The Blue Sweater - Dancing In The Dark

In this chapter, Jacqueline Novagratz informs us about her activities with UNICEF, where in she travels around Kigali, Rwanda, Nairobi and other small cities and villages in an effort to raise the standard of living for women.

The chapter starts off with the author struck down with malaria. She decribes her troubles as she has to lie in bed for five weeks, and cannot fulfill her responsibilities. She was concerned that she was not able to manage the bank and the bakery, and that she was losing out on valuable time. She was reprimanded by her friend for being tensed and adviced to lower her pace of expectations and task. Jacqueline, who greatly differed in views, decided that she was ready to get back to work after only 3 weeks.

The author decided to move to Nairobi, which is one of the more prominent cities in Africa. The city reminded her of Manhattan, which made her feel at home and comfortable. Neverthless, she continued to work with her partner Mary. Through UNICEF, she reached out to women from villages, holding meetings with them and understanding their problems. From her travels she learns about the governments misrepresentation of data, in terms of benefits to women. Additionally, she also discovers that projects to support women are not completed or sponsored. For example, in one site near Kisumu, the author learnt about the project to aid women through construction. However, the project hit a roadblock after the foundation, and no building was constructed, After inquiring, she learnt that there was not enough cement to provide for the construction.

The Blue Sweater - Innocent Abroad

The first chapter begins with a narration of a simple yet powerful story of a blue sweater. Given as a gift by her uncle, the author, Jacqueline Novogratz describes the journey of the blue sweater from Alexandria, Virginia to Kigali, Rwanda. After being troubled at high school for wearing her sweater, the Novogratz disposed it. However, years later, when she was in Rwanda working on starting a microfinance for women, Novogratz discovered the same sweater on a boy. It was her sweater. She marvelled on the significnce the sweater bore. To find the sweater on the back of an African boy shows that the world is interconnected, and without knowing, we are seem to be in contact with people we dont even know.

Before she gained such persepective on life, she had struggles of her own. Born in a not so well off family, she began to do chores for money from the age of 10. From shovelling off snow during winter to being a bartender, she tried to earn money to support her siblings and family. She also took loans to finance her education in University of Virginia. Having got a degree, she felt she had the tools to combat the world. However, she felt the need to support women in financing their lives. Hence, drawing inspiration from the Graheem microfinancing in Bangladesh, she began to encourage microfinancing to provide the tools to support women in achieving their goals.