University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Class in session: village banking 101 NN HO? chartered in 1984, the Foundation for Intt-r- natiunil Community Anisunrc (FINCA) » a U.S. non profit muTi riiuni ■ ifiM tulii ii i .Mil ) ihjt pnnidcj nnoncijl srr vices to the worM - .r.-%t families lo liK can create their o«ti joju. eim extra in. .1 impnne their lining tan lanls. WHAT? 1 .,.,„ ogj ' . Among U.S. biscd i M . vilUgr banking i ar iuhlv miiTofinancc mclhodol- ' igrncics aionc ihcrt nv M least 31 MFIs that Juw colli rritcd mcr 400 ilUgc banking programs in at least 90 ci WHEN, WHERE? including iu 450.000 ex clients who ha%c graduated (n m iTedil to their own working capi tal (Mvings). since 1984 FINC wrvin-s havi- ht-nefited mer 750,000 clients iUr .u U 20,000 illage banks in 24 coun- tries on four continents In I .uin AnuTna tiKTc arc RNCA programs in Maiti. Mexico. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador. Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Peru. In Africa: Uganda, Malawi, Tan- zania, Zambia. South Africa, and the IVmocratic Republic of the Ojngo. In Eastern Europe: Samara andTomsk (l»i prrnincca of Russia). Armenia. .Azerbaijan. Georgia, and KoMno. In Central Asia: K)Tg vstan. Uzbekistan, Taiikl lan, and Afghanistan. Uebb-e Bo ' g«i HOW 7 A village bank is an informal self-help support group of 20- 0 memlK rs, predominantly female heads of- houM-hold. If the prrtgram is on mivsion in a nr rmal village bank about 50% of all new members entering the program are ses-crely poor, representing families with a dailv per-capita ex- penditure (DPCE) of lew than US $ I ; the rest are mrxierately poor (DPCE = $I-2) or non poor (UPCE $2).7Tic»e women meet once a wrek in a member ' s home to avail them.selves of working capital loans, a safe place to save, skill training, men- toring, and motivation. Loam normally surt at S50$K)0 and arc repaid in WTckly installments oi-er four months. 28 feotures

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(Iitl) I T ■ hnu•n Rally I ninrn iiumlKr% lir.l id. liri ji ihc Bonflri- Rillv. on No . 10. Crowd mcmlxT« ind oilier KjIIv C ' omnim I liani I ri%hmi-n. more » H d! cach llmr iIm- lire lK-gin lo die. The judienie al»av» m j|ihe» intenllv lo ue how man) wtKnien palleU don I make tl inio the lila e. (tKlow)The annual bonlire gro« lo a Morihmg height on the e e of the I Khh Big Game The Bonfire Rally, held annualK in the Greek Theater, features dandng, singing, comedi and slor 1ellmg from -studeni . facultv and administrators. (helow left I Justin Forsetl pushes past the Stanford defenie on Dct. 1 . .Mlhough Fr.rsetl rushed lor 96 yards, C ' al fell, 20 1 }. Stanford won for the I6lh time in 2 ' i games, but beat C ' al toach JeflTedford fiir the first time in six tries. Reflections on a first Big Game • t wa.s niv lirsl Bii; tianu-, anil I «as oxcitiil. i luaril Iroin the oklir 1irnnilHr in thi- RoIIn Committee about what an ixiiting game it would lie. The season up to thai point was, well, interesting. So, I had no idea w hat the scoreboard would read at the end of the I ' ourlh quarter. .Mthough til. ijame didn ' t end in our favor, it was definitely a game and week I would never forget, and will look forward to every year. It was definitelv an exeiting week since I had the opportunity to be behind the scenes on most of the events. Overall, it was awesome lor all 50, ()()() students to come together with the Spirit of California tor one goal, to beat si.iTilurd (not a t |ii ' • Despite the loss at the football game, I vNas surprised to see that the pride of being a Golden Bear in other students and rally comnu-rs did not fade. Cal is a place where no tnatter what, win or lose, we are still Lai. The oreat thins; about the Big Game is that it happens every year, so whether it is to w in back the Stanford , xe or to hold on to it, I w ill always be proud ol our team in their elTorts and walk out of the stadium proud to be a Calilornia Golden Bear. - Ruben Mojica Hernandez, Freshman 27 big gome

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(left) N ulic F irtman pauMf for a picture wllh Mr rii VWUr. J [xiiihidl uicmr pn lr«!Mtr itui the tliretior t l lit ' Berltrlev Institute (il Intenialiorul Studies After PtiriinAi) gj%e i prewntjtiim aUtut tilUge lunLin (fir Ie(t».W ' elHT mtNlrr ted 4 liviu%Miin Itetueen hrr and tlte iudiencr .ilxtut the need lor voung prtipir to get wilvcd in supporting muTofinancing. ( bc1(n% ' )Thc Bechtcl Engineering Building ' s Sibley Auditorium it I ' ursiing it the leams on Oct. I for ictreu Natalie Poriman ' i lecture I ' n village banking. Since 2003, Portman hi% vrvrd j Ainhiwjdor ot Mo|H- kir the lion profit foundation tor International C ' ommu nit -AvMNUiice (FINCA). HINCA iis the pioneer of village banking, a rnii.T( rman ce methodology in which reopicnt ol microloan% loan% is small a» SSO - form village bink ' to support one ,irii.it . r ni.»n.»,i. ill tunds, and resolve loan delinquency problems. jcDO ' e Dorges )eauty and brains .ctress draws attention to benefits of village banking I by Coiflm Green t ' s not evcrvdav that an c cnt in Siblcv .Auditorium generates a line around campus. But on Monday, Oct. 1, .several hundred students branched .outward from the Bechtel Engineering Buiidin! ear actress Natalie Portman talk about the power licTolending to alleviate global poxertv. ' ortman, who has plaved leading roles in films I as The Star Wars Trilogy, Garden State, Closer (earning her a Golden Globe .Award), garnered p pulari( lor both her beautv and ns. Telling reporters she ' d rather be smart than I movie star, she completed her bachelor ' s in rhologv at Harxard while working on the Star •s nims. She has also been politically involved I animal rights, environmental lauses and mm rolinance. ' orlman, 26, has served as Ambas.sador of Hope the non profit Foundation for International nmunitx .Assistance (TINCA) .since graduating from Harvard in 2003. Often called the World Bank for the Poor, FINCA is the pioneer ofvillage banking, a microllnance methodology in which recipients of microloans • loans as small as S50 lorm village banks to support one another, manage all funds, and resolve loan delincjuencv problems. Portman talked about her first-hand experience seeing women empowered through microllnance. .MIcrofinancing is a compelling way for people, especially women in poverty, to move out of poxertv, she .said, adding that women compri.sc 70 percent of the world ' s poor. They can form a village bank, ensure each other ' s loans, have meetings and pav the loans back once they ' re able to. Portman also noted that women involved in microfinance sav they receive greater respect Irom their husbands and children. You just see a whole situation that is able to change because of the idea that the poor should haxe access to banks, Portman said. It ' s not rags to riches, but it certainly is improving. Steven Weber, political science professor and director of UC Berkeley ' s Institute of International Studies, moderated a discussion between Portman and students about the need for voung people to get inxolved in supporting impoxerished communities around the xvorld. I xxas reallv scared that there xxould be a Star Wars fan and no one would be interested in mv cause, she told the audience, xvho xvere invited to ask questions. I admire vou all (or your passion and interest. Although some students thought Portman ' s celebrity status had more to do xxith the exent ' s popularitx than interest in microfinance, there ' s no better xxav Ut inxest xour celebrity than for a good cause , said freshman .Angela .Miller. Indeed, Portman ' s presentation resonated w ith many audience members. Freshman Rachel Whxte said, The message xxas that voung people can make a change. 29 ' ' ICO ' oik