Tiny Insurance

I arrived at work yesterday with the intention of going to the Ministry of Finance for a meeting. (That sounds way more impressive than it actually is.) But, things fell apart in the meantime and instead I was invited to the "Challenges and Opportunities of Micro Insurance in Nepal" conference held at the Radisson Hotel: The first EVER such conference in Nepal.

The other day I read a news story that went something like this: A man took out a loan to buy a buffalo. His buffalo was killed in an accident. The man, like many Nepalis who are frustrated, started a strike on one of the roads in rural Nepal. He demanded that in order to pass his self determined checkpoint each car would have to pay a fine. This would help to buy him another buffalo which he could not afford because he was not insured.

ENTER MICRO INSURANCE.

The entirety of the conference was held in Nepali. And while I do understand words such as "egg" "papaya" "very good" and "go" I was sort of at a loss for 5 hours. Thankfully, the slides were in English so I scrupulously wrote every word down despite having access to a printed copy of the slides.

Microinsurance is smaller insurance plans for the poor people who are most susceptible to disasters but least likely able to afford said insurance. This conference was a meeting place for Microfinance people, insurance guys, and banks to meet, mingle and hopefully perform some sort of insurance miracle for the future.

I was happy to attend. I got free lunch and made a contact. That is what they call "NETWORKING." Unfortunately the conference ended on a slightly sour note. The Nepali man next to me with a very short neck and very tight tie had his cell phone out. (This is not uncommon- people answer calls during presentations in Asia.) I looked over at his phone and noticed immediately that he was a pervert. That creep had a girl's cleavage as his mobile wallpaper! Upon closer examination, I realized it wasn't just any girl. It was this girl. My cleavage. As his wallpaper. Violated.

But let's get these people some insurance!

PS- The conclusion of 8 July 2009 happened to find me, Scott and Jenny at a Nepali carnival. Pictures to surface soon. It was an A+ experience.