A Good News Story
November 1, 2007 at 9:57 am
With the tragedy of last week’s data loss still on my mind, it raised my spirits to read about the Children’s Development Bank in New Delhi, India. More than 1,000 street children have joined together to create a bank that helps them manage the small sums they earn each day.
This was spotted in Springwise – “Like any other bank, CDB pays interest on the deposits that New Delhi’s street children make. That interest can be a vital incentive to kids who might otherwise spend their daily earnings on cigarettes, sweets or other items—or worse, have their meager profits stolen. Money for the interest comes from the repayment of micro loans made to kids 15 years and older. But interest on income is only part of the picture. While adults stand by to help, CDB is managed by children, helping them gain valuable work skills.
Some might argue that children shouldn’t work at all. But CDB’s adult patrons at Butterflies Charity maintain that the economic circumstances in New Delhi and other parts of the world with large populations of street children provide no alternative. CDB gives these children better control over their lives and earnings.
And the idea seems to have legs. Besides India, banks have been organised in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. CDB also has some heavy-hitting international sponsors, including HSBC and Comic Relief. Proof that entrepreneurialism can bring positive change in even the most challenging circumstances?”
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