Microcredit Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Microcredit - Term Paper Example The description of the ways in which access to credit eradicates poverty is also discussed in this paper basing the argument on empirical studies. Usman, Malik and Shafiq (2011) explain that regular banks are generally meant for people with money and thus microfinance becomes very necessary for the millions of poor people across the world. Microcredit institutions offer the small financial loans in form of microcredit to the poor with a premise that these people have financial skills and talents which can be utilized through financing for their own benefit and the society in general. According to Vasanthakumari (2008, p. 137), microcredit is necessary for the poor because it offers them the chance to utilize their capabilities and hence progress both economically and socially. Because dependency on charity only sustains poverty, microfinance becomes necessary to enable the poor to utilize their creativity and potential which is possible if people’s energy is concentrated on bu siness ventures and self development as described by Sin-Yu and Odhiambo (2011, p. 103). Microcredit is described by Madichie and Nkamnebe (2010, p. 301) as a form of finance that provides small loans to poor people which allows them to have an ability of self employment. According to Ghosh and Wright (2005, p. 298), microcredit targets poor people who need it to begin businesses and as a result it charges low interest rates as compared to the regular banking services. The Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank are credited for the introduction of microcredit as an economic innovation which targets poor people with an aim of empowering them and thus lead to a general development of the social systems. As a result of this innovation, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 because microfinance led to the empowerment of poor entrepreneurs, farmers and the unemployed. Durrani, Usman, Malik and Ahmad (2011, p. 138) illustrate that microcredit targets people in the unstable income bracket due to unemployment. Because poor people fail to meet the minimum financial qualification of regular banks before they acquire credit services, microfinance plays a significant in the economic progress of the poor. Poorer People Need Microcredit Lack of credit is attributed to the inability of the poor to progress economically and become wealthy as said by Haque and Harbin (2009, p. 4). Microcredit is therefore the best financial solution to the increased poverty especially in developing nations. The credit market within regular banks is full of imperfections and therefore microcredit acts to combat the problems related to the acquisition of credit from banks such as high collateral requirement. Sharma (2005, p. 288) explains that the difficulty of acquiring a loan from formal credit markets makes poor people to resolve into borrowing money from informal credit markets where they are vulnerable to exploitation. In the informal credit market, moneylenders give loans to the poor who have limited options and exploit them through charging exaggerated interest rates. In the developing economies, money lenders provide alternative credit services to the poor because the regular banks require very high financial qualifications for loans which the poor cannot attain. The role of microfinance in the eradication of poverty is therefore evident through the

He is My Hero - Essay about my Grandfather Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

He is My Hero - about my Grandfather - Essay Example He might never have caned me but his advice challenged me even at a very tender age. He would always be straightforward with me and warned me that he was not going to watch me turn into a wicked child. He was a very loving man, not only towards me but also towards my grandmother. My grandfather had a great heart, to be sincere, I have not known anyone with such a heart. His face always shone with a smile even when facing hard times. Most thought his life was ever smooth but we who were around him knew the many hardships he had faced. Even when he was sick and could barely raise his head, he always preached peace and love. He would call all of us, his grandchildren and tell us how important it was to be good to other even when they were not good to us. Being a great physician, he would always inspire me by the way he dedicated himself to ensuring that he gave his best to his patients. Sometime he would wake up in the middle of the night to go attend to patients even he was not in duty , particularly when he learnt that there were emergency case. I will never forget one incidence since it really touched me. It revealed to me something I had never known about my grandfather. I would often go to see him in the hospital when I was young since he worked a few metres from our house. While I was visiting him on one of the occasions there happened to be a patient who needed a liver transplant but had not found a donor even after making requisitions from several organizations that deal with organ transplant. However, it happened that my grandfather’s liver matched with his. Nonetheless, the hospital prohibited organ donation by the staff members. Irrespective of this, my father requested the surgeon in charge to arrange for him to donate part of his liver to the almost dying man. The surgeon was reluctant and reported the matter to the hospital administrator. When the administrator learnt of my grandfather’s plan, he threatened to sack him if he decided to g o on with his plan. Most thought that my grandfather would give up and forget about the whole issue but his personality could not let him do so. He demanded that he had to donate his organ, which he eventually did though he lost his job. Most of his workmates felt that he was irrational since he was helping a stranger at the expense of his job. Even the family members could not understand his actions. Several years later, I asked him why he had chosen to do this. What he told me made me realize he was a rare kind of a person. He was a bighearted hero and no one or anything could prevent him from doing what he was right. He told me that the best thing you can do is to follow your instincts if you felt what you were doing was right, since you only have one chance to live. Giving up a job to enable him donate his liver was one of the greatest sacrifices that a person could ever make. We knew he was noble and generous but not to such an extent. Those who knew him in the hospital thought he was just a physician like any other doctor, but he was more than that. You only needed to know him more to realize the kind of a person he was. When he lost his job, he decided to dedicate himself to charity work. Some thought he was ridiculous to spend his time working as a volunteer in hospitals that took care of less privileged. According to him, he was just doing the right thing. He was such a talented doctor, but he used his talent