Archives For Microfinance

Why I’m Passionate about HOPE

April 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

A friend recently asked me, “There are so many great organizations out there. What really is the difference with HOPE?”

I paused before responding. I didn’t like his question because it felt like he was looking for me to talk about HOPE’s competitive advantage in relation to other organizations. When comparing ourselves with other causes or other organizations, we all lose.

I see our competition not with other organizations who share a common mission, but rather with the many other causes that capture our time and attention. If we got as excited about healing and wholeness and missions as we did about professional sports and pet food and ice cream, then we’d have the resources to massively change the philanthropic landscape.

But what he was really asking was our value proposition. What is it that makes me passionate about our cause?

Here are some of the things that resonate with my head, heart, and soul.

  1. Head. The business impact.
  • Sustainability/Scale. Due to HOPE’s methodology, eight microfinance institutions in our Network are fully covering local costs. Profit enables HOPE to grow and means we don’t have to raise funds to do the same programs year after year. We are able to serve more and more families and dream big.
  • A Job is Better than a Handout. Handouts have never caused a country to escape poverty. Only jobs do that. It makes sense to me that job creation requires investment – and HOPE has the privilege of being investors for over 500,000 families.

2. Heart. The personal impact.

  • Individuals Matter. Having lived in several countries and spent significant time traveling to these places, I’ve met the people we serve. When you see lives changed, you simply cannot leave without desiring to do more.  Stories like Fadzai’s are happening. This is not hypothetical.

 

3. Soul. The eternal impact.

  • The Power of the Local Church.  HOPE’s savings programs equip the local Church to serve their communities with biblically based business training and financial services. While not our primary motivator, lower costs result from partnering with the Church. It’s good stewardship. See video of our church-based savings program in Rwanda.
  • Missionary Staff: We are able to recruit a team of fulltime missionaries who serve as loan officers and solve problems in local communities. Over 1,200 staff members interact with families every day. We operate on a far smaller budget than the traditional “sending” model and equip the local body of Christ to serve their communities.

It is a joy to serve with an organization that is actively sharing the love of Christ and helping individuals work their way out of poverty.

 

 

 

In Faith and Int. Development, Microfinance , , , , , , , , ,
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What Does HOPE Look Like in the U.S.?

November 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

The last few months, I’ve had a number of conversations with friends who wonder how the principles that drive HOPE could be applied domestically. It’s a good question, and although HOPE has decided to remain focused internationally, I strongly believe we need more organizations working to help restore dignity through the gift of employment in the U.S.

legos duplo

Here are some examples of organizations I admire that are creatively addressing poverty in the U.S.  Some provide job preparedness. Others provide access to financial services. All are having a positive impact.

1) Mentoring  

  1. Defy Ventures and Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP). M.B.A. boot camp for convicts and ex-convicts, PEP and Defy are built on an interesting hypothesis: Often criminals are born entrepreneurs. Many students used to manage networks—albeit illegal—and possess ingenuity, the ability to think on their feet. Defy and PEP are helping them transfer these skills to thrive in the business world. See defyventures.org.  Eighty nine percent of criminals who return to prison are unemployed when arrested. In sum: A job keeps people from going behind bars again. PEP offers business training, giving prisoners a second chance. Results are remarkable. Within 90 days of getting out of prison, 100 percent of individuals at PEP find jobs. And the recidivism rate of PEP’s graduates—five percent. (Nationwide it’s 60 percent.) See www.prisonentrepreneurship.org.
  2. Assets Lancaster. Based in the city of HOPE’s headquarters, Assets provides a 10-12 week course in business training and management, as well as business mentoring for entrepreneurs. It’s also hands-on training and it is having an impact in building a better city. See www.assetslancaster.org.

2) Business Training/Job Preparedness

  1. Jobs for Life (JfL). JfL taps into one of the most overlooked resources to provide job training—the Church. Through JfL, the Church is equipping individuals with skills to interview, to network, and to find and to retain a job. See www.jobsforlife.org/JfL-profile.htm and video.
  2. The Chalmers Center. World class, Chalmers develops curriculum to provide a hand up. Faith & Finances is their course empowering churches and organizations to teach foundational principles of finance. See www.chalmers.org/work/gtc/programs/financial.

3) Financial Services

  1. Grameen America – Prosper.com – Accion USA.  Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus made microfinance a household name.  He decided to take his pioneering Grameen Bank—which has served the poor globally—to New York City. Now it has spread throughout the U.S.  Grameen, Accion, and Prosper.com are just three organizations giving financial services, such as savings and small loans, as well as business training to get people on their feet again.  See grameenamerica.org, www.accionusa.org, and www.prosper.com.
  2.  Grace Period.  Loan sharks and “payday” lenders—with interest rates as steep as 400 percent—are  often the only option in an emergency. Grace Period offers an alternative.  Providing small loans, Grace Period also requires members to save for the next emergency. See www.graceperiod.org.

These are just some organizations giving people a hand up, rather than a handout in the U.S.

In Faith and Int. Development, Leadership, Microfinance , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Progress is Possible

November 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

When faced with overwhelming issues like AIDS, poverty, and human trafficking, it’s easy to forget progress is possible.  But consider Rwanda.  I lived in Rwanda from 1999-2002 and recently returned. It simply is not the same country today as it was just a decade ago.  Though it still has a long way to go, Rwanda has made remarkable progress and creates a case for optimism.

Rwanda photo_woman

Some of the factors at work in Rwanda’s progress include:

1. Curbing Corruption.  According to Transparency International, Rwanda now has the lowest corruption rate in East Africa.  In contrast, its neighboring state Burundi is ranked as the most corrupt nation in East Africa. Not surprisingly, the pace of development in Rwanda far exceeds the pace in Burundi. Curbing corruption is a prerequisite for lasting progress to occur, and Rwanda is leading the way.

2. Entrepreneurship.  The Rwandan government has been opening its doors to entrepreneurship and investment.  In an interview with PovertyCure, Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, says he believes that handouts hinder growth: “If you allow a process where people are shielded from [entrepreneurship], then it’s like abusing them.  Yes, it’s like saying, ‘You are disabled.  Let me help you.’”

Instead he promotes business development and welcomes the free market: “It actually gives people the feeling that they are valued, meaning they are as capable, they are as competent, they are as gifted and as talented as anyone else.”

3. Church engagement.  It’s not enough to curb corruption or foster entrepreneurship if there is no foundation for reconciliation and healing from Rwanda’s troubled past. The church in Rwanda has decided to act. Recognizing the need for healing, it has started savings groups among people eager to escape poverty. Besides meeting financial needs, the groups also promote reconciliation and deepen relationships.

Gaudence, one savings group member, said, “We thank God for providing the savings groups because we are like family. Nobody is worried about how to find money to support our families. The savings groups [also] help us to know and love each other.”

Besides saving, the members worship and pray together.  They also reach out to those in their community. One such individual is Jacqueline.

Jacqueline was so desperate that she used to sell her body to provide for her family. But now, standing tall, she supports herself through farming. She’s also fully engaged in her church and community. Life looks a whole lot brighter for Jacqueline – and for the entire country of Rwanda.

An engaged church, a crackdown on corruption, and a positive attitude toward entrepreneurship are enabling entrepreneurs like Jacqueline to flourish.

In Faith and Int. Development, Microfinance , , , , , , ,
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Who are our world’s orphans?

July 5, 2012 — 1 Comment

Recently I had the chance to present a webinar for Christian Alliance for Orphans on a topic I’m passionate about: the intersection between orphan care and economic development.

These two worlds rarely intersect – it’s uncommon to hear a talk about economic development at an orphan summit and unusual to hear a presentation about orphans and vulnerable children at an economic development conference. Yet these two worlds are more connected than we might initially realize.

What Adoptees Wish Church Communities Knew from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

The Bible is full of clear calls to care for the most vulnerable of society – and no one is more vulnerable than an orphan. (James 1:27 is just one of the many verses making an unmistakable call to care for the orphan.) I am passionate about adoption and an enthusiastic supporter of anyone working to ensure that children are raised in loving families.

But working for a microfinance organization, I also have a tendency to dig into the numbers. And when I did this with orphans, I was surprised by what I found. A large portion of our world’s “orphans” actually have a living parent.

Percentage of children in orphanages with one surviving parent. 

–Liberia: 98%

–Sri Lanka: 92%

–Azerbaijan: 70%

–Zimbabwe: 40%

After seeing these statistics, I realized that many orphans are actually sent to orphanages because their parents didn’t believe they could care for them. Because of poverty. These are economic orphans, not orphans where both living parents are dead.

So if we are serious about solving the orphan crisis, we also have to combat the underlying issue of poverty.

A Complementary Approach

If we want to have a substantial impact on the orphan crisis, we need to discover how to foster economic development and create job opportunities. In my work with microfinance, we discovered that when we equip entrepreneurs to expand their business, they are creating additional resources and investing these resources into their families. They are taking care of their children and others in the community. They are inconspicuously combating the orphan crisis.

International adoption can be beautiful, but to ensure that every child has a home, we must not overlook  the incredible talent and resources available in each local community. See Mama Atiya’s story.

For more information, see the following:

*Statistics taken from the Better Care Network (BCN)

*Photo by Jeremy Cowart

In Adoption, Microfinance , , , ,
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