Portman Touts Loans for World’s Poorest

Actress Natalie Portman joined representatives from the Foundation for International Community Assistance to discuss economic aid for the world’s poorest at a Columbia Political Union-sponsored event in Lerner.

The foundation, which is one of the world’s leading micro-finance organizations, offers small loans with little or no interest payments to low income workers in order to create or sustain small businesses to support themselves and their families. The foundation has over 600,000 clients in 20 countries, loaning predominantly to women.

“Once you go [to these countries] you just say to yourself, I’m not going to forget this, ... you go back [home] and say I’m going to live differently now,” Portman explained when asked what motivates her involvement.

While the event was not highly publicized by the CPU, over 150 students came out to hear Portman while another 30 waited on the other side of the glass in Lerner’s fifth floor hallway.

Portman’s most recent trips with FINCA International have been part of the Village Banking Campaign which she co-chairs along with Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan. The Campaign helps impoverished neighborhoods establish their own village banks which receive collective loans for all its members from FINCA and distributes it to its members. The system engenders social pressure that motivates bank members to repay their loans. Under this system, FINCA has seen a 97 percent repayment rate on its loans.

Portman explained her shock upon learning that half of the planet’s poor live on less than $2 a day, which affects their nutrition, health, and education, along with their nation’s social climate and political stability. Women comprise over 70 percent of this group.

Portman is a 2003 graduate of Harvard University known for her roles in films such as Garden State, V for Vendetta, and the Star Wars prequels. In 2004, she was named FINCA International’s Ambassador of Hope.

“She must have millions and it’s really easy for someone like that to just turn a blind eye on issues like this ... she’s doing a lot of good,” Phillip Dupree, SEAS ’11, said. He added that despite the fact that nonprofit organizations like FINCA International often need celebrities to attract public awareness to their cause, “when you’re trying to save the world and the world’s gotten as bad as it has ... you have to be strategic and I understand that.”

“Although I feel like Natalie’s popularity contributed to some of the rush for seats at the event, a large proportion of the questions posed were deeply insightful,” said Emily Chen, communications director for CPU.

Maria Insalaco can be reached at maria.insalaco@columbiaspectator.com.