One of our most precious freedoms in the U.S. is the freedom of enterprise and the access to financial markets that leverage hard work and creativity into a way of life and standard of living that is unprecedented anywhere else in the world. If you need a mortgage for a house, or a small business loan, or insurance, or a checking account, most all of us can get one. Imagine for a second if you couldn’t.
Did you know that 2.1 billion people live on less than $2 per day? If that was you, how would you help yourself fight your way out of poverty? How would you start your own small business? How would you buy seed to start a farm? How would you buy a cow to produce and sell milk?
Fortunately, there are many different organizations and companies across the world that help people do just that – help themselves. They do it by basically taking our great system of finance and economy and shrinking it into smaller points of access. Where there is no economic system to support those who want to work their way out of poverty, the prolific (and growing) microfinance industry provides tiny loans and other financial products that help people get themselves out of despair.
Microlending is not a handout. Loans are required to be repaid and reports delivered to lenders and investors just like we do here in the U.S. Microlending help is designed to help those who help themselves. Want to learn more? There are many fine organizations out there but www.kiva.org is one of the best and one of the easiest to follow and then help (you can support loan requests for as little as $25 and then you’ll be given progress reports on their repayment). Here is my latest involvement as an example of ways that you can make an impact in someone’s life:
Magdalena Agsunod is from the village of Arcon in the Philippines. She is 52 years old, is married and has seven adult-aged children. To make a living, she owns and operates a general store, selling a variety of different products in the local community. She has been engaged in her business for over ten years and earns approximately $115 a month for these activities. In 2008, Magdalena joined ASKI (a non-profit aggregator of micro loans) to gain access to financial services to help improve her living situation and ability to engage in business activities. Magdalena had been granted and has already successfully repaid a previous loan of 9,000 PHP (Filipino currency) from ASKI. This previous loan was used to purchase additional products to sell.
Magdalena is requesting a new loan of 11,000 PHP which will be used to purchase additional products to sell. This will be her 5th loan from ASKI. She plans to use the additional revenue generated from the business to financially support immediate members of her family.
