Chris Temple

My name is Chris Temple. Born to English parents who moved to the States before I was born, I have been brought up with a more international perspective than is usual among American kids of my age. After graduating from high school in Connecticut in June 2007, I decided to take a gap year before starting my undergraduate studies at Claremont McKenna College in California.

In September 2007, I joined a three-month cultural immersion program in Bolivia and Peru. The program included a month long home stay in a village in the Andean Altiplano, a beautiful but desolate region. My fondest memories are of the daily soccer matches against the local kids but the experience brought home to me the vast cultural gap between our lives in America and the simplicity of life in these impoverished villages.

On my way back to the States, I was incredibly fortunate to be invited to join Professor Yunus and The Green Children on their tour of micro-finance operations in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Through conversations and interactions with individual borrowers, I was able to witness first hand the potential of micro-finance to improve lives in developing nations. As a result, I plan on devoting the rest of my gap year to helping Grameen Bank, Whole Planet Foundation and The Green Children in any way I can contribute.

Kyle Megrue

When I was asked by Tom and Milla to serve as an honorary member of The Green Children Foundation to help them spread awareness, I was enthused by the idea because it gave me an opportunity to represent a cause that I see as a solution to development issues worldwide. Having traveled throughout the developing world in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, it could not be more glaringly apparent that The Green Children's mission to promote micro-finance as a strategy to combat extreme poverty is more than worthwhile; it is crucial. It's a responsive, efficient, and empowering way to help the impoverished, micro-finance works in all parts of the world to give the poor a means of bettering their grim situation.

I became interested and involved in different forms of development in high school, when I would volunteer at certain schools and homeless shelters. The homeless and underprivileged, struggling to get by, could rely upon government welfare programs to keep them alive. Conversely, through my travels, I was exposed to a different breed of poverty that plagues the developing world unchecked by those institutions that American citizens take for granted. During my junior year of high school I lived in Belize working with the Wildlife Conservation Society, while also helping to construct churches and community centers in the nearby communities. Such travels opened my eyes to a point that I was pushed to action. After that summer I thirsted to re-engage and sought to learn as much as possible about the various projects around the world.

Following some valuable time in Africa, I spent four months living, traveling, and working in South America, primarily Bolivia and Peru, gaining a whole different perspective regarding the difficulties that arise out of a culturally divided state and the problems that such animosity pose for economic and social development.

Having investigated and seen first-hand the shortcomings of traditional forms of western aid which seem politically motivated, full of conflicting agendas, unsustainable and ephemeral, I turned to micro finance as the best option. It empowers the individual to take ownership of their entrepreneurial path out of poverty and it is self-sustaining so it can keep growing and keep giving. I am now committed to learning and becoming involved in micro finance. My week with Professor Yunus of the Grameen Bank, the Whole Planet Foundation and The Green Children through Guatemala and Costa Rica was the most enlightening and impassioned experience of my life. I am going to stay involved with The Green Children and the Grameen Bank through this spring as I intern for the Grameen Bank in New York City, Colombia and Guatemala.

Just a few quick facts about myself: I'm nineteen years old and plan to attend Dartmouth College this fall where I hope to study economics and international relations. My favorite sports are lacrosse, skiing, and fly-fishing. I love wearing long-johns and I hate sour milk!

Alex Crane

I was born in San Francisco, California on March 7th, 1989. I attended Marin Academy High School in San Rafael, California where I focused my efforts on the founding of the Eco-Council (a group committed to the "greening" of the campus), assisting Latin American immigrants in the Canal District of San Rafael, and performing in the school music and acting departments.

After I graduated, I was accepted to Bard College in New York and deferred entry until August, 2008 so as to devote a year to my passions for Latin American culture and language, starting with a 3-month experiential learning program in Bolivia and Peru. Through this program I was exposed to rural conditions in Latin America and the poverty of the developing world. This has driven my passion to assist in the alleviation of poverty but only in the least culturally damaging and paternalistic manners.

Inspired by the method and success of micro-credit pioneered by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, I traveled with Chris and Kyle on a tour of new projects in Costa Rican and Guatemala. It was on that tour that I met The Green Children. I am truly committed to spreading awareness about the success of micro-finance, and will be devoting my gap year to aid various microfinance projects around the world.