Will extreme poverty ever end? Nuru International

Hi,

after watching a Google Tech Talk by Jake Harriman, founder and CEO of Nuru International (nuruinternational.org), titled Will Extreme Poverty Ever End?, three things got into my mind.

The very first one was to actually go and make a monthly donation. Go ahead and do so yourself. Not only you will never die of a severe case of donation, it also increases your overall happiness, which reduces stress. So go and do something good for others and yourself (or yourself and others).

The second thing i couldn't stop, is wondering about this guy. A US Marine that went to Afghanistan (something that some people, including me, considers to be one of those bad things the US do abroad). This guy decided to keep fighting terrorism on very different front lines: those of NGOs and humanitarian relief.

I can't help to think that when a soldier decides that she or he will be more effective fighting terrorism by eradicating poverty, then a lot of good things are going on in the world. Many many more good things that we would assume if we just listen to mainstream news organizations, or old folks saying things used to be better.

While i never had the paralysis problem when facing a decision of letting go of things and start anew, it is very telling that changes like the one Jake Harriman did are not only possible, but feasible.

Bold move.

The third thing that got into my mind is innovation. You can tell that this guy took a lot of bagage from the Marines (well, you can't stop being who you are) and applied it to the field of humanitarian relief. Nuru works like a contractor. They actually don't try to reinvent the weel, but to figure out the most effective weel for each type of task. Nuru partners with other NGOs so that both NGOs can better fulfill their respective missions. And Nuru is trying to actually measure things to figure out what works and what doesn't, to try new things and fail fast.

A very agile style.

I couldn't help to compare this approach with the Record Labels's and Entertainment Industry's. We recently were bombarded with the whole SOPA/PIPA debate (even here in Argentina was all over the news). These industries don't try new things. They don't even like others to try new things. In the case of Hollywood, they even disregard they own history. Independent studios relocated to the US west coast because of the many patents and laws on the east coast were stifling innovation and new business models. And these independent studios grew to be Hollywood.

So, instead of collaborating with Napster, Labels shut it down. Neither got the chance to better fulfill their respective missions.

Nothing like contrast.

This is enough to be my tenth post.