Tips on Happy & Healthy Living

Shown below are some tips on healthy and happy living (a plagiarized list with few changes) 

... being mindful of this list or some small portion of this list, and keeping it front & center each day moves one further down this road ...  

Health: 

1.         Drink plenty of water. 

2.         Sit in Vajrasana, Thunderbolt or Zen Pose for at least 10 minutes each day, either in the morning or at night, and sit in silence. 

3.         Sleep for 7 to 8 hours each night. 

4.         Make time to exercise & stretch daily; Take a 10-30 mins walk, and keep a Smile on your face. 

5.         Make time to meditate. 

6.         Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. 

7.         Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. 

Personal: 

8.         Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 

9.         Invest your energy on being & thinking positive. Do not waste precious time and energy on negative thoughts or worrying about things you cannot control. 

10.     Maintain a balance in life.  

11.     Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 

12.     Don't waste your precious energy on gossip. 

13.     Dream big … But do not day-dream, just work and work hard. 

14.     Envy is a waste of time. Be happy with what you have; Live within your means. 

15.     Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of their mistakes of the past - it will only rain unhappiness. 

16.     Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. 

17.     Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Be open, be happy. 

18.     No one is in charge of your happiness except you. 

19.     Realize that life is a school & you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear & fade away like an algebra class but the lessons learnt will last a lifetime. 

20.     You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 

21.     Smile and laugh more. 

Surroundings: 

22.     Call your family often. 

23.     Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch. 

24.     Each day give something good to others. 

25.     Forgive everyone for everything. 

26.     Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6. 

27.     Try to make at least three people smile each day. 

28.     What other people think of you is none of your business. 

Life: 

29.     Be Patient

30.     Expand your horizons and knowledge - Read more books than you did the year before. 

31.     Do the right thing. 

32.     Have good, positive, happy thoughts – maintain this perspective come rain or shine. 

33.     Have faith, and keep faith. 

34.     However good or bad a situation is, it will change; do not get over exuberant or too anxious.  

35.     No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 

36.     When you wake up in the morning, count your Blessings and thank GOD for another day. 

37.     Your inner most is always happy, so make sure to keep your outer self happy.

38.     Enjoy the moment, enjoy each and every day … as it will never come back

Last but not the least: 

39.     Live Life with the 3 E's & a L -- Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy, and Laughter (laughter is the best medicine)

Recent Trip to Ethiopia

A week ago undertook a trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to meet with some of the MFIs based there. The primary goal of the trip was to meet with Wisdom Ethiopia, a World Vision affiliated MFI, to get their perspective on the core banking software that they are using. The secondary goal was to meet another MFI and to learn about their operational practices.

With me on this trip I had three key individuals from Friendship Bridge, CEO, CFO and Director of Credit & Operations. Friendship Bridge runs microfinance operations in Guatemala, and has its HQ in Denver, CO.

I thought I had a long trip, from NJ to Addis Ababa via Frankfurt until I learnt of the flight times of the two folks who came from Guatemala.

I found the people of Ethiopia warm and friendly, and very welcoming. We landed at night so did not get an opportunity to see anything on the short trip from the airport to the hotel.

In the morning though one quickly realizes why Ethiopia churns out some of the world's best middle and long distance runners. They are tall and skinny; everyone is tall and skinny, well almost everyone. Just food for thought, the only ones not skinny were at the airport, i.e. those that were either arriving and departing, and calling home some place other than Ethiopia. On the taxi ride from the hotel, one can see groups of runners in the park, of all ages and both sexes, exercising, stretching, sprinting. Walking long distances is way of life in this part of the world; and being at 7,546 ft above sea-level, means that they are accustomed to doing physical exercise in this rarefied air. Beautiful people.

The folks at Wisdom, from the CEO and down availed themselves, and provided very useful information about the system as well as about their operational practices.

The evening was spent at restaurant offering traditional food and music, which was the other highlight of the visit. Infrasoft staff, Prakash and Dinesh were wonderful hosts.

Next day visited Buusaa Gonofaa, a local MFI, with approx 38,000 credit (loan) customers. The senior staff  were extremely gracious with their time and information. An amazing organization that has cultivated a culture with both staff and customers, that takes loyalty to rarefied heights (no pun intended). MFIs and organizations in general need to learn from them.

Alas, the visit was over, had to take a flight the evening of the 2nd day.

Thank you Wisdom, Buusaa Gonofaa, Infrasoft, and overall thank you Ethiopia.

CGAP - Virtual Conference Recap: Hurdles to Surmount for Microfinance - Capacity Building & Technology

fyi ... Good 2 day conference on challenges faced by Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) on the critical subjects of capacity building and technology; MFIs must view these two areas as investments and not as expense items in terms of improving and strengthening their ability to scale their operations and to achieve sustainability (by being able to lower their operating costs, streamlined processes, broader array of products and timely service).

http://technology.cgap.org/2010/07/09/virtual-conference-recap/

CGAP Virtual Conference - Day 2 Jul 8th: Getting past the technology hurdles faced by MFIs

fyi ... http://technology.cgap.org/2010/07/08/virtual-conference-day-2-getting-past-the-same-old-conversation/comment-page-1/#comment-2267

CGAP Virtual Conference: Day 1 July 7 - Capacity building to improve vendor/MFI relations and outcomes.

fyi ... http://technology.cgap.org/2010/07/07/virtual-conference-day-1-capacity-building-at-the-heart-of-the-matter/

Happy 4th of July

Wish all, who are working feverishly to alleviate poverty here in the US and around the globe, a very happy and peaceful July 4th; and extend my heartfelt thanks to all for supporting the Microfinance sector in ways big and small.

Microfinance ... MicroPlanet Technologies, CGAP, USAID, IDB, Opportunity International, Friendship Bridge, Accion, Finca, WWB, World Vision, Unitus, Grameen, BRAC, Nuru International, One Acre Fund, Gates Foundation, MasterCard Foundation, NetHope, Citi foundation, ShoreBank International, BASIX, MIX Market, Rockefeller Foundation, Triple Jump, EBRD, IFC, HORUS, Microsoft, IBM, ORACLE, HP, CISCO, Riverbed, Google, Accenture, Nokia, InfraSoft, M-Pesa, Zain, and all the donors, investors, technology software & service providers, and legions of supporters of microfinance around the globe.

Thank you and for your continued support for fighting poverty and not just thru microfinance.

Accelerating Impact of Technology to the Microfinance Bottom Line

The key message from the recent Banana Skins survey was that the climate for microfinance has changed given the changes in the broader financial and economic climate globally. The reasons are painfully familiar to all: credit risk, liquidity crunch (drying up), global recession, over indebtedness. In addition MFIs still see “core” back-end technology as a major constraint. The systems MFIs use are often inflexible, expensive, hard to support, and incapable of enabling innovation for the MFIs.

MFIs, big and small, non-regulated and regulated, are faced with business challenges like lack of funds, high operating costs, reliance on banks for fund collection and disbursement, increasing Portfolio-At-Risk and low data quality. It is therefore critical for MFIs to be operating nimbly with streamlined processes that are fully documented, maintained and automated as possible. They need to provide the front-line and back office staff on-going training on operational policies and practices. Further, consistent and quality credit decisions should be made on a timely basis using technology, and customer’s challenges and needs should be understood.

To address the vast majority of these business challenges and to achieve operational scale and efficiency, MFIs must leverage information and technology to realize these objectives. I deliberately emphasize information and technology as these are two discrete and critical aspects to be focused on and utilized in the MFI’s supply chain. It therefore behooves MFIs to have a sound Information and Technology (IT) strategy, and one that focuses on “basic blocking and tackling” and researches and pilots disruptive technologies to change the rules of the game.

It is important to point out that technology by itself is not the panacea, but when coupled with strong and effective operational process management, MFIs can gain significant benefits that flow to its bottom-line, strengthening its competitive positioning and improving its ability to meet customer demands. Microfinance is an excellent example of a “disruptive” concept – banking to the poor was heresy to formal sector banks just a decade or two ago. MFIs that use technology in an innovative and effective way can bring about disruptive change and leapfrog their competition.

Primary Focus Areas

Microfinance organization must take a holistic approach to review, revise and streamline organization or network-wide operational processes and governance. A sound planning framework is required to develop a strategic Information & Technology Plan based on the organization’s long term business strategies. MFIs of all sizes cite technology and the “core” back-end software in particular as one of their biggest challenges.  It is the back-end that is the heart, the processing engine – processing thousands of transactions on a daily basis that enables MFIs to grow and scale their operations. “Core” back-end software may not be as hip and cool as the attention grabbing front-end technologies but without it MFIs cannot survive. A good number of MFIs do have a “core” back-end, however a significant proportion of those systems are not supporting the growth and increased impact of the institutions running them. MFIs must invest in a good, robust, and scalable “core” if they are serious about growing their operations effectively and efficiently.

‘Core’: The Processing Engine

Strong core MIS (Management Information Systems) enable MFIs to process large numbers of relatively small transactions efficiently, and can provide insight into an MFI’s business that enables MFI leadership to tune their products and operations to more effectively serve more poor clients. A core MIS system can provide MFIs and their stakeholders with the tools to more effectively measure both financial and social performance and, in turn, enable the MFIs to tap new sources of capital and tune their business for greater impact. Innovations like mobile banking, ATM integration, new products and business models need to be tied together in order to achieve network and scale. Those innovations must plug into and be supported by strong back-end technology to transform the innovations into a new baseline of operations for MFIs. Even though ‘core’ is the processing engine for MFIs, it is preferred that they should buy the software instead of developing it in-house. Mote to the point MFI's must actively consider gaining access to such software using Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) approach. The SaaS approach opens the door for Microfinance Institutions to more easily afford robust and scalable core banking software.

Conclusion

Microfinance is a high touch, high cost business. As a business model, its greatest challenge is to lower operating costs in order to reduce the cost of service borne by borrowers. Hence it must marshal its resources to identify areas of greatest potential for lowering operating costs, and execute relentlessly to achieve these cost savings using technology where appropriate. MFIs must continue to take prudent risks to grow and scale their operations and to lower their operating costs through the use of technology – customers are counting on it.

References :

http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.9.35203/

http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.26.10622/

Why SaaS & Microfinance (Microfinance & SaaS)?

Microfinance is one of the most celebrated tools for the reduction of poverty.  By providing access to financial services such as microcredit business loans, savings accounts, and insurance of crops and property, microfinance gives the poor the ability to stabilize their financial condition and ultimately carve their own path out of extreme poverty. 

One of the most important features of microfinance is its sustainability, which requires the application of rigorous business principles.  Loans are made, crops are insured, and savings are administered such that the microfinance institution (MFI) can effectively manage its exposure and ensure that its current customers pay for its ability to service future customers.  This business rigor, however, creates a critical need that is not being effectively met within today’s microfinance industry; the need for technology to collect, analyze, and manage large volumes of data.

The microfinance industry has become increasingly aware of its need for quality back-end technology solutions, but has had great difficulty accessing solutions that are appropriate to their unique context.   After many years working with MFIs, the MicroPlanet team has identified the two most critical barriers that inhibit broader adoption of technology by MFIs, shortage of and lack of access to good technology skills, lack of MFI's ability to pay for robust core banking (MIS) software and lack of process focus. 

While there are certainly other challenges relating to technology in the microfinance sector, these gaps create critical constraints that must be addressed in order to unlock the potential of microfinance to continue to grow and ultimately achieve self-sustainability.

A SaaS solution ... 

• enables the Microfinance Institution (MFI) to afford a much needed scalable and robust “core” back-office software, and it better positions them to substantially enjoy lower upfront costs (it removes the financial Capex burden, i.e. from having to incur high upfront one-time capital costs, to one of an ongoing Opex based costs) and palatable quarterly subscription-based pricing, which enables MFIs to focus on their growing demands in a cost effective way.

• lifts the technology burden (of having to support complex technology) from the Microfinance Institution onto the SaaS service provider. The Microfinance Institution  does not have to worry about how it will manage this complex technology and how it will acquire skilled IT staff locally to manage such technology. 

Hence, Microfinance + SaaS = Saas + Microfinance = is the right solution for Microfinance Institutions.

Is SaaS Appropriate for Microfinance?

Yes, indeed ... provided it is reasonably priced, offers the right functionality, experienced expertise in managing and monitoring of the IT Infrastructure environment, and responsive Help Desk support.

For more info, check out the following links on SaaS, Microfinance and how the two can be leveraged to bring forth an innovative set of services to address the dire need within the Microfinance sector for access to robust and scalable core banking (MIS) software that is affordable:

http://www.microfinancegateway.org/p/site/m/template.rc/1.9.43928/

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1604741

http://advice.cio.com/nomadic_cio/cloud_computing_saas_microfinance_institutions_a_win_win_for_all


MicroPlanet Technologies offers robust and scalable core banking software that is not only affordable but is also easy to use, and offers the experienced world class support team to manage this SaaS environment on a 24x7.

Check out the MicroPlanet Technologies website ... microplanettech.org

MicroPlanet Technologies launched to offer SaaS to the Microfinance sector

Launched www.microplanettech.org ... to offer Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) an affordable way, using Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), to gain access to robust, scalable core banking (MIS) software.