The Blue Sweater - Book Review

Book Author: Jacqueline Novogratz; Book Review by Kritika Agrawal 

Summary

  The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz 

After working as a Wall Street banker for three years, Jacqueline Novogratz realised that she wanted to make a bigger difference in the world. She decided to use her financial knowledge to help people suffering from poverty in Africa, so she travelled to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and other poverty stricken countries to fulfill her goal.

During this time she realised that when people are made accountable for their own business initiatives and development, their commitment is much stronger and their economic activities have a much higher chance for success.

She also learnt that people in developing countries do not want "handouts", financial aid or crowds of volunteers, but rather, to earn the dignity that comes from being able to help themselves.

The author's work used a patient capital approach: money was invested into projects over long periods of time with the understanding that returns could be below market expectations. This approach focused on developing and supporting small enterprises whose activities would have a beneficial social impact. Likewise, the author's current venture capital fund, Acumen, does exactly this. Acumen invests large amounts in enterprises that promote social benefits like safe water systems and quality housing to impoverished areas.

What empowerment messages did you find?

After reading the book I realised that when we think of helping others, we base this help upon our own ideas of what would work. However, to truly help others we should first find out what the people we are helping actually want or need. This can only be done by putting ourselves in their shoes e.g. by living with them and facing their daily difficulties. The empowerment message here is how Jaqueline herself moves to Africa and lives amongst these people to face and learn about their  difficulties.

Furthermore, the author shows how local women play a vital role in eliminating poverty in developing countries through the opportunity of expanding their small businesses. The author helped found a micro-credit company called Duterimbere which makes small loans to poor people who otherwise wouldn't qualify for an official bank loan. She found women in developing countries were taking these loans to expand their small enterprises like selling fruits and vegetables. The lending company turned out to be a huge success and enabled local women to decide where their money should be spent, giving them an increased sense of economical freedom.

Why did you like/dislike it?

I enjoyed this book because of the details the author gives about her helping journey (eg. encountering trust issues from the people she was meaning to help, facing corruption and struggling with bureaucracy in developing countries).

There are parts in the book where she regrets leaving her job at Wall Street due to the harsh reality she finds.

I really liked how authentic the author's journey was.

3 top quotes from the book

"You should focus on being more interested than interesting" 

"Poverty won't allow him to lift his head up, dignity won't allow him to bow it down." 

"If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time."

Disclaimer: Book cover image has been shared with the author's permission, obtained via Twitter.