Friday, March 11, 2005
Learning more about Unitus
I spoke with an ex-amazon person today who is now working at a non-profit called Unitus -- Unitus acts as a sort of venture capital firm that invests in microfinance institutions in third world countries. All I can say is that it is incredibly inspiring to think about the impact organizations like this have on the world.
Some scary statistics:
- 6 Billion people on our lovely planet
- 3 Billion (yes, half) live on less than $2 per day (yes, $2... less than the cost of a latte)
- 1.3 Billion have no access to clean water
- 3 Billion have no access to sanitation
- 2 Billion have no access to electricity
- Literacy Rate - 97% in US, 30% in Poor countries
- The USA gives a smaller % of our GDP than any other developed country
What microfinance is, in a nutshell, is lending of small amounts of money (less than $300) to individuals to allow them to invest the money to improve their quality of life. The repayment rates on these loans averages >95%, which is nothing short of amazing.
It was an inspiring conversation.
If you want to learn more, please visit Unitus, or email me.
Some scary statistics:
- 6 Billion people on our lovely planet
- 3 Billion (yes, half) live on less than $2 per day (yes, $2... less than the cost of a latte)
- 1.3 Billion have no access to clean water
- 3 Billion have no access to sanitation
- 2 Billion have no access to electricity
- Literacy Rate - 97% in US, 30% in Poor countries
- The USA gives a smaller % of our GDP than any other developed country
What microfinance is, in a nutshell, is lending of small amounts of money (less than $300) to individuals to allow them to invest the money to improve their quality of life. The repayment rates on these loans averages >95%, which is nothing short of amazing.
It was an inspiring conversation.
If you want to learn more, please visit Unitus, or email me.
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