New Documentary Film Shows How Microloans are Empowering the World's Poorest Women and Offering an Alternative to Globalization

New documentary film Awakening explores the phenomenon of microfinance in South Asia and the correspondent growth in women's rights. As women in India and Afghanistan courageously band together to transcend their historically restricted roles, a new ethos is spreading. An emerging economic system with values like sharing and mutuality emerges as a counter-text to globalization, and points to a way that could eradicate severe poverty in our lifetime.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 31, 2006 -- Choices, Inc. announces the release of Awakening, a documentary about the empowerment of socially marginalized women in India and Afghanistan through microfinance. Awakened to new possibilities, the world's poorest women are forming collectives where they learn to save small sums (40 to 80 cents a month) and invest their capital as a group. Through access to tiny sums of money known as micro-loans, these women are redefining their roles in society. An emerging economic system with values like sharing, mutuality, collaboration, and closeness to nature emerges as a counter-text to globalization, and points to a way that could eradicate severe poverty in our lifetime.

In the shadow of today's global economy, over two billion people lack access to any form of credit. Although many see their poverty as inescapable, some of the world's poor are awakening to the possibility of liberating themselves from generations of economic apartheid. Shops are being built, organic farms seeded, and families that once had limited opportunities now look to a sustainable economic future with hope.

In Afghanistan, less than 2% of women own land, 86% are illiterate, and the per capita income of Afghan women is 1/3 that of men’s. Women needing money for any reason typically must turn to male relatives. After the Taliban’s fall in 2001, a microfinance cooperative called Parwaz began helping Afghan women regain their vital place in the nation’s economy. Today, Parwaz, the nation's first female microfinance institution, believes that the nation's long-term success is dependent upon women's economic freedom.

In Bihar, India's poorest state, Sister Mary Lobo organizes Nari Jagran Manch, a women's empowerment group. As the women gain financial literacy, access to microloans and small grants help further their initiatives. Nari Jagran’s groups are radically democratic. The women decide among themselves which member’s projects to fund, and plan together on how to best assure her repayment.

"How do we reach out in simple, concrete ways to take advantage of globalization and help the poorest societies get a better deal and have fair resources in some way?" asks Sister Mary. As the world's poor band together to become more self-sufficient, "a new class, a new world is being born, with alternative values. These are the values precisely with which globalization and the corporate world need to be challenged."

Choices, Inc. will release Awakening on DVD September 5, 2006. The DVD's special features include an interview with Sister Mary Lobo, a featurette on microloans in other countries, the film's trailer, photo gallery, and a lesson plan/guidebook for educators. The film is available online at www.choicesvideo.net. SRP is $99.95.

About Choices: Choices, Inc. is a specialty distributor of quality documentaries, educational programming, and feature films. The company believes that documentaries are highly effective teaching tools, and provides both lesson plans and guidebooks as a resource for educators. More information is available online at www.choicesvideo.net.

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