Impact Lines on Poverty Lanes

This week I was delighted to sit in, listen and observe, as my work Department played host to one of its brainy alumna, in an academia-industry (otherwise called town-gown interaction) seminar. The first-class graduate of Economics had gone on to carve out a social impact niche in education for children of the poor.

While theories seek to explain economic and social behaviour as well as provide some yardsticks for predictability, carefully crafted stories rather seek to appeal to the soul, reason, will and emotions of economic agents. Overall, the  Speaker sought to convince her audience, using case stories, that finding purpose should precede the quest to fill one's purse with ready gains.

First-rate graduates who hail from middle-class families, which naturally value education and the pursuit of a steady career path, often find it challenging to convince their investing parents and guardians, that following a silver spoon-to-grassroots pathway to fulfilment is a worthy cause. Still, the Speaker provided some keys to securing buy-ins for any worthy cause.

While I reminisced on the learning experience, I remembered studying how Florence Nightingale relinquished a life of pomp and pageantry to slave herself in nursing service to patriots at war. Today, her invaluable contributions lace the nursing profession with grace. I also recalled how Mother Theresa left the comforting corner of her wealthy background to pour out her life on the distressing but global streets of Calcutta in India.

The living story of Professor Yunus of the Grameen microfinance fame and his myriad development efforts across Bangladesh and the world are equally notable. He simply sought to move beyond simple research to practice. Nevertheless, history may never tell us of a million and more others who silently and unceremoniously make decisions and take actions that  improve our global community.

It is apparent that tremendous gaps and inequities created by government failure in many developing societies are ample opportunities for social enterprise interventions. From the provision of basic education services, instilling of hope in rejected souls, to the creation of sustainably enterprising communities, little social actions can go a good way to sustain development. 

Even as more energetic souls find social problems they may seek to tackle, ready access to social bonds, development finance and impact investment channels which serve the needs of social development agents will be most desirable. 

 

Photo credit: Assemby.Malala.Org