GreenMicrofinancing

As the Japan Airlines 767 descended through the clouds to the runway in Hanoi, I remembered other days and other times. A not so long ago time when the US and Vietnam were at war. But instead of devastation, we pulled up to a modern terminal and 20 minutes later I found myself on a smooth, modern highway riding into a well light city. A marked contrast from my last ride into Port au Prince and my long held image of a city under aerial attack from the 60s and a stark reminder of the futility of war.

The next day, I wandered the streets of Hanoi, waiting for the conference to begin in the afternoon and visited what remained of the ‘Hanoi Hilton’. The French colonial prison, Maison Cetnrale where Vietnamese had been held by the French and captured American flyers were held by the Vietnamese. Most of the prison has been demolished to make way for a skyscraper, but enough remains that you get a good sense of the horror the place represented, in both colonial times and then following independence. It was clear that American prisoners were treated by the Vietnamese like the French had treated them; fortunately it seems the cycle of violence has finally been broken!

Maybe we can leaarn something from that suffering and break the cycle of poverty here at the Asia Microfinance Forum 2008!