More Pathways Out of Poverty Book

I had heard of microcredit but I'm learning a lot -- I'd had no idea how complicated the structure of the groups are (that there are groups of borrowers who borrow individually but support/encourage each other b/c the borrowing power of each depends on the credit history of the others). Counts is not the best writer, especially when there are multiple characters. Sometimes it's hard to follow what's happening in the stories of the women who are borrowing because it's hard to remember who he's jumped to now, but overall it's still quite interesting and an easy read.

I skipped a lot, mainly focusing on the stories of the borrowers in Bangladesh and Chicago. I was disappointed that the borrowers in Chicago seem not to be succeeding as well, or at least couldn't be found years later -- though perhaps in part because it seemed the credit program was no longer available. Overall, a very encouraging read. It helped me think more about the ways that people who are poor have many skills and abilities if they had the resources to build on them.