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Scotts Valley - San Lorenzo Valley, CA


‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and the case for microcredit

Written by Press Banner Letters

Thursday, 05 March 2009

 

A letter to the editor from Diane Warren in Scotts Valley


EDITOR,

“Slumdog Millionaire” hurtles us into the experience of a huge slum in Mumbai, India, while telling the story of two orphaned brothers and a girl.

The fairytale ending, known from the beginning, allows us to stomach what we mostly cannot — abject poverty and orphaned children helped by those who only want to harm and exploit them further. Mostly, we have to turn our eyes, heads and thoughts away from experiences like those in this movie.

I, too, would need to turn away from this movie if I did not know of effective tools such as microcredit used to end the worst aspects of hunger and poverty.

The Microcredit Summit Campaign and Muhammad Yunus recently announced the surpassing of a goal to have microcredit loans go to 100 million of the poorest borrowers by 2007. The poorest borrowers are defined as families who live on less than $1.25 per day. These tiny loans of a few dollars allow a borrower to start a small business that can bring the family food stability, send children to school, buy children back from indentured service, improve shelter and accessibility to clean water and provide health care.

I invite you not to turn your head from the experience of the slum in “Slumdog Millionaire.” Instead, donate to a reputable organization that provides microcredit loans, or become an activist by joining an organization that lobbies on behalf of the poor. You also could write to your congressional representatives and urge them to direct our foreign aid to the poorest of the poor through effective programs such as microcredit.

I appreciate that “Slumdog Millionaire” reminds us vividly of the need to take the actions we can.