The Blue Sweater (Continued)

Chapter 9 begins with Jacqueline realized the program in Tanzania was not effective at all. Although the program was providing the people with funds, it is was not encouraging others to aim high and holding them accountable for their goals. Later, Jacqueline learns of the massacres in Rwanda, concluding things and people must be so different. As a result, she decided to revisit the bakery.

When in Rwanda, Jacqueline learns that a refugee from Uganda is illegally living there. Jacqueline visits the four women she once worked closely with — Honorata, Prudence, Agnes, and Liliane — in attempt to understand what happened and how each one ended up where they are now. In learning more about the four women, Jacqueline gains insight of human behavior. 

Honorata survived a mass village shooting by pretending to be dead among corpses. She was one of the only adults to survive with seventeen children, who she guided through various refugee camp. Liliane survived in a refugee camp for almost two years and learned a solider had occupied her home illegal upon her return. For this reason, she was forced to move into a slum. Agnes and Liliane are both in pris

on now, accused of being a perpetrator in a major genocide. Whereas Prudence encouraged violence and killing, Agnes remained silent, making her neither a victim nor a perpetrator. Jacqueline learns that characteristics best thrive when one goes through harsh circumstances like the genocide.

After understanding the markets and that one single things cannot alleviate poverty, Jacqueline establishes Acumen Fund. The organization would invest in entrepreneurs who have a vision and ability to solve local problems. Unlike microfinance programs that provided individuals with small loans, Acumen Fund provides hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to help these entrepreneurs often their goal of helping more than a million people. Since its establishment, Acumen Fund has helped the following organizations and people through their investment: Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy’s Aravind Eye Hospital in India to support telemedicine unit; Saiban in Pakistan to promote incremental housing for low-income individuals; Amitabha Sadangi’s drip irrigation system for farmers; Sumitomo Chemical in Africa to deliver bed nets; A to Z Textiles in Arusha, Tanzania for bed net-weaving machines; and WHI. 

Through diverse investments with similar values, Acumen Fund is able to address various issues that can help solve crucial problems but can also connect one initiative to another to gain a greater result. Jacqueline says, “…there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope”. (273) Providing individuals with resources needed to help them make a difference is the best thing one can do to help others find a way to aim high and obtain their goals. 

As I mentioned in my previous blog, every chapter begins with an insightful quote. My favorite was this from Chapter 8 by George Bernard Shaw: “We are made wise not be the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.”