On Friday, September 6, 6:30 p.m., author Mara Kardas-Nelson, who grew up here in Olympia, will speak at New Traditions Fair Trade about her recently published book, We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky.

The book is a deeply reported work of journalism that explores the promises and perils of microfinance, told through the eyes of those who work in small-scale lending, and women borrowers in West Africa.

Mara Kardas-Nelson’s We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky is a story about unintended consequences, blind optimism and the decades-long ramifications of seemingly small policy choices that reverberate around the world. It is a story of poor women doing their best to make ends meet under the toughest circumstances, and of international development workers, funders, and advocates who promise a brighter future with a quick-fix solution that may ultimately trap poor people in poverty. The book is rooted in deeply immersive narratives of women who take out microfinance loans in Sierra Leone. Their stories are set against a detailed history of American foreign policy and how that shaped the meteoric rise of Muhammad Yunus’ lofty vision, as well as the gradual shift from non-profit to for-profit approaches across international development and within microfinance and what that means for poor people around the world.

Savvina Chowdhury, Evergreen State College professor of political economy and member of the local group Economics for Everyone, will participate in a Q & A with the author after the talk.

Read more here about the book, and at the entry for September 6th at New Tradition’s website.