In 2020, the Raising Haiti Foundation began funding the provision of small loans ($25-$50) to 50 women clients per community. By July 2024, the program had grown to a total of 426 beneficiaries who received loans in the $76 to $1,132 range. By the end of 2024, the program will expand to enroll 500 clients, with an increasing loan range.
Most of the women use their loans to become entrepreneurs, or to expand their current businesses, selling goods in local markets. Some use them to purchase livestock or crop seeds, improving their farming outputs. Besides loans, the women receive training on topics such as business management, customer satisfaction, how to avoid supply shortages, and the role of local leaders in community development.
The micro-loans in Africa use very low interest rates as a way of encouraging responsibility for the loan, as well as a means of generating small amounts of capital which is used to fund future loans. In the programs I’m familiar with, all the money stays in the community instead of being siphoned out of it.
That’s good to hear! - still feels weird to take profits from people worse off than you - but if it helps them and stays in the community it doesn’t seem like that big a deal