Each Monday morning, MEDA staff members gather for a brief meeting to share news about the week that was and the one coming ahead. It starts with a staff reflection, which could be humorous or edifying, but always setting a positive tone. Here's one that we especially wanted to share with MEDAzine readers. Our thanks to Caleb MacDonald.

One day, David Hayes of North Carolina was fishing in the pond behind his house with his granddaughter, Alyssa. After fishing for a while Alyssa asked him to hold her fishing pole while she went back to the house for a bathroom break.

Left sitting there holding her Barbie fishing pole, seconds later David felt a nibble, then a tug, then the pond looked like it was boiling as David fought whatever monster could be at the other end of the cute rod he had been entrusted with.

Having returned from her duties his granddaughter cheered on as her granddad brought in their catch: A 21-pound channel catfish – breaking the state record by nearly three pounds – caught on a pole that was shorter than the prize it brought in on a line only tested for a fish under six pounds.

Investing in the poor involves encountering a lot of disbelief and underestimation as many people don't see developing nations as places worth investing their hard-earned dollars in. Many would be just as happy to give hand-outs and never "teach them to fish" for themselves.

We continue to prove that the poor are worth investing in, that they are worthy of credit, training and assistance and that if they are given the same opportunities as entrepreneurs in developing nations, they too can break the chain of poverty and bring others with them.

Just like the pink Barbie fishing pole David Hayes used, the poor are capable of more than they are labelled, and we need to continue to believe in them and spread the good word of what they can do.

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