Microlending

Our youth were given $1,000 to participate in a microlending project. They selected three entrepreneurs from across the world who would benefit from loans from the church. The church is partnering with Kiva, who has funded over $100 million in loans across the world.

Here is who the youth selected and how the money is going to be used:

• Togo, Africa. Born in 1980, Ms. Ama GBowia is a mother of a family and is illiterate. She used to work in small-scale commerce and in subsistence agriculture. The development of the city and urban spaces are now depriving her of arable land. Her only income-generating work involves making and selling bean served with oil and gari (cassava flour). To cope when prices are high, she requested this loan to stock up on beans and cassava flour.
• Peru. Rosalía is 41 years old, is an exemplary mother, and is married to 36 year old Jerson, with whom she has four children. They live together in their own house, which is made of rustic materials based on tree leaves and wood. She is considered a woman of "a thousand trades" because, in order to provide for her family, she never rests. For this reason, she has been working in agriculture for 20 years and also prepares food, breeds and sells guinea pigs and pigs, and sells beauty products, all of which are very beneficial to her because she has many acquaintances who are among her favorite customers. Her favorite of the tasks she undertakes is harvesting the delicious mandarins that she grows, as they are sold both in her local market and in the city, and bring in a little extra profit. On the other hand, her husband works for the "Water For All" program, so he is responsible for the household expenses. She just bought a 3 hectare plot of land and plans to sow products of local origin, and she also wants to install a food stall in an available space in their home. This is her sixth loan from MFP, and her companions in the loan group are very happy with her as she is supportive and honest. With the loan that she is requesting, she will buy 20 sacks of fertilizer and a thousand banana seedlings and will plan them on the land that she just bought. She also wants to hire some workers to help her with this task.
• Peru. Soledad is a member of the Señor Justo Juez village bank. She lives in the district of Huanchac, in the department of Cusco. Soledad is 57 years old. She is married and has 3 children, 30, 27, and 21 years old. She has a grocery store but a few months ago decided to also sell shoes by catalog. She offers three catalogs and allows people to pay her in two payments. She collects the first half when she delivers the shoes and the second the following month. She sells handbags and all kinds of shoes and sneakers. In the future, she would like to set up her own shoe store. She is a very charismatic, optimistic person. She tells us that she pays for all her merchandise in advance, but that to encourage her clients to purchase from her, she allows them to make two payments instead of one. She would like to have this loan to pay for the orders she making from Lima.