Blue Sweater (Pt.2)

Part of the reason why Jacqueline was able to solve the poverty problem in Rwanda was because she had courage to sacrifice herself as discussed in the first half of the book. The second half told us the other part  - she knew how to listen to others. She pointed out that the main reason of failure for traditional charities was not to focus on what the poor really wanted. Jacqueline took another approach by starting from helping local ladies to sell cakes. Through the process, she gradually learned about what the poor needed and what they thought about the world. She did not directly distribute money or resources to the villagers since she knew that couldn't solve the poverty problem from roots. She taught African women how to improve their business skills so tht they could get rid of poverty with their own hands. She said that charity was not giving. Charity should be based on respects and understanding. It should help the donees to see what they are capable of so the poor people can be more confident in finding their ways to avoid poverty. I think foundations in the world should share a view like this in order to help the poor better. Also, Jacqueline had a unique point for leadership. She believed that leadership was not something born. By helping African women to become leaders in their businesses, she thought leadership could be fostered. Therefore, she created the Acument Fund leadership program to select young talents in different industries and infuse them with qualities of leadership. I agreed with her idea since I found the more I was exposed to great leaders and the more I practiced leadership, the better leader I would become.

After reading the Blue Sweater, I realized the power of belief. Throughout the book, I could feel the author's belief in what she was able to do. She had a thought at beginning of changing the world. She believed that she was able to bring Rwandan people out of povery so she insisted to come back. She believed in her way of solving poverty by creating microfinance organizations. After years, when she created the Acumen Fund, she believed to trust the market. She said that markets should be the starting point, not the endgame for solving problems of poverty. She had a faith in market strength so her foundations mainly targeted at social enterprises who could create ways to solve social problems. She used the power of impacted investment to distribute her influence because she believed the world was connected to a single economy and everything she did could impact someone else. I am going to end my post with Jacqueline's sentence: "people need to believe that they can participate fully in the decisions that affect their lives and have a stake in the societies in which they live."