Oh, friends, I am having such stupid blogging troubles. I have so many pictures that I want to share, but WordPress is not feeling cooperative. So I’m stuck between telling a story with words only, or no post at all. I’m choosing to tell the story…
Imagine that you are one of the billion or so people in the world who live on less than $1.25 a day. Every day is a balancing act–things that middle-class Americans take for granted simply don’t exist.
If you have an idea that requires some capital, your only choice is to save. Your savings is in cash, so it’s easy to steal. If it’s paper, it can be destroyed by flood or flame or animals. You probably live in a culture that demands you support your family–whatever you have is theirs, and if they have a need and you have the means, well, you simply must share. The only kind of loan you can get is from a loan shark–you’re too small to deal with a bank, much less a credit card.
So without access to banking services, your options for working, having a business, or even improving your home are very limited at best. This is the gap that HOPE and Esperanza* seek to fill in the Dominican Republic.
Today I want to share the WHO and WHAT of HOPE. Tomorrow we can talk about the HOW–but I just really want to share some stories. Hopefully I can share pictures tomorrow!
During meetings in the villages of Mato Palacios and Casa Colorado we met about 25 women and men who were attending their bi-weekly meetings. All of them wanted to tell their stories–here are a few.
- A lady who makes and sells underwear. Her first loan was for a sewing machine. She has used her more recent loans to improve her home from wood to concrete block.
- A lady who became literate through Esperanza* programs. She has a food stand.
- A 13-year client who sells clothing house-to-house. She has bought a small farm outside the village, and now raises goats and crops as well as maintaining her business.
- A shopkeeper who expanded her inventory through Esperanza loans.
- A lady who had a road-side fry stand, and began farming. Her loan helped her to rent a tractor for plowing her farm.
- A couple who make cheese and candy. They buy the milk from a cooperative. Loans paid for the equipment they need for making their products.
- A lady whose clothing sales just bombed. (There is a lot of competition in this kind of business.) So she regrouped, bought a freezer, and now sells ice cream and ice. She sells about $1000 of ice cream per month, clearing $600.
- A pig farmer.
- A furniture maker who has used a series of loans to buy power tools. He now has enough orders to look for employees. He told us that when he started with Esperanza, his two prayers were to raise his children to follow the Lord, and to have a business that would succeed. He said that through Esperanza God had answered those prayers.
- A corner shop order who had most recently added an ice cream freezer. In two years her business had gone from a loan of $125 (paid back) to her current loan amount of $1250. Her business has grown more than enough to support a larger loan and payment!
- A lady who had started as a juice stand and now owns a corner store with large inventory.
- A lady who sells cell-phone minutes. Through loans she has been able to improve her home to include a strong roof and concrete block construction.
When you read these stories, keep in mind that the vast majority of these loans are in the $125-$300 range. I can’t express how amazing it is to sit in a room with these people and listen as they describe their successes.
The president of Esperanza was also with us, and she told us what might have been the most important thing we heard that day. She said that the associates wanted us to know that “It’s not about the money. We have dental, literacy, medical, business training…spiritual guidance…The focus is always on God’s will. We always read the Bible.”
We heard “Thanks to God…” and “With God’s help…” so many times this weekend. We saw the transformed lives that come from work. Really, it’s a transformation from powerlessness and vulnerability to self-determination and creativity.
We met two other super-stars, but I’m dying to share pictures with you, so I’m going to wait until tomorrow for their stories.
*HOPE International and Esperanza work in tandem in Dominican Republic to provide Christian-based microfinance services. Our trip was with HOPE but the services are all provided directly by Esperanza.
**UPDATE: I’ve added pictures!
