Saris on Scooters: How Microcredit is Changing Village IndiaRenowned author and journalist Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos uses her talent for investigative reporting to take us deep into the poorest villages in India. Yet, far from being passive victims of their circumstances, the women who live there have joined forces and are making astute use of microcredit to break the cycle of poverty. Microcredit was made famous by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and consists of very small loans made primarily to women for the production of essential commodities or to start small businesses. Basing the book on a number of trips to India between 2001 and 2008, Arnopoulos shows her sense of solidarity and desire for authenticity by sharing the daily life of these villagers. The first-person account of her extensive travels focuses primarily on these women's inspiring success stories. After witnessing many such situations first-hand, she believes that these villages have a potential strength equal to that of the modern, high-tech cities in India. |
Contents
9 | |
13 | |
21 | |
27 | |
31 | |
37 | |
Making the Deserts Bloom | 49 |
Hyderabad Village City | 71 |
Trolling for Yellamma | 145 |
Tsunami Heroines on the Bay of Bengal | 155 |
Saris on Scooters | 165 |
Life After Child Labour | 185 |
Organic Cottons Silent Powerhouses | 199 |
We Want to Buy a Bus | 227 |
Posani Starts a Dairy | 247 |
Village Embroidery Goes Global | 267 |
Burqas for Peace | 79 |
The Street Vendors Bank | 91 |
Into the Inferno | 99 |
In the Presence of the Seedkeeper | 107 |
Row Row Row Your Boat | 129 |
Vegetable Vendors Take on the Police | 293 |
On the Hoof with Puriben | 307 |
Epilogue | 331 |
Other editions - View all
Saris on Scooters: How Microcredit Is Changing Village India Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos Limited preview - 2010 |
Saris on Scooters: How Microcredit Is Changing Village India Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos Limited preview - 2010 |