Week 15 Reading Reflection

1)    What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations? 

I have to start out by saying how interesting this article was! I was not aware of the loaning company SKS only loaned to women. To me that was something I was not expecting to find out within this article. Something else that surprised me was the risky process in my opinion of lending money to people who make only a dollar a day. It is impressive to see that the company is able to get the money back that it loans in such a fair amount of time and that the customers come back and take out even more money. It was very enlightening to see the humanity and care that can exist within a tight business of lending money.

2)    Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The section that was talking about the different kinds of microfinance models was rather confusing since I have no idea about them or the difference between them. The author was using some as examples to show how they did not agree with certain models to follow for the SKS company.

3)    If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Question one: What lead you to want to lend money out to such poverty stricken people in third world countries such India?

Reason: I want to ask this because the owner of SKS could loan to wealthier people, and possible have less of a risk doing that than loaning to the poor. However, I admire that SKS functions the way it does, and that it helps the poor.

Question two: How has having this business changed your outlook on the balance between being a successful business and being a humanitarian?

Reason: Why I would ask this question is because many time people separate business from helping others. I would like to know if the author has had some type of notion that business does not always have to be pure business, and that you can still help others through the act of being fair and considerate for their needs.

4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How?

I cannot say they were wrong about anything. I overall agreed with their process and admire the company for reaching out to the poor and giving them a chance to be successful business people.