Bankers Without Borders Volunteer Helps Haitian MFIs Increase Impact
 Eric Nelson, a Bankers without Borders® volunteer and former executive at Capital One, visited our MFI partner Fonkoze in Haiti in August to help them determine how their programs could better serve clients. He met with clients of one such program, Chemin Lavi Miyo (or Pathway to a Better Life), in which they are given assets such as chickens or goats as well as intensive one-on-one training in business development and self-esteem. Grameen Foundation hopes to replicate these programs throughout the region to enable more MFIs to reach more of the poorest women.
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World Wide Web Foundation Visits Grameen Foundation’s Application Laboratory (AppLab) in Uganda
 In November and December, Tim Berners-Lee, founder of the internet and of the World Wide Web Foundation, and staffers got the chance to visit Grameen Foundation’s Application Laboratory (AppLab) in Uganda and observe our Community Knowledge Worker (CKW) Initiative. The CKW Initiative, which is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, explores how locally-based individuals equipped with mobile phones can serve as “trusted intermediaries” for small farmers. The World Wide Web Foundation’s visit was part of a larger tour of Africa during which the organization explored how the web can empower the people of Africa and gained a better understanding of the barriers to technology these people face.
Photo Credit: World Wide Web Foundation
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Grameen Foundation, Oxfam America Climate Change Report Offers Recommendations to MFIs and Clients
 Grameen Foundation and Oxfam America released a report examining the critical role MFIs can play in mitigating the impact of climate change on poor people. Written by Asif Dowla, a noted microfinance expert and professor of economics at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, the report, “Climate Change and Microfinance,” points to key poverty-related issues. Noting the active role MFIs already play in poor communities around the globe, the report highlights challenges facing them, particularly those working in agricultural regions, and provides recommendations for “climate-proofing” their existing services, including offering insurance for the most vulnerable activities. “Despite the enormity of the problem, the microfinance community has been largely silent about climate change, except for some initiatives focused on green microfinance,” Dowla said.
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Grameen Foundation, Microsoft Initiative Will Use Technology to Help MFIs Reach More Poor People
Grameen Foundation and Microsoft Corp. have announced a joint initiative to help accelerate microfinance’s impact on poverty alleviation through the strategic use of technology. This initiative kicked off on Dec. 2 at the inaugural Microfinance Leadership Summit in Manila, the Philippines, where Microsoft donated software worth up to US$1 million to eligible MFIs attending the event. The summit, “Fueling Growth: Strategic Technology for Microfinance,” was cosponsored by Grameen Foundation and Microsoft, in partnership with the Microfinance Council of the Philippines.
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December 26, 2009, marks the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami. The disaster killed 225,000 people and devastated communities off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Two-thirds of these deaths occurred in Aceh, a province in the northern tip of Sumatra.