Natalie Portman touts microlending to assist poor

Greeted with applause, cheers and whistles that echoed off the ceiling of a packed McCosh 50, actress Natalie Portman spoke last night about helping the "poorest of the poor" through microlending.

Politics professor Evan Lieberman, who introduced Portman, described microlending as "giving loans to individuals and groups of people who want to build small businesses."

"Historically, the poorest people in the poorest countries have no opportunity to realize their dreams," he said. "The poor can use credit to invest in education and manage household emergencies."

Portman began her presentation after showing a video of her experiences working with the underprivileged in Mexico for the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), one of the world's largest microfinance organizations.

After a bit of Princeton-bashing, Portman, a 26-year-old Harvard graduate, told the story of Naima, a woman she had in Uganda in 2004. Eleven years ago, Naima had 80 cents per day to support 10 daughters and a husband who beat her for not bearing a male child.

Naima "went to the women in charge of the village, got down on her knees and begged to join the village's FINCA group," Portman said. She received $50 and started one food stand, which has now grown to a restaurant that employs seven other women.

"Some of the first reactions that women have are things like 'I can throw out the guy who beats me,' or 'I have pride in myself' or 'I can control what I do,' " Portman said.

FINCA's system of giving out loans rather than grants "recycles" money, Portman said. "When a woman pays back her loans it goes to another person. It's about expanding opportunity — you're developing people's talent. You don't have to wait for that guy from another country to bring you your sack of food."

Portman joined FINCA in 2003 as an "ambassador of hope."

"I don't know how I made it through a good high school education, and even a Harvard education, without learning that half of the world lives on less than $2 per day and that 70 percent of those are women and children," she said.

Portman's work with FINCA has helped bring the organization into the spotlight, as a few Princeton students said they came "for Natalie."

"It's really great that she's doing this," Dinah Chen '11 said. "The sheer fact that she's famous draws in a lot of people who wouldn't normally take an interest in microfinance and FINCA."

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Both Portman and Lieberman urged students to get involved in economic development.

"There are so many things that are beautiful and exciting" in places that are less developed, Portman said. "Take a development class and travel. It's the best way to spark your interests and opportunity."

FINCA, founded in 1984 by John Hatch as one of the first microfinance organizations, has expanded to over 20 countries and serves more than 600,000 people. It aims to reach one million people by 2010, Portman said.