Quick question: “When you buy a winter hat, where does your money go?”

Hold on to that thought and feast on the countless possibilities while you read on.

Winter is coming.

You can just tell by breathing in the morning air. And I guess I am lucky enough to be able to say that, living in St. John’s, Newfoundland, by far one of the cleanest cities in Canada. Along with winter comes the obvious shift in fashion. Out with the shorts and in with the jackets. The bandanas make way for scarves and toques.

Speaking of which…

I reached into my closet and pulled out my hat bin. You see, I’m a cap/hat/toque lover. (For those of you who think I’m talking gibberish when I keep saying the word ‘toque’, a toque is the Canadian equivalent of a knit winter hat. A beanie if you may.)

As I pulled out the storied heroes of past winters Read more…

Nigeria is often a country that creates news because of its vast oil fields.  There have been countless negative effects from being one of the world’s largest oil producers.  Few Nigerians actually reap the benefits from being such an oil rich country while limitless violence and corruption haunts the Niger delta.

Last year I met Brittany Atchison in Rwanda.  After our human rights delegation in Kigali, she was going to Nigeria for nine months. I knew that she was going to learn and gain immeasurable life experiences but I didn’t know what a powerful impact she would have on the north-eastern community of Jalingo.

Brittany and her Nigerian counterparts, Hannatu Robinson and Yusuf Jatutu, with the assistance of a 20 year partnership between the Iowa United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church of Nigeria, started EmpowHER – a microfinance initiative that supports women to start their own businesses.

A little hope Read more…

According to several socioeconomic observations made by C.K. Prahalad and Stuart L. Hart, the real fortune for governments and companies to develop their services and products and to expand their prevalent businesses is at the bottom of the pyramid. But think about it – any big MNC would ponder twice before releasing a product for these ‘aspiring poor’, for the very reason that there is market uncertainty (because of the fluctuating wages of the poor).

Where’s the Growth?

Post-Cold War, what really happened is that the MNCs concluded through GDP, import and export trends that the emerging markets were China, India, Latin America, Soviet Union and their allies. They went ahead with the loaded idea that the middle-class consumers in these developing countries are the primary sources of business-return gold and market expansion. Of course, it was only obvious to think so, as the rich in the developed countries were only a Read more…