Recently a women who founded the Women's Microfinance Initiative came to our school to talk about microlending. Microlending is a process where people lend money to people in need. Lending helps those people get money to buy tools or anything to jumpstart or grow their business. When the person buys the things needed for their business they pay back what was lent. Since you get the money back once you donate it is not lost. That is the beauty of microlending. When Robin the speaker came to our school she showed us a video about the nonprofit she began with friends. Women's Microfinance Initiative does loans in Africa. The first place that Women's Microfinance Initiative gave out loans to was Buyobo in Uganda . One of the benefits of lending through Women's Microfinance Initiative is that they train the people they lend to how to keep record of their business so they know what things help their business and what things don't.
Click here to go to the Women's Microfinance Initiative website.
I think that microfinance, when done well, can be an important engine in giving people in developing nations the ability to start their own small businesses and support their families. Even a loan as small as $25 can help someone start a business - buy a rabbit and rabbit hutch, for example, in Bolivia. And often women (and not men) are the best people to launch these small businesses.
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