Out Of Poverty

An “exciting” new approach to lifting people out of poverty that rejects the ineffective top-down mindset (Steve Wozniak, confounder of Apple Computer). Based on his twenty-five years of experience, Paul Polak explodes what he calls the “Three Great Poverty Eradication Myths”: that we can donate people out of poverty; that national economic growth will end poverty; and that big business, operating as it does now, will end poverty. Polak shows that programs based on these ideas have utterly failed—in fact, in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty rates have actually gone up. These failed top-down efforts contrast sharply with the grassroots approach Polak and his organization International Development Enterprises have championed: helping the dollar-a-day poor earn more money through their own efforts. Amazingly enough, unexploited market opportunities do exist for the desperately poor. Polak describes how he and others have identified these opportunities—and have developed innovative, low-cost tools that have helped in lifting seventeen million people out of poverty.

This book explores how sweatshops provide the best opportunity to workers and the role they play in the process of development.

There is no peace with hunger. Only promises and promises and no fulfillment. If there is no job, there is no peace. If there is nothing to cook in the pot, there is no peace. - Oscar, a 57-year-old man, El Gorri n, Colombia They want to construct their houses near the road, and they cannot do that if they do not have peace with their enemies. So peace and the road have developed a symbiotic relation. One cannot live without the other. . . . - A community leader from a conflict-affected community on the island of Mindanao, Philippines Most conflict studies focus on the national level, but this volume focuses on the community level. It explores how communities experience and recover from violent conflict, and the surprising opportunities that can emerge for poor people to move out of poverty in these harsh contexts. 'Rising from the Ashes of Conflict' reveals how poor people s mobility is shaped by local democracy, people s associations, aid strategies, and the local economic environment in over 100 communities in seven conflict-affected countries, including Afghanistan. The findings suggest the need to rethink postconflict development assistance. This is the fourth volume in a series derived from the Moving Out of Poverty study, which explores mobility from the perspectives of poor people in more than 500 communities across 15 countries.

Microfinance is a key intervention in helping families in developing countries move out of poverty. The Microedit Summit Campaign works to promote microfinance, with the aim of reaching 100 million families by 2005. This book challenges conventional wisdoms and explores the Campaign's core themes.

WINNER OF THE MOTHER THERESA MEMORIAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD & THE TRUE LEGEND AWARD FROM THE TELEGRAPH Jillian’s story of a poor Anglo-Indian family struggling to exist in the slums of Calcutta shows the power of love and goodness. In the book, she recalls the generosity of the local people, such as the tea shop owner who gave milk to her sick baby sister. The trials of her life taught her resilience and mental strength, but kindness gave her hope for the future. I am a great believer in kindness, and Jillian is an inspiration and example to us all.” —Sarah, Duchess of York A Voice Out of Poverty proves how “success” is not just the act of making it through. Rather, it is the act of reaching back to bring others with you. A Voice Out of Poverty traces the remarkable journey of this determined, and compassionate woman as she uses her story and her voice to speak for the poor & powerless. As a young girl, Jillian Haslam saved a life. Herself tiny and aching from malnutrition, she stood for hours at a tea shop, begging for a ladle of milk to try and prevent her new-born sister from dying. This tenacious act was the first glimmer of a lifelong drive to empower others to rise from adversity. A Voice Out of Poverty leaves the reader asking how someone so young had the tenacity to overcome so much―and then go back to face it all again in a passionate effort to spare others from the suffering that she endured and witnessed all around her growing up. "It is no Cinderella story, but rather emphasizes hard work and sheer courage. Poverty, gender, and race are at the forefront of our problems―and indeed, problems worldwide.” —Shachi Amdekar President, Cambridge University Intnl. Dev. Society, UK This is a deeply affecting, harrowing story that will remain locked in readers’ memories. Haslam’s delicate, descriptive writing style captures even her most distressing moments. Drawing on her talent as a motivational speaker, Haslam delivers succinct words that have the power to both inspire and offer hope: “Light can come from darkness. My family’s pain is not the entire tale.” The author has lived an extraordinary life—her odyssey, which is skilfully recalled here, will unnerve, move, and inspire readers in equal measure. —Kirkus Review (starred review) A Voice out of Poverty is riveting and essential reading. It authentically lifts the silence that hangs over the lives of the poor and the severe challenges and stigmas faced by British families who stayed in India after India’s independence. Jillian Haslam’s harrowing account is full of deep insight about the crushing ways in which gender discrimination, class, corruption, and injustice shape possibility. And yet, we are lifted by Haslam’s triumph when she forges the opportunity to succeed—only to bring others with her . —Joanna Lumley, actress, TV producer, activist Jillian Haslam’s inspirational memoir, A Voice out of Poverty, is a coming of age story of courage, survival and inner strength which illuminates the human condition in all its squalor and glory. —Vikas Swarup, writer of Slumdog Millionaire (Q & A) Enormously compelling ... like something out of Dickens, yet true. It has the power to move with an epic sweep, yet it is intensely personal. It is tailor-made for the cinema and I cannot think of a more worthy project to make happen! —Jack Sholder, Hollywood Film Director, Nightmare on Elm Street II Jillian Haslam’s story is one of the most harrowing and triumphant I have ever read. Just when you think things couldn’t get any more tragic, it does. One hardship after another, this woman had the fortitude to not just persevere but to create a new standard of what it means to give back. Her stirring spirit is a beacon of much-needed light in today’s world. —Sheetal Sheth, actress, producer, author, activist

For the past twenty-five years, two questions have kept my curiosity aroused: What makes poor people poor? And what can they do about their poverty? Because of these infernal questions, I've dozed off during hundreds of long jeep rides with good companions over dusty, potholed roads. I've had thousands of conversations with one-acre farmers with dirt on their hands. We've walked along their patches of ten-foot-high black pepper vines in the central hills of Vietnam beside jungle permanently scarred by Agent Orange. We've strolled together through their scattered quarter-acre plots in the drab brown winter plains of the Gangetic delta in Uttar Pradesh, and they have offered me more cups of steaming tea than my seventy-three-year-old kidneys can take. I love discovering new things from people nobody else ever seems to listen to, and I love talking them into trying out some of the crazy ideas that we come up with together. I have learned more from talking with these poor farmers than from any other thing I have done in my life. This book will tell their story and describe some of the things these people have taught me.

Exposes the top 3 things that we are doing wrong in our efforts to end the root causes of poverty. This book details solutions for what actually works in ending poverty.