Lister

By Sune Urth

”You’re poor so here’s your ball and club,” he says and gives me something that is taped together with tape and old newspapers.

Having saved his life with a paracetomol, we play croquet with Thomas Vass in the climate village, whilst he tells us about his work for Oikos at the festival.

”It’s because you are poor. But you get thirty bits for making a hoop, and with one hundred you can buy a real ball and club.”

Just after, whilst it was clear for me that the equipment I had been given was not up to much, I was offered a loan of a hundred straight off. With the new equipment I quickly make enough hoops to pay the loan and even one hundred more which I lend out to a Norwegian girl.

The croquet game is at the Oikos bank in the Climate Village, and they gladly tell us about their idealistic bank idea.

Oikos’ point is, if one renounces the right of interest of one’s money and accepts that money in the bank only follow inflation, then the banks get a free scope which they can donate as assistance, for instance as micro loans. 

What the heck is micro loan?

The system was developed by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh in the 70’s, and in short it is about lending money to poor people so they can build a shop or buy a cow.

As it is written on a sign at the beach: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach the man to fish and you feed him  for a lifetime.

It is all very technical and economical, but the bottom line is that one with very little money can do a lot of good. And that is wonderful.

Thomas’ ball hits the final pole, whilst the assigned is still blaming the equipment – now for no reason – up the field. Obviously, one cannot buy everything for money.