Delve deeper into the world of microcredit in this interview with David Roodman, a Research Fellow at the Center for Global Development, whose expertise includes microfinance. He speaks about microcredit in the context of the full-length documentary film, “The New Silver,” from which our short film, “How Do you Solve a Problem like Maria’s?” was excerpted.

Interested in seeing the full-length film? Shortly, we will release four films from the “A Dollar a Day” international documentary series produced by EMF Films.

Interested in hosting a screening? These full-length films are a great way to springboard a discussion between friends, church-groups, student groups—anyone who is engaged in the many topics contained within global development. Sign up here to be notified when we launch our “Host-a-Screening” program.

If you’ve visited Kiva.org recently, you may have gotten this message “Thanks Kiva Lenders!…You’ve funded EVERY business on the site!!” It’s hard to remember a time (if ever?) that a charitable organization has said that to an enthusiastic donor.

Kiva.org is a way for a donor to make a small loan (microcredit) to an entrepreneur in a developing country. Kiva’s popularity sometimes makes it hard to keep up with the demand. But why? Kiva goes through a process of vetting their potential entrepreneurs from developing countries, and sometimes logistics (like getting a digital camera to the area that the loan applicant is in) is to blame.

It’s great to see that there are so many philanthropists out there interested in giving business people from developing countries a boost.

However, global development is a complicated issue—and microcredit is only one way to help those in poverty. The way we craft our policies has a huge impact—which is why it’s so important to tell our candidates that global development is important to us.

Watch this video to see Maria’s story and how microcredit may help her:

Read the article from NY Times Magazine here.

Today, students from Swarthmore College participated in a Hunger Banquet, an interactive event hosted by Amnesty International. Tim Burke, associate professor of history, moderated a discussion about world hunger and global inequality. Students also gave short presentations encouraging others to take action. They spoke about efforts–such as microcredit–that have made strides in advancing global development. The main goal of the Hunger Banquet was to offer students an interactive lesson and encourage the students to experience an emotional connection with the global poor, without the usual roster of starving children imagery. Representatives from Oxfam, an international relief group that works towards solving hunger, poverty and injustice, also attended the event.

Amnesty campus chapter president Linda Wang said, “I got involved with Oxfam in high school…and organized a successful hunger banquet at my high school, and have wanted to see it done on campus.”

Sound like a great idea for your community? Visit Oxfam’s website to find out how you can host your own Hunger Banquet.

Read more about Swarthmore’s event in their online newspaper.