What am I going to be doing again?

I only know a small percentage of the experience I am going to be getting and the work I'm going to be doing on my microfinance brigade, but I'm going to take this moment to do my best to describe the work I'm going to be doing. 

To begin with, brigades are defined as passionate groups of volunteers mobilizing toward positive social change. 

From a big picture perspective, the microfinance brigade I am going on is one of the ten brigades Global Brigades provides undeveloped communities as part of its holistic model.

Global Brigades practices holistic development, which is the system of collectively implementing health, economic, and education initiatives to strategically meet a group's development goals. For Global Brigades, it includes the preparation, delivery, and follow-up of it's ten unique programs conducted in collaboration with community members, student volunteers, and local technicians. Only 6 programs are currently working in Ghana, and they include:

• Medical brigades- work with licensed medical professionals and community health volunteers to provide comprehensive health services in rural communities with limited access to healthcare
• Dental brigades- provide immediate and preventative dental services in rural communities without access to oral care otherwise.
• Water brigades- empower communities to access sufficient clean water through infrastructural development, water treatment, community leader training, and education.
• Public Health brigades- empower rural Ghanaian communities to develop sustainable health solutions and establish a standard of health quality with an emphasis on preventative methods and education in rural communities by engaging the efforts of both volunteers and community members.
• Microfinance brigades- provide rural community members a community banking system, with access to loans, financial literacy programs, and education to increase production and foster a culture of savings and growth
• Business brigades- empower businesses and entrepreneurs within communities with the tools to make wise decisions to grow their streams of income through financial planning and operations and marketing consulting.

The mission and vision of my microfinance brigade is to provide rural communities with a strong financial system to access loans, savings accounts, and capital to fund community projects and education initiatives, resulting in a culture of community empowerment and financial literacy. 

In rural Ghana, inaccessibility to financial services is a major challenge for community members. Evidence gathered by Global Brigades' programs, combined with previous experience in the communities showed that the most rural farming communities do not have access to affordable financial services, such as savings and loans.

Without these crucial financial resources, community members depend on intermediaries who often take advantage of them by charging high interest rates on loans and offer very low prices for their crops. This pattern traps many community members in a cycle of debt with most farmers only making enough money to feed their families and purchase necessities. Communities are left unable to plan for the future to save for emergencies, education, home reparations, or to reach any other financial goals.

The microfinance program methodology consists of community bank formation, bank support, and financial literacy education for families. My fellow brigaders and I will work with Global Brigades staff and the community to establish community-owned banks and provide follow up on those banks. Brigaders provide financial education and guidance on developing economic solutions to improve income during our time in Ghana.

For even more detail about what I am going to be doing, here is a sample itinerary from other mircofinance brigades:

A Brief Over view of Ghanaian History

So I just got my official pre-departure packet for my trip to Ghana! In it includes all sorts of interesting information I shall share in multiple posts, but I will share the content of what I think is the most important first: The brief history of Ghana they provided us! Enjoy!

"Ghana, a West African nation bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Togo, was formerly a British colony known as the Gold Coast. Like many modern states of West Africa, Ghana is fundamentally a creation of European colonial influence, thus prior to the colonial era, the territory of the Gold Coast was not a cohesive ethnic or political entity. Liile historical record exists of the Gold Coast territory before Portuguese colonists landed in 1470 and began a period of colonization in which European powers controlled most of the coastline. What is now Ghana was the epicenter of European maritime trade out of West Africa and it was the Ashanti Empire that gave political and social cohesion to much of this area. During British control, which began in the 1800s, the colonial government signed a formal agreement with Ashanti chiefs establishing political control and economic trade.

A significant aspect of modern-­‐day Ghana’s history was its role in the global slave trade, which in reality was long in existence prior to the arrival of Europeans to West Africa's coast. Human slaves were traded from the earliest days of the trans-­‐Saharan caravans in the form of captives taken from inter-­‐tribal warfare, and well through the height of the infamous trans-­‐Atlantic slave trade as the most lucrative Colonial export. The human costs of the slave trade are well known, yet similarly devastating were the effects on West African society as a whole as traditional industries, social structures, and political relationships were forced to give way to the unparalleled profitability of trade in human slaves.

In a movement led by Pan-­‐Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana became the first sub-­‐Saharan colony to achieve independence on March 6, 1957, taking its name from its ancestral African empire. On February 24, 1966, the Ghanaian Army and police overthrew Nkrumah's regime. Over the next few years, political instability continued with a series of military coups that led to an increasingly mismanaged and corrupt government system. Mounting economic problems also forced several regimes to undertake drastic currency devaluations and austerity measures under the pressure of foreign debt. The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led by Lt. Jerry Rawlings defined much of Ghana's political development through the 1980s and 90s. In December 1982, Rawlings announced a plan to decentralize government from Accra to the regions, the districts, and local communities, but maintain overall control by appointing secretaries with executive powers and who would chair regional and district councils. This organizational system still exists today and strongly influences development initiatives and government funding of projects in Ghana.

Ghana's post-­‐independence economic story has been a difficult one, but over the last 20 years, political stability and economic growth has been the long-­‐term trend. Ghana is on track to meet the Millennium Development goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015. Real GDP growth averaged 4% in the mid-­‐1980s and has increased to about 5% over the past decade. Inflation declined after a rapid increase in 2009. The macroeconomy remains under pressure from large fiscal and trade deficits, however the discovery of major offshore oil reserves in June 2007 brought expectations of a major economic boost. Production officially began at the end of 2010, but some analysts expressed concern over the country's ability to manage its new industry and avert the so-­‐called “resource curse”, as laws governing the oil sector had not yet been passed. In July 2009, Ghana secured a 600 million dollar three-­‐year loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), amid concerns about the impact of the global recession on poorer countries. Ghana's national economy has shown resilience and growth in recent years, yet the distribution of these benefits throughout Ghanaian society and particularly in its lower-­‐income, rural communities remains stagnant."

Thinking about poverty differently

World poverty is an issue that is simply overwhelming to look process, let alone try to solve. When faced with intimidating statistics, or the emotional anecdote of an individual or family in need, we tend to resolve that there is nothing we as individuals can do to fight against poverty. Our efforts will always be too small and the problem will always be so big.

In order to mentally prepare for my trip, I have been reading a book called "Poor Economics" which invites readers to re-frame the issue of poverty and an overwhelming issue to one that has emerged from a set of concrete problems that can be solved one at a time once they are properly identified and understood. This is different than the traditional way of trying to solve poverty through the "big issues" such as "What is the ultimate cause of poverty?" and "What role does foreign aid play in the battle against poverty?"

The ways people frame the issue of poverty are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Many believe that poor countries are poor because they require large initial investments to deal with endemic problems such as malaria infestations and agricultural infertility. These countries cannot pay for these investments precisely because they are poor, and find themselves in a "poverty trap". Supporters of this theory of poverty believe that foreign aid is the key to ending poverty as foreign aid helps poor countries invest in these critical issues and become more productive.

There is strong opposition to this framing of the issue of poverty. Anti-aid supporters argue that foreign aid does much more harm than good. Foreign aid prevents people from searching for their own solutions, corrupts and undermines local institutions, and creates a self-perpetuating need for aid. To supporters of this theory, they key to ending poverty is to make the markets free and right incentives, as this way people can solve their own problems.

There is no concrete evidence that supports one or the other of these theories of poverty. Both of these theories try to provide sweeping answers to an issue, but these sweeping answers to the issue of poverty might not be as important as we have been led to believe. In fact, foreign aid is only a very small portion of money that is spent on poverty every year. Most programs that are targeted to ease the issue of poverty are funded out of their country's own resources. More importantly than the amount of aid that is given to poor countries, we are often distracted from the real issue of where the money actually goes.

The only uncontested issue when it comes to poverty is the basic premise that we should help the poor when we are able to. As described by Nobel Prize Laureate Amartya Sen: "poverty is not just a lack of money, it is not having the capability to realize one's full potential as a human being.

As I continue reading this book, I hope to obtain a better understanding of the issue of poverty and how people living in poverty make decisions. I will keep posting about my discoveries!

Fundraising link has changed!

http://www.empowered.org/U-of-Texas-Austin-MF-Brigade-Dec-2013-Ghana/volunteer/ALEXANDRIA-NEWMAN

Here is my new link for anyone that wants to contribute to my trip!

TED Talks: Invest in Africa's Own Solutions

Throughout the semester, Texas Global Business Brigades have been training my fellow brigaders and I about micro-finance as a way to help global poverty as well as about African culture.

During one of the sessions, we were introduced to Micro-finance through a Ted Talk by Jacqueline Novogratz, a philanthropist who has done micro-finance work in Africa and around the world. The video is about 12 minutes long, but I think it does an excellent job highlighting the importance of micro-finance work in underdeveloped countries and illustrates what my relatively short time abroad hopes to accomplish.

http://microlendingfund.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/ted-talks-microfinance-and-creating-real-change-for-poverty/

Akwaaba!

Earlier this year, I made a post in the MPA Student Blog explaining the why I decided to start fundraising to volunteer in Ghana and explain the basics of what I am going to be doing. You can check it out here!

http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mpa-students/2013/10/24/akwaaba/