Tuesday 8 June 2010

Making a difference - and getting on with it!

For a couple of years I've been wanting to find a way of making a difference in Africa in relation to poverty, social or economic exclusion. This was given more immediacy by the fantastic "Wales to Africa" programme conceived and run by the Welsh Assembly Government.  I really wanted to take the opportunity to take a short secondment and spend some time supporting an African development project.  But it didn't happen, the time was never right with work and family commitments, - it would have been a selfish thing to do.


Since then, I've become more aware of other opportunities to help, notably micro-finance loans which support entrepreneurs to create their own wealth and to find sustained growth for families and communities.

For the last 2 years I've had the web address for Kiva, an American micro-finance charity. For the last 2 years, I've been waiting for the time when work is secure, when the business is established, when...... when..... when the time is right to make an investment.

This last weekend I looked back at my last blog entry:  Whilst it's rarely the perfect time, it's rarely the wrong time either.  I might want to commit huge sums of cash to support a vision, but what's wrong with starting with a few quid.

I believe that whatever you do, it has an effect.  The same does not apply to dreaming about doing something!


So, I've taken some action.  Now I need to make sure that people know about it.  Lets see what we have to do to create some momentum!

I have taken the decision to:
  • support female entrepreneurs - because I believe that women remain systematically disempowered
  • support groups - because I believe that communities offer support and sustainability
What should I do to get others involved?

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