It seemed like a good idea at the time, giving women in poor countries small loans of just a few dollars to start small businesses and lift their families out of poverty. The concept of microfinance even won a Nobel Prize for the Bangladeshi economist who came up with it. But the reality of microfinance is a lot messier says Mara Kardas-Nelson. She's a journalist who focuses on international development and inequality. Borrowers have endured forced land sales, jail and worse . Kardas-Nelson tells the stories of women in Sierra Leone struggling with debts rising and hope of a better life sinking in her book We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky The Seductive Promise of Microfinance.
Photo: We Are not Able to Live in the Sky by Mara Kardas-Nelson
