Educational Media Reviews Online

Awakening: Empowering Women Through Microloans is a documentary about hope for the poor to live a better life, to change and control their destiny, to achieve their dreams and to expect a better future for their children. Reducing poverty in the world continues to be a challenge. Most methods of reaching out in any lasting or meaningful way that uplift the circumstances of millions of poor around the world are rare. The lack of income as well as the privilege to borrow for the poor continues the vicious cycles of poverty and despair in these countries. Many of the poor typically live indentured lives or have lives of servitude that continue from generation to generation. Given this, microloans have brought a beam of hope – a means for positive change in the poverty-ridden circumstances of the poor around the world.

This documentary portrays simply and effectively the way women are able to transform the future of their families with the assistance of grassroots groups that provide elementary financial literacy and training. Women who belong to such groups learn basic mechanisms of saving, borrowing and building creditworthiness by paying off loans. The groups save together and provide loans to each other until the financial strength and credibility of the group grows stronger. The size of loans typically needed by these women are very small – a maximum of $100.00. Such loans help women gain access to materials or start small income generating businesses to contribute to their family’s earnings and try to get out of their poverty-stricken circumstances. The repayment rates for women from these groups tend to be very high (over 95%) that helps build the financial integrity of the group. With improved credibility of such grassroots groups, banks such as the Grameen Bank are able to help thousands of poor women and men finance their growth and movement away from poverty.

With clips from interviews of different grassroots groups in India and Afghanistan, this documentary presents the trails, travails and successes of women as they learn, contribute, and grow financially independent and stronger within their society. Interviews with Sister Mary Lobo, Nari Jagran Manch (India) and Katrin Fakiri, Parwaz (Afghanistan) among others present the essence of this sustainable movement. The film clearly demonstrates the growing popularity and success of such programs and the determination of the poor to seek change and “claim their place under the sun” given the opportunity. Awakening: Empowering Women Through Microloans provides an excellent introduction to the subjects of microloans, empowerment through financial literacy and development through leadership of women and grassroots social movements.

Awards

• Winner Audience Award for Best Short Documentary, Santa Cruz International Film Festival
• Second Place for Best Short Documentary, RealHeART International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada