9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I live in Washington, D.C. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But I grew up in Sindhekela, a village in Orissa[br]in India. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My father was a government worker. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My mother could not read or write, but she 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 would say to me, "A king is worshiped only in his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 own kingdom. A poet is respected everywhere." 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So I wanted to be a poet when I grew up. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 But I almost didn't go to college 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 until an aunt offered financial help. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I went to study in ___, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the largest town in the region, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 where, already in college, I saw a[br]television for the first time. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I had dreams of going to the United States 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for higher studies. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the opportunity came, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I crossed two oceans, with borrowed money 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 for airfare, and only a 20 dollar bill in my pocket. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In the U.S., I worked in a research center, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 part-time, while taking graduate classes in economics 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and with the little I earned, I would 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 finance myself and then I would send 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 money home to my brother and mother. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My story is not unique. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There are millions of people who migrate each year. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 With the help of the family, they cross oceans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they cross deserts, they cross rivers, they cross mountains. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They risk their lives to realize a dream, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that dream is as simple as having a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 decent job so they can send money home 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and help the family, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 which has helped them before. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 There are 232 million international migrants in the world. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 These are people who live in a country 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other than their country of birth. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 If there was a country made up of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 only international migrants, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that would be larger in population 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 than Brazil. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That would be larger in its size 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the economy than France. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Some 180 million of them, from poor countries, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 send money home regularly. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Those sums of money are called remittences. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Here is a fact that might surprise you: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 413 billion dollars, 413 billion dollars 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was the amount of remittences sent last year 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by migrants to developing countries. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Migrants from developing countries, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 money sent to developing countries-- 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 413 billion dollars. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 That's a remarkable number 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that is three times the size of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the total of development aid money. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 And yet, you and I, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 my colleagues in Washington, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we endlessly debate and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 discuss about development aid 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 while we ignore remittences as small change. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 True, people send 200 dollars per month 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on average, but repeated month after month, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 by millions of people, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sums of money add up to rivers [br]of foreign currency. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 So, India last year received 72 billion dollars, larger than 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 its IT exports. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Egypt, in Egypt remittences are three times 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the size of revenues from the Suez Canal. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In Tajikistan, remittences are forty-two percent of GDP. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In poorer countries, smaller countries, conflict 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 afflicted countries, remittences are a lifeline, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 as in Somalia or in Haiti. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 No wonder these flows have huge 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 impacts on economies and on poor people. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Remittences, unlike private investment money, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 they don't flow back at the first 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 sign of trouble in the country. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 They actually act like an insurance. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 When the family is in trouble, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 facing hardship, facing hard times, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 remittences increase, they act like an insurance. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Migrants send more money then. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000