off our presentation very well. We even answered some questions that our fellow managers had about our loan recommendation process and potential borrowers.

We also completed our midterm assessment in class. I felt like I was prepared. Once I finished, I found it very helpful to have answered those questions in one sitting because usually, those questions arise separately. After writing my answers down, I think that they will stick.

Earlier this week, I attended a GLOBE information session along with four of my fellow GLOBE managers. There was a great turnout. As soon as we were packing up to leave, more interested students came. We enjoyed sharing our experiences with them.  We explained how GLOBE requires a lot of work, but it is definitely worth it. I shared one of my favorite parts of GLOBE, the networking aspect amongst the teams. 

Even though this week was extremely chaotic for me, I have accomplished a lot. I have had several midterm projects to complete and many meetings to attend. In addition, I have an interview this week for which I need to prepare. I feel like an energizer bunny, just going going going.  Before I know it, the semester will be over.

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 5
By: Lewsha Washington

On Friday, we raised the first money for the semester. I was really excited to meet with Asia to sale raffles. After the game was over, I decided to spend the rest of the Friday night selling more tickets. I was genuinely surprised that we raised so much so quickly, and with only two people. I wish my other team members could have been there, because I think we could have raised more money.

My team is really great at picking up each other’s slack. We don’t complain. We just help each other. If four of us cannot do something, the fifth group member will sacrifice and complete the task. I think everyone is trying to manage the workload. Everyone is doing their best at being a fair team member, and giving time to GLOBE. I think we can all deliver more.

I’m overwhelmed with my workload in my other classes. I don’t think I am doing as well in my other classes. I think it is partially because I am passionate about our vision and mission, but also the golden standard that you hold us too. From the very beginning, students are made aware of the level of professionalism that is required. This standard has been helping me to stay accountable, meet deadlines and show up for my team.

The semester is slipping by swiftly, but we still have a lot to accomplish. I am very nervous. I really want to exceed our financial goals for the borrowers. The Japanese have a shame culture. In some ways, it can be unhealthy emotionally, but it can also really motivate an individual to success. I think a balance is necessary. I am really gaining joy from helping others, and will experience shame if I cannot. Intent really matters. One has to be genuine when doing this work. One cannot be selfish, or like MNC’s who give portions of their profits only to improve their public relations and public image. 

There is a lot of work to do, but I am sure we can do it. We are all really passionate and respectful. It’s really nice to be in a room with such ambitious people. I feel the energy from the other teams translate to me and invigorate me. Whenever one team presents really well, it inspires me. We always listen to the kudos and critiques you give to other teams, and apply them to our attachment.

Log # 5
By: Jerombi Slater

Another GLOBE week has concluded. I think it’s safe to say that I’m sad to see it go. I didn’t plan on being this attached to a class that became more of a family than anything. It seems like time is flying before I get the chance to blink my eyes. My team and I have definitely grown extremely close to each other both inside and outside of the classroom. I can see our growth as women striving to help other women. Although our job as marketing managers is extremely demanding, we embrace it. There will come a day where we have to work a demanding job daily, and I believe GLOBE is great practice for that. This past week was different from others. For the first time this semester, we spent time evaluating ourselves in regards to GLOBE as oppose to our borrowers or the microfinance industry.

The evaluations from my team along with my personal observation helped me understand who I am, what my personality shows others, and what my character defines. As weird as this may sound, I feel bad anytime I celebrate myself. It is the smiles on the faces of other that brings happiness into my life and joy in my heart. My team selected me as the Chief Marketing Officer, and I think they’re right. It seems like everyone I come across learn something about GLOBE whether it’s from reading my shirt, staring at my bracelet, or a casual conversation about the current GLOBE activities I’m participating in. This semester has been all about GLOBE life and I’m a proud supporter.

This week also included our midterm assessments. I enjoyed the presentation with my group. It highlighted all of our work so far as well as where we plan to go. I wish there was a part two to GLOBE, so we can pick up where we left off. I’m going to miss this class. It has challenged me to fulfill all my requirements by a specific deadline. I find myself pushing myself even on days that I want to relax. I feel that professors that tend to be a more relaxed and understanding with their students are actually hurting them. Dr. Sama teaches a strict course similar to the way a boss would give an employee instruction in the career world. Unlike most, I appreciate an honest professor. Acknowledging my weaknesses strengthens me, and I’m thankful to be a part of an organization that prepares me for life after college as well as the knowledge.

Last but not least, the midterm essay. I must say I found it to be more challenging than I expected, but after an overview of the questions, I realized that I knew the information. Everything I was tested on, I had seen before. The majority of my classes send information in one ear out the other, but GLOBE travels with me everywhere. If I could make a suggestion, it would be for Dr. Sama to share her teaching tactics with all the professors because if would definitely help students in the long run. I may not be able to talk about a history class, but I will always be able to tell someone about GLOBE and my experience as a manager. I will also continue to encourage others to join the class. This class offers more than I can sum up in a log, and there’s only one way to find out, and that’s through the GLOBE experience.

Technology and Communications Team

Log # 5
By: Nathan Basista

This past week our team has been working on finalizing our progress for our team’s goals. Our group met with the Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audit team to discuss the goals that our team created, and explain their purpose for the GLOBE program, and then we discussed our overall progress on our individual goals. From this first round of auditing I can see that our team has been completing our goals and are steadily on track to meet them by the end of the Semester. Our team has been promoting the purpose and the meaning of GLOBE on the social media accounts. Our team goal is to create an online presence that allows the scope of GLOBE to increase on and off campus. We have been discussing options for campaigns with the marketing team in order to improve our awareness for the fund raising events. With the date of the Treat for Change event coming closer, we have to be making our presence on social media that much stronger, in order to make the Campus aware of our fund raising events. As a team we have also decided to make the move into the platform of Google+, this is because we know that many of the students at St. John’s University use a Google email for their non-school related emails. 

This week I was able to attend the meeting that the GLOBE students had with some of the members of the steering committee. The members of the committee gladly accepted the loan recommendation from the finance team. As a class we are very happy to see this loan be accepted, the success that Maria del Soccoro has created from her first loan is amazing. As a class we see that many of the impoverished people in developing nations just need an opportunity. I am proud to be part of GLOBE and have a chance to provide that opportunity. One thing that I enjoy the most is the aspect of helping people who possess and vision. This vision is what makes a successful borrower. Maria del Soccoro had a vision to create a store to provide stationary goods for her community and all she needed was starting capital. GLOBE is a program that finds these individuals in communities where they are not given a chance to prove their own self-worth.  Our borrowers are people who already possess their own skills and often have a plan to create a small business. Not all of our borrowers have a specific business plan, some have needs for transportation or other necessities, but all of our borrower have a vision that will improve their lives and the lives of the people around them. GLOBE is here to provide these people with a chance to have enough capital to be able to make their dreams a reality.  

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log # 6
By: Mandy He

During today’s class we learned about the performance management and risk analysis in microfinance. I am surprised to realize that management weakness is the greatest risk facing microfinance. Because unlike other uncontrollable factors influencing microfinance, management quality, staffing and cost budget are directly under institutions’ control.  Human factors play an important role in determining the efficiency of microfinance management. To relate to GLOBE, we, the managers are the key to carry on the mission of microfinance program, manage the process of every step and achieve the ultimate goals of eradicating poverty.  We can either improve our programs in a better way or does nothing even worsen the situation. So it is really important to stay right on track of our objectives and constantly evaluate the process. However, people have bias and prefer to be more lenient on them. So the outside of a supervising institution is truly necessary to oversee the program as a whole. And that’s the original reason to have the Steering Committee.  It is chaired by the faculty instructor for the course and includes members from across the university as well as advisors of the Tobin College of Business and a student representative. The Steering Committee is created for the help to examine the programs, give constructive suggestions and even question some of the operation in details. It is essential for microfinance program to have the outside authoritative experts to point out the problems and the method to fix them.

Continued as our health research, we came up with the idea of creating a promoting flipbook or posters to propagate the basic personal hygiene habits to our borrowers in developing countries. Things like to wash hands frequently, take bath frequently and brush teeth three times a day are widely known and popularized in developed countries. However in rural area that hunger is even tough to fight, these basic personal hygiene habits are pretty rare in use. In some particular place where people suffer from high health risks, it is actually very easy to prevent if the awareness of personal hygiene is educated. So we decided to make some flipbook or flyers to spread the knowledge. The problem that is easy to neglect is that many people are illiterate and cannot read or understand the words or sentences for our designed educating lines. So we have to utilize and develop our creativity to put more pictures and images to visualize the flyer. I really like this idea because, not to mention our borrowers, even well-educated people sometimes don’t want to bother reading redundant and long paragraphs to get information. So it is important to give our audience a straightforward visual effect on these essential personal hygiene habits.  We chose the tool “poster-maker” and “poster-my-walls” to illustrate some simple examples of hand washing. We will further develop more about brushing teeth and preventing HIV virus. 

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 6
By: Aaron Jimenez

It is so crazy to me that every week is much different than the other. It is also crazy thinking about how fast the semester has gone by because we are already on journal 6 of 10! This week, though, has been a little bit slower compared to the past two weeks because we have completed all of our loan applications, but hopefully we can work on more in the near future. Furthermore, this week I worked re-adjusting the loan application that I was working on last week due to their being concerns regarding the amount of money the loan applicant were asking for. The loan applicant is a first time borrower and our committee felt that due to this person being a first time client, we would assess a loan at a lower amount due to the possibility of there being to uncertainty and risk involved.

When reflecting back on this semester, I feel appreciative of how this course has truly impacted my perception of Micro-finance. I really did not expect to have learned this amount of knowledge in such a short amount of time, but I think a big portion of this is because of the hands on experience that we are being given. I am truly grateful by the team that I am surrounded by because they are always there trying to helping out one another and always striving to meet our goals and objectives that we have placed for ourselves. This is very important to me because I have gained a tremendous amount of understanding of micro-finance from each team member and they have also taught me the importance of teamwork, dedication, and accountability.

This week, our team had also worked on our research paper outlines. Our research paper has developed greatly since our first outline and I am very excited on the topic that we are working on. Also, this week on October 29th, GLOBE is hosting our very first event, Treat for Change. I am very excited to contribute to GLOBE by bringing in candy and baking a good for the event. I hope that our event goes very well because our marketing team has worked extremely hard on this event and as a class, we have to participate in some way so that we may have a successful turnout. It is very important to remember as a class, that we are all striving towards the same objective and goal, which is to alleviate poverty and inequalities through creating opportunities for those that are in special need around the world.        

Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 6
By: Asia West

We have just about reached the halfway point in the semester. Last week we completed our midterm assessments, which allowed us to take a look at where we are now and where we are heading as the semester progresses. I found this team assessment to be beneficial because it allowed us to briefly stop and reflect on what we have accomplished and learned thus far, as well as what we have to do in order to meet our team objectives. During this assessment, I also learned the importance of having a role within a team in order to get things done efficiently. Yes, everyone can pitch in and help out. However, when you are able to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a team, you can get ahead and get much more accomplished.

Furthermore, being a part of GLOBE thus far has required me to step up and progress in areas that were previously my weaknesses. As a course, it has placed a new level of responsibility on me that is often times hectic but exemplary of the "real world" where the momentum stays constant. Because of this, I better understand the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, consistently contributing, and working with my teammates in mind. One of my previous weaknesses working in a team was my inability to take the back seat. I had difficulties not taking control. GLOBE and my team have taught me to listen to the ideas of others and to allow other members to equally contribute. When the previous GLOBE managers came back to speak with the group a few weeks ago, each of them expressed how GLOBE essentially changed them. Although we have not reached the finish line for the semester, I am already experiencing some of those changes, which has allowed me to view GLOBE as more than a course.

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 6
By: Jess Roberts

This week, each team gave presentations on their progress towards their goals. It was interesting and informative to see how far each team has come so far in the semester, and to see how quickly the class is accomplishing our goals as a whole. A major GLOBE event is coming up next week, the Treat for Change and Halloween Bake Sale. It is a chance for the class to get the word out about GLOBE in a time when people are excited to be out and about on campus. These two events will be a fun way for the class to raise funds, as well as spread the message of GLOBE to the students on campus.

As I have researched, both through this week’s readings and through my team’s research topic, I have learned more about the importance of technology on the institution of Microfinance. This week’s readings focused on Management Information Systems in Microfinance, and shows just how important it is to keep a detailed schedule of data and information involved in the Microfinance interactions. This is vital to an institution’s success, so they may be able to learn from their data and act in the most effective ways to achieve their goals. This includes improving processes in all aspects of Microfinance: from improving work with the field agents, to accessing more clients and providing services to more people, and to maintain optimum course of procedures for the organization as a whole, based on reports and data logged through the databases and information systems. One of the fundamental aspects of this is first understanding the information needs of the Microfinance institution. With GLOBE, we have made it a goal to have a database for the past and present loan information, and it is part of that goal to make the database user friendly and comprehensive, so that future GLOBE classes will have ease of use in accessing and understanding the processes that GLOBE has been through and can easily project where the focuses will be in the future. We are currently in the stages referred to as “Data Transfer.” This can be a time consuming and costly process in some Microfinance institutions. However, by implementing the data and completing the database, future GLOBE Managers will have the ability to look back on the history of the loans distributed and the historical information on loan repayment and risk evaluation. This vital information will gui

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits
Log # 7
By: Christian Fignole

I still get nervous presenting in front of the class. Usually when I’m doing an oral presentation with the rest of the team, I have a general list of things I want to talk about. What occasionally happens is that one or two things that I think are important points that I want to touch on get dropped because it slips my mind because I’m trying to focus on not messing up on speaking. I still remember our first presentation, where I completely blanked out for what felt like forever because I couldn’t remember one specific thing I wanted to bring up and I could not let it go. I’ve learned since to just drop it and move on.

That’s what happened this week. I wanted to quickly go over a theme that I think is central to our message and part of that was including a very small statistic. The theme was inclusion. Our team decided to go over an article that was about a photo contest featuring people in poverty doing labor – fishing, farming, and pottery. There were a few elements that carried through all the pictures: the idea that there is dignity in the work they’re doing and that they’re normal people doing the same anyone in their situation would currently be doing every day .

In one picture in particular there was, I think an emphasis on the idea of inclusion. It was a picture of an Indian man and his daughter creating clay pots to sell to a nearby market with the use of loans they’ve received from a co-operative bank. In India, only 43% of women have a bank account, compared to 62% of men and women also make up most of the world’s poor. Clearly there is a big gap there to fill and it’s part of why I think it is so necessary to have GLOBE and other microfinance institutions reach out to poor women. And as Muhammad Yunus pointed out; it’s also the illiterate and the poor that are being marginalized.

I think this picture did a great job at illustrating the mission of microfinance. There is a considerable portion of the planet that want to have the same opportunity the duo in this picture have (even in their village as we see the many hands on the side of the tent) that don’t have the means to do so and are being neglected by the traditional institutions. These are the so called “untouchables” that the bank wants nothing to do with. But these are the people we should be reaching out to the most. Even though I did grow up in Haiti; it’s one thing to say that I’ve observed a certain level of poverty that is beyond bad – but I’m very fortunate to say that I’ve never had to live it, that is, experience it for myself. No one should have to. And that’s why I think it is important to look into the many ways we can help people improve their economic situation.

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 7  
By: Victor Villalpando

Expanding to a new frontier is exciting in the sense that everything to come will be a first time experience. With the efforts of the previous GLOBE managers, the Finance and Risk Team is eager to underwrite the first loans in the Philippines this semester. It is great to know that we have 34 applications filled out and ready to be evaluated. It is a pleasure to be a part of the class that will begin the loan portfolio in the Philippines. The challenges this poses to the Finance and Risk team is educating ourselves on the current economic trends as well as the regulatory environment for microfinance. This information is critical for us to make our decisions and to be comfortable with making a decision to grant credit to our potential borrowers.

I am excited to collaborate on a video that correlates the “Day on Wall Street” event with GLOBE for the Appreciation Luncheon. Together with the IT team, I know that we can create a great video for the guests to enjoy and discuss how we can bring our experiences from GLOBE to future careers in business. The short video will also serve to make the connection between Wall Street and microfinance. We anticipate a great response from those in attendance at the Appreciation Luncheon.

Last week’s Treat for Change event was a success. The GLOBE class broke the record for most money raised, most of it coming from treating. As one of the managers treating for change, it feels good to know that I had a strong impact in raising money and helping the Marketing Team meet their goals. My background within sales and marketing was a critical factor to my success in pitching GLOBE to students and faculty. The skills from a previous internship definitely came into play whenever someone was asking me about GLOBE and to provide them with a reason to donate. I also felt that with the added collaboration of all the teams, we executed perfectly and the results spoke for themselves.

Lastly, I am eager to help raise capital for the program again with the crowd funding efforts that are about to launch. GLOBE is going for six counties in the portfolio and I feel that this is the best way to market our progress. The fact that we are entering another country goes to show how far the program has gone and should give reasons for people to donate to an expanding organization. With a creative video and pitch, I do not see any reasons why the class cannot surpass the funding from the previous semester of $4000. While the goal is lower than that, I feel that if everyone contributes a strong effort, raising $2000 will be an easy target. The proceeds will be used to extend credit to a brand new portfolio of borrowers and that should excite the donors, the fact that their money is going to the Philippines. Overall, this semester’s GLOBE class has a lot on their hands, but will surpass these challenges and be very successful.

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 7
By: Jerombi Slater

Today was a good day. Tuesday manages to be my longest day of the week, but I managed to get through the day. It always ends with GLOBE success. Over the past week I worked on acknowledging different ways to encourage women to educate themselves on establishing economic freedom eternally. I know for a fact that women are underrepresented and it’s up to them to change that. MFI’s, NGO’s, and of course GLOBE can provide assistance along the way, but women must put forth a certain amount of effort to keep moving along. As GLOBE continues to uplift these women, they’re growing stronger day by day.

In addition to analyzing women and their relation to microfinance, my team and I designated specific tasks on our list of things to do in order to get things done faster. My job is to help coordinate the appreciation luncheon. I’m really excited, and I’m looking forward to creating an environment that’ll wow our guest. I believe the donors deserve nothing but the best considering that they all work diligently individually and still manage to unite and donate funds to lend a helping to those in need. I’m grateful for their participation and happy that our borrowers get a chance to change their lives.

Aside from class and the appreciation luncheon, there’s the GLOBE class. All the managers have been doing a wonderful job keeping the course running smoothly. Each week comes with a challenge and this week’s challenge is the crowd funding campaign. The marketing team has done all we can do on our part; however, it’s been a challenge to work with everyone else. We like doing things in a timely fashion, but we need other to hold up their end of the bargain. This situation reminds me of what things will be like in the work field. I had a professor who told me that I’ll come across numerous people in the work field that either be a great asset to the team or drag their feet and hold everyone else back. It’s hard to work with dead weight, but it’s a part of life. Scenarios like this keep me in school striving to be my own boss someday.

Overall, the week went well. I was happy to hear that GLOBE will officially be operating in the Philippines while I am still an active GLOBE manager. The women there will definitely be happy to start their journey of economic freedom. It brings forth so much joy to see them smile. Women go through so much, and they deserve to smile. I never could understand how men could ever be mean to women or mistreat them as if they fail to realize that they all came from a woman. Respect isn’t given, it is earned, and with microfinance on the rise, it’s only a matter of time before the respect from a man is no longer required. Cheers to all the women recognizing the strength they have inside to survive without the help of men. It’s safe to say women are officially entrepreneurs. 

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 7
By: Virginia Gilman

As I look back on this semester, I not only see how much that I have changed as a person, but I see how the managers have changed as well. Reserved students are coming out of their shell, presenters that were nervous to speak without notes are now speaking freely with confidence, managers who were just learning about microfinance can now have an informative discussion with peers about GLOBE, but most importantly we as a class have created friendships that I believe will last a lifetime.

After today’s class, a few teams were wary on whether we will reach our GiveCampus goal. I believe that my classmates need to acknowledge these changes, and be proud of what they’ve accomplished with the help of their team thus fair. For example, the annual Treat for Change event received over $740 in donations, a GLOBE record! This would not be possible without the strategic planning of the Marketing Team, but also the help of every single GLOBE manager; each student individually was a apart of making the $740.53 a reality. Also, GLOBE recently received 34 loan applications from the Philippines! These accomplishments make us an unforgettable Fall GLOBE class.

These accomplishments should make us empowered to do more and improve ourselves and do things with the best of our ability.  We are a GLOBE Team. The definition of a team is “a group of people who work together”, whether they work together to achieve a common task or goal, these ‘Team members’ will support each other and not let one fall. Similar to solidarity lending, which is a lending practice where small groups borrow collectively and group members encourage one another to repay, GLOBE is a small group of students who help, encourage and empower one another to reach our most important goal. That is to aid in the alleviation of poverty.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits

Log # 8
By: Nicholas Brino

This was an exciting week for the GLOBE program!  Just today we launched our crowdfunding campaign, #GLOBEgoesfor6, in which we set a goal of $3400 to raise money to support the expansion of GLOBE into our sixth country, the Philippines!  I had the amazing opportunity to be a part of the promotional video that the IT team put together for the crowdfunding campaign and I have to say, it was a lot of fun to be a part of it.  The IT team, led by Nathan and Jess, had some absolutely amazing ideas as directors of the video and they worked very well with the marketing team, who wrote the script and put our ideas into action.  It is so exciting to be expanding into our sixth country and I really look forward to sharing this new campaign with all my friends and family members.  Along with the marketing of our new campaign comes the opportunity to talk to new individuals about what GLOBE is all about and what we do in the class.  One of my favorite things about the class; being able to brag about all the good that we do for our community, the borrower’s communities, and of course, the borrowers themselves.  As many of friends and family can attest to, I love to talk and am not afraid to go on and on about a topic, and GLOBE is one of those topics.  Along with all the other promotional events that our class holds, we not only benefit monetarily from these events, but we also benefit by spreading the GLOBE name and promoting the program on campus. 

Besides the exciting and action-packed event of our crowdfunding campaign, the Enterprise Development Team was hard at working developing our business plan templates and health resource pamphlets.  The main objective this week was to research and starting putting together our templates to assist the borrowers.  We bounced ideas off of each other and in the end we came to the consensus that we are aiming to both educate and facilitate action in our templates.  Something as simple as adding a glossary of terms for borrowers and potential borrowers to use will allow them to better understand the terms being used.  We also believe it would be beneficial for the borrowers to reflect on their businesses by answering simple yet concise questions.  Questions such as, how can you get more people to buy your product/service, will help our current and potential borrowers think critically about their businesses.  These ideas, incorporated with various infographics and visuals, will convey our message and at the same time be easy for borrowers to understand and interpret.  We set a hard deadline to get our business templates completed before Thanksgiving break to allow for Dr. Sama to review them, and as of now we are on track to meet our goal.  This along with the progress made on our other goals puts our team in a good position as our semester quickly comes to a closing. 

It amazes me that we are already two weeks into November and that we have only about a month left of school.  It is amazing how quickly the semester flies by when you are constantly turning our attention from goal to goal, especially in a fast paced class such as GLOBE.  It has been a semester full of long and hard work, but in the end I know it will all be worth it; for our borrowers! 

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 8
By: Mateo Myers

This week was very different vibe wise. Usually it's upbeat and I always have something good to report or things go swimmingly in the week's tasks and assignments, but this week it was the opposite. I feel like personally I hit that wall in the semester, if that makes sense. Although we been handling our goals fine based on our audit today, the side projects and the other aspects of the class have been lacking from my end. I messed up exponentially on my side project for the finance group with Dr. Brenton. I had made a commitment and I didn't honor it. I feel bad because I know it makes my team look bad. It's not a good feeling and I know I need to get back onto the side project I committed to. I feel like the load from all my classes and work are starting to catch up to me where in the beginning I just got through it. Sometimes I stretch myself too thin and then fail to live up to my promises. It's no excuse, but I just know I need to get back on track with my responsibilities. I just hope Dr. Brenton will still meet with me because I feel my idea will really help the future GLOBE members penetrate new countries, especially after seeing that we have the capability to enter new territories with this great Philippines news. Emails were also a problem because this week I just didn't look at anything and all the news of the website being live went completely unnoticed. I just wasn't on the ball with anything. Our outline was also revealed to be the least complete, which was also sad to hear. I feel that we may have a lot on our plate, yet so does everybody else. For the next week and the remaining weeks, I know we can fight through this wall and do an impeccable job completing our remainder of tasks and goals. I do put the blame on myself for some aspects and as a member of the finance team I know everybody wanted to be in the group. We're held to a higher rubric since this was such a sought after group and we were the ones selected. Next week will bring much better news.

Marketing and Fundraising Team

Log # 8
By: Nancy Bai

The GiveCampus campaign has officially launched. It’s been a stressful beginning trying to put a video together to launch the campaign. But now, we have a little more direction knowing that GLOBE is ready to expand into the Philippines. With this new purpose, we are excited to get into the swing of things. In fact, we have already received 34 applications from the Philippines. As a result, we aim to raise $3,400 through the campaign to address some of the loan applications as well as providing the means needed for some fellows to go abroad and see the impact he or she has made. It’s only been two days and we have already raised $I, 000 dollars! I am thrilled about this initial success, but I am also well aware of the hardship ahead. At the meeting with Mr. VanDeusen today, he mentioned that after the initial excitement about the campaign, there will always be a plateau where the donors and money will come to a halt. It is up to us to prevent that happening by keeping the audiences confused, that is why we are planning to do 20 actions; one action for each of the 20 remainder of days we have left. To get the class involved, we asked each team to provide at least 5 actions within each team, whether they are challenges, matches, or plea videos. We hope that by doing so, we can entice the public to donate or spread the word for our cause.

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 8
By: Emmanuel Geffrard  

In class today, we talked about the relationship between microfinance and micro-savings. We also talked about micro-insurance, how it exists for the same reason micro credit does. People in poverty are not able to afford health insurance. Provides protection to those with little savings. It’s not easy to touch people that have no idea of poverty feels like or what the ones in poverty are going through.

Micro insurance requires an enabling environment.  An enabling environment refers to the national policies, laws, physical infrastructure such roads, electricity, access to education, and access to banks.

Micro savings has lots of advantages such you can use that money you saved in whatever you would like, but with micro insurance, you can only use it with your health situation. Micro insurance also has lots of advantages such if a big disaster happens, you may not have enough money in your savings to cover those expenses but since you are insured, all the costs would covered by that insurance company.

Importance of insurance in a household is necessary because your health is very important. However, not everyone is capable to have that. In the video we saw today, one of the lady was talking about how she has two children but only insured the guy and left the girl uninsured. Unfortunately, the girl was the one getting burned and she had no money to take care of the situation. It seems like they still value men as superiors than women in those developing countries, maybe that’s why they are the first priorities.

A quote by Paul Farmer,

“For me, an area of moral clarity is: you’re in front of someone who’s suffering and have the tools at your disposal to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it, and you act. “  Referring to that quote, Dr. Sama always mentions how she used to write a lot about poverty until she realized it would be best to start acting and she came up with GLOBE that is now changing people’s lives all over the world.

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits

Log # 9
By: Laura Dease

Our penultimate log? This is hard to believe. Last Monday, November 9th, we had the privilege of hearing from Dr. James Heckman, Nobel Prize winner, on “Social Mobility and Inequality.” The event proved to be extremely informative. Dr. Heckman acknowledged that Henry George, for whom his presentation was named, worked tirelessly to understand the nature of poverty. First, Heckman points to a deep concern about rising inequality in our country. Although his presentation focused on the US, many of the points he made helped to broaden my perspectives and opinions on inequality on an international scale as well.

First, Dr. Heckman discussed useful metrics to examine inequality including the Gini coefficient. The greater the Gini coefficient, the greater inequality associated with a particular country. For example, a Gini score of 1 would be interpreted as the richest person in the country possessing all of the money while the remaining individuals possess nothing. From looking at metrics of inequality, Dr. Heckman then discussed some contributing factors to this inequality. Some of these factors included assortative mating, which concerns economic and social “peers” marrying and reproducing. Highly educated individuals tend to marry each other, thus making households more unequal.

As demand for skills in our economy has greatly increased, income growth in English-speaking countries has benefitted only the top income earners. Something I found particularly thought provoking was the “Gatsby Curve” that Dr. Heckman discussed. Named after F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s work, this tool examined how much of the income of the current generation depends on that of the previous generation. The greater this intergenerational elasticity score, the IGE, the lower the intergenerational mobility potential is believed to be. This ties directly into generational poverty, something we have discussed multiple times throughout the semester in GLOBE.

Although only about an hour in length, this lecture proved to be very informative and thought provoking. As a university that claims to be Vincentian, reaching to the margins of our society, I believe the content of Dr. Heckman’s presentation can challenge us to look deeper into the root causes of poverty and inequality both domestically and abroad. I was discussing the lecture with a former history professor of mine shortly after, Dr. Tomes, who provided great insight. He suggested that a lesson to be drawn from Dr. Heckman was that it is necessary for us to examine inequality and more importantly, it is imperative to recognize that the solution is not a simple one. This is promising as a student body in general as well as a GLOBE class in particular. We certainly will not be making drastic, sweeping changes in one semester, but we are taking steps in the right direction. I believe information provided through our semester in GLOBE and through lectures similar to Dr. Heckman’s can encourage us to continue to strive to lessen inequality in our future endeavors.

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 9
By: Danny Loyola

As the semester winds down to a close, I look back to the beginning of the semester when I was unsure about the impact our efforts would produce. I was enthusiastic about assisting people reach their aspirations through the enabling power of microfinance. At the same time though, I was skeptical at the idea that an ordinary class could have such an impact to people outside the classroom. That skepticism evaporated by the time I worked on my first loan. Its amazing how three pages worth of information can paint such a detailed picture of a prospective client. Our work is not done yet; I am putting the finishing touches on Joy’s loan for the expansion of her sari-sari store, we have added significantly to our research paper over the last week, and I am actively campaigning for our fundraiser. I have sent out an email to past employers, family, and friends. I have also been following up on it in person and I hope to see my individual contribution increase in the next two weeks. In the past, I have been a subpar advocate for campaigns. This time has been different though, being able to seethe results and the effectiveness of the program has allowed me to better rally behind it. On top of that I am in debt with GLOBE. GLOBE enhanced my otherwise lackluster resume to the point where I have been able to secure an internship a couple of months ago and I have a huge talking point in my hunt for a full time position.  Its funny how I am taking a vote of confidence and turning it into more opportunities. That’s exactly what the goal for our class is, to give those who would otherwise be ignored a chance to prove themselves to others and most importantly, to themselves. With this in mind, I will get back to putting the final touches on Joy’s chance at a better life.

Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 9
By: Crystal Valentine

3 HELPFUL TIPS FOR GLOBE.

It comes a point in time in every student’s semester, when all of a sudden life begins to weigh in on you. Everything falls down on you. Slammed down by your academic work, swamped with your social life, stumped by extra-curricular. I mean outside of being an academic robot, as a human, you have to maintain, your identity, your health, mentally, physically, emotionally and then there’s your appearance, I mean imagine what people would think of you, if you really looked your situation? Exactly. It’s overwhelming. As your life is swirling and twirling, up, side, down right before your eyes, what do you do? When it’s all said done, all of this falls on YOU, and guess who has to pick all of this up and carry it on, YOU.

Your first step is to Pause and Reflect. Begin to think of Life as a dance, with a smooth rhythm and a steady beat, let your song lead you where it may, then just keep moving, like the music, there will be upbeats, and low beats, but that’s what makes the melody a song. Here are some tips to get through GLOBE, so it’s just one thing less that you have to worry about as you go on throughout your semester.

Here are three helpful tips that will motivate you to sing your song, loudly and proudly.

1. View Failures as Beneficial Learning Experiences

You are Human, and Failure is a beautiful inevitable part of you and life. It’s not a question of whether you’ll fail – but when. If we let them, these failures can really weigh us down. Instead, let’s make the most of these instances by turning them into positives. In GLOBE, there is no such thing as failure, although we may feel different, everything is a lesson to be learned in GLOBE, after all it is an academic course of=n microfinancing. Lift the weight off your shoulders by viewing mistakes as learning experiences – things from which you can benefit – and use them to fuel your growth and success in GLOBE.

2. Remember to Look at the Big Picture

Every little step is another step ahead of where you were before. Take each class as another step closer to eradicating poverty. Everyone steps at a different pace. At the end of the day, when it comes to GLOBE, All roads leads back to our borrowers. It’s the purpose and the goal of the program. Keep your eyes focused on helping those in need. Remember what drew you to GLOBE in the first place. Strive off of that energy. Allow that to be your mantra, not your team objectives or getting the perfect A, although these are important, these goals are not fulfilling unless GLOBE is helping entrepreneurs help themselves.

3. Dedication is Education.

GLOBE is a course that needs dedication in order to run effectively. This is a real-life course, with real people and real money. The best thing you can dedicate in this course is time and energy. Taking the time, to read the readings and learn the information allows you to appreciate and understand microfinance more in depth. By understanding microfinance, the class all in itself means that much more. Dedicating energy is the fuel needed to carry GLOBE to all it aspires to be and do. Keep in mind, your energy transcends into the rest of the class. A class of energized students is a learning, impactful class. Being that energy versus expecting that energy is the difference.

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 9
By: Jessica Roberts

This week was full of accomplishments in GLOBE, just as we near the end of the semester. The week began with our class opening the GLOBE Goes for 6 Campaign on GiveCampus. The campaign gained momentum right away, with the hard work of the students coming together with the enthusiastic support of those following GLOBE’s journey. By the end of the first week, our campaign had already reached its goal of $3,400 to fund the 34 new loan borrowers, which is incredible, and really shows the effort and dedication of our class in making this campaign successful. I am excited to see where the remaining weeks will take the campaign, as every additional dollar makes a huge impact on the lives of our borrowers.

The GLOBE Appreciation Luncheon is coming up, and in preparation for the event, we worked together with members of the other teams who would be unable to attend the Appreciation Luncheon due to academic and business engagements on Wall Street. Last week we filmed on Wall Street for their video presentation to be shown at the luncheon, and this week we finished filming with the final member of the group at the St. John’s campus, to bring to the video an element relating to the students and the University. This was an exciting film to create, as it demonstrates some of the academic importance of GLOBE, as well as expressing the impact of the program, and the sincere gratitude of the students and everyone involved in the program to those who contribute to making GLOBE and its mission a reality. I am looking forward to the programs lined up for the GLOBE Appreciation Luncheon, and to meeting with supporters of GLOBE.

In the readings, this week we learned about the various enterprises that go along hand-in-hand with Microfinance in promoting the well-being of developing regions and assisting these regions in breaking the cycle of poverty. Muhammud Yunus, when developing Grameen Bank, brought together a number of resources under one common social business, all with the intent of bringing the most benefit to those local people who were in most need. Through this, his social businesses were able to create and take advantage of local resources that were being improperly run or implemented, and use them for the advancement of the local regions and communities. This is important, because as we have learned throughout the semester, although Microfinance is a huge way for individuals to rise up in their personal situations to overcome poverty, often times other factors will enter the situation that can be difficult to overcome, such as health issues, political issues, and environmental issues. Any of these can cause unforeseen setbacks to development, but when a Microfinance program is engaged with taking advantage of multiple resources available, these setbacks can be overcome or minimized. 

Enterprise Development and Program Impact Audits

Log # 10
By: Shannon Seery

It just does not seem right to be sitting here writing my tenth and last log! It is definitely a huge understatement to say that this semester flew by. It is even more astonishing to think of all that we have accomplished. There has been great success within each individual team across the board, and I am excited to see the mock/practice final presentations next class to truly understand how much we have all accomplished with the help of one another. For my team, as I know I have mentioned in many of these logs, one of our focuses was on a business template. After discussing our draft with you this evening, I am both very pleased and thankful. I was very confident you were going to like the resource, but to actually hear you say how great of a tool you feel it can be is such a remarkable feeling. All of your comments and suggestions are extremely valuable, and we look forward to improving the overall handbook! This resource that we have created really demonstrates that innate feeling one gets from really producing something great. It is hard to explain, but GLOBE encompasses this ‘feeling’ in many ways and standards. I always knew this was going to be a great course; and one of the most, if not the absolute most rewarding thing that I would do within my time here at St. John’s University. Coming into the course I knew that I would get that happy, butterfly, excited, genuine feeling that I actually was making an impact, yes ME! Although, I have felt glimpses of this throughout the entire semester, the feeling I get after getting your support behind the business handbook is definitely the greatest sense of accomplishment I have received. The only thing that can top this is completion of the handbook, translations, and finally DISTRIBUTION!!! I just am super excited to see of what an impact these plans can bring.

I feel that what we included will deem extremely valuable to all of our borrowers and perhaps those seeking to borrow. I truly feel that this tool will help with the creation, implantation and development of the many businesses that GLOBE funds. By providing such a resource we are providing a distinct learning hand, which is such a valuable characteristic of the overall GLOBE mission. I truly feel that the most powerful resource in this world is education, and I feel that these handbooks will definitely educate and even empower people to better their business, ultimately bettering their lives and those around them. Again, it is so inspiring to realize of the impact that I have made within this program and hopefully on all of these beautiful borrowers we encounter.

GLOBE has been amazing, it truly has inspired me in more ways than I can begin to try and explain. The experience has moved me, allowing me to understand the great significance behind the idea that one person can enact change. Granted the GLOBE program is consisted of more than just one individual but without each one of us and our unique perspectives, the change we have enacted, not only within this semester, but within all GLOBE classes would not be possible. We have all left a distinguished footprint on the globe helping our unique, inspiring borrowers!

I want to thank you for an incredible semester. I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings, and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday! ☺

Finance, Budgets and Risk Assessment Team
Log # 10
By: Tariq Lallmohamed

Wow, log number 10! I’m not sure where the time went – this semester has been the best part of my life thus far. I am proud to say GLOBE has been a part of that. I did not imagine the semester flying by this fast. Time flies when you’re having fun, underwriting 8 loan applications for 3 different countries, and staying prompt with emails at 1:00AM from Dr. Sama. From the late nights in class, to our group presentations, to our presentations to the Steering Committee, I am proud to call myself a GLOBE microloan manager. I am forever grateful to Dr. Sama for providing me with the opportunity to be part of an amazing cause. I will never forget the first time I interviewed for GLOBE and how upset I was that I couldn’t take the class last semester because I was a sophomore. I guess everything happens for a reason – it is a privilege to be surrounded by my fellow GLOBE managers and I could not ask for a better Finance team to be a part of.

I can truly say that this is the first time that I have been part of a team where everyone pulls their weight and contributes a significant amount to all of our projects. Danny, Akilah, and I successfully received approval for 5 out of 7 loans presented (2 conditional approvals for the Philippines). I am proud of my teammates. We made tremendous improvements on our team chemistry, analyzing the purpose of our respective loan applications, and more importantly demonstrating the borrowers’ stories. I can proudly say that I was part of a TEAM that made a difference in 6 borrowers’ lives in two different countries. I am glad the luncheon was a success and our supporters for GLOBE enjoyed the Day on Wall Street video.

It is time to prepare for our last hurrah. Our final presentation is our chance to demonstrate to the Steering Committee that their investments are generating high returns – social impact to our borrowers’ lives. We are diligently preparing to have our best presentation for the semester and make Dr. Sama proud. The sky is the limit for this year’s class – we shattered multiple records across the board; it started with the bake sale, our crowd funding for the Philippines, and potentially setting a record to have the most loans to be approved in GLOBE’s history. I live for these moments – I hope you are proud of us Dr. Sama. Thank you for an amazing semester.

Marketing and Fundraising Team
Log # 10
By: Asia West

A milestone is defined as an action that marks a significant change in development. When I think of GLOBE, milestones is the first word that comes to mind. In early September, I met my team members for the first time. I did not know what to expect but I knew that we all had the same goal and that was to make an immense change in the lives of others. That in itself would aid me along this GLOBE experience. Now 10 weeks in, these girls are no longer my team member but also my friends. They are diligent, bright, and quirky at times, but more than anything change makers. Whether treating for change, launching a crowd-funding campaign, or planning a luncheon, we have experienced our greatest successes and milestones together as a team.

Throughout this semester, I have logged about the ways GLOBE works to change the lives of others but I have failed to mention just how much it has changed me. In anything you do, you should be learning. If you aren't learning, you aren't growing. Being apart of GLOBE, I have learned so much. I have learned the importance of consideration. Working in a group, it is important to be considerate of other people’s time, their feelings, and their space. This continuously places you in the position to think outside of yourself and to think of others.

I have also learned to devalue materialism. Friday evening, I walked along Madison Avenue in attempt to find the nearest train station. While walking I looked ahead and there it was on display.  It was not the handbags or shoes that caught my eye but the overwhelming amount of homeless people sleeping outside of some of the most high end stores in the city. It saddened me as I realized that there is a lack of care for social issues like homelessness in the U.S. I also began to think of our GLOBE borrowers who are seeking loans so they no longer have to live each day surviving off of little to nothing. For them, those frivolous material items will never matter as they face bigger issues.

Lastly, I have learned how to quickly adapt. Working in a team with four other people who were essentially strangers before this, I better understand that everyone is different and we all come from different backgrounds and experiences. Because of this, at times it can be difficult to completely mesh and work together. However, GLOBE places you in a position where you have no other choice. You are thrust into this experience and in order to be successful, adaptation is key.

As my semester in the GLOBE program begins to come to an end it is very bittersweet. I am excited for our borrowers who will receive loans that can potentially change their lives for the better. However, I can't deny that I am selfishly jealous that the GLOBE torch will be passed along to a group of new managers so soon. The impact GLOBE has had on my life has been one of the greatest assets to my college experience.

Technology and Communications Team
Log # 10
By: Nathan Basista

This week is the break of Thanksgiving, where many of the GLOBE managers are going home for the weekend to share good times and give thanks with their loved ones and family. This past week our class was able to extend a thank you to our many supporters of GLOBE, including the Steering Committee members, and professors at St. Johns University. We had our Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday, November 18th, and the event went remarkably well. The Technology and Communications team was able to show the two videos that we have created this Semester, including the video for the GiveCampus Campaign, and the video that related the GLOBE classroom to the effect that the program has on the student managers, the My Day on Wall Street Video. The event went very well, we had two past fellows present a presentation that was very moving. They really showed me the many reasons that have convinced me to apply to be a GLOBE Fellow for the Spring of 2016. This would be especially impactful for me if the Fellows trip coincides with our new chapter in the Philippines.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, and with this being our last log for the class, I find myself reflecting on the impacts that this course has had on me, and how it has taught me to understand the true meaning behind a social business, and poverty alleviation. Before I was a GLOBE manager, I thought that to address and alleviate poverty, one must send resources and money to the poor. I had the notion that there was not much that we could do to truly make the people suffering from poverty have means to end their own sufferings. Through learning about and being a part of an actual microfinance organization, I have a new understanding of how people in the developed world can change the lives of the poor through empowering people with a chance. That is what we do. GLOBE allows the people who do not have access to traditional banking, a chance to obtain a small loan. Our borrowers are entrepreneurs, and that is what impacts me the most, that these loans are making a real difference by creating the means for these people to make an income that could last years, and even generations. I am thankful for GLOBE, and I am thankful to Dr. Sama for making education a top priority. The GLOBE managers are well educated, and with the real experience of being a part of this program, we know what it takes to alleviate poverty, and will always remember the time we spent as GLOBE Managers.