My participation in the Five Talents Vision Trip to the
Dominican Republic was an eye-opening experience. I was able to see the transforming impact that a small loan can make to help improve the financial condition and spirits of persons living in poverty.
It was a privilege for me to participate as a member of the visioning trip as a guest of Five Talents, made possible because my team won the “Church Challenge” competition at the 2008 Five Talents
X-OUT Poverty Golf Classic. Although I have made financial contributions to Five Talents and other charitable mission organizations, this was the first time I had participated on any type of mission trip or traveled to a developing country. I didn’t know what to expect.
The preparatory calls with other persons who were participating
on the trip and some online research about the history of the Dominican Republic created an initial sense of anticipation. But the trip became real when the alarm clock sounded at 3:30 a.m. on the day of departure — rousting me out of bed for an early morning trip to the airport.
After meeting up with other team members in Washington, D.C., and Miami, we arrived in Santo Domingo early Saturday afternoon and headed toward the main part of the city along a parkway bounded by the beautiful blue Caribbean waters on both sides. As we got closer to the city, we transitioned into a bustling maze of traffic that could make even the most experienced New York cabbie nervous. Along the way, we caught our first glimpses of the dense, interconnected mazes of shanties in the neighborhoods, or barrios, built within a few feet of a large river running through the city. We were here to visit the Five Talents loan program operating in a similar barrio named La Barquita.
On the afternoon we arrived, our group took a walking tour of Santo Domingo’s colonial district where we saw the first Catholic cathedral in the Americas and learned about the rich and troubled history of the Dominican Republic. Since the country’s discovery by Christopher Columbus in the 1492, the country has suffered various invasions by neighboring countries and oppression under numerous fascist dictators. I especially enjoyed learning about the country’s Christian foundation that is symbolized with a cross and Bible at the center of the national flag.
On Sunday night we had dinner at our hotel with the leaders of Esperanza, a micro-loan banking organization, and the local Episcopal Church who are partnering with Five Talents to provide loans to entrepreneurs in La Barquita. I was impressed by the talent and professionalism of the local Dominican staff involved in the program and their personal passion for the neighborhoods and individuals they were serving. I was especially moved by one member of the local team who had grown up in the barrio we were going to visit. He had left the barrio to attend college and had become an attorney. When he learned about the opportunity to work as a loan officer with Esperanza in his boyhood neighborhood, he left his job as an attorney in Santo Domingo and returned home to serve his neighbors.
As we learned about the elements of the program, I was extremely surprised at its initial results. In its first year of operation, the Five Talents program has loaned approximately $15,000 in small loans ranging in size from $175 to $250. Amazingly, not a single recipient has defaulted on their loan during the first year. Several aspects of the program seem to contribute to its success.
First, persons who wish to participate in the program must identify four other persons who will join them in applying for individual loans. Members of the group commit to repaying the loans of all individuals in the group — establishing a covenant of accountability between the group members.
Second, persons who receive a loan must repay the loan in weekly increments over a six month period. Members of the group meet weekly to make loan payments, receive business training and support from Esperanza staff members, and to study the Bible together.
Third, persons receiving loans are required to save the equivalent of five percent of their loan amount from their business profits over the six month repayment period. It appears that this combination of group accountability, business training, and solid financial disciplines delivers impacts far beyond merely loaning money.
On Monday morning, the group traveled by vans to La Barquita, the barrio where the Five Talent’s microloan program is operating. As we turned off a main street and onto a narrow dirt roadway barely wide enough for us to squeeze between the parked cars I sensed that we were entering a different world. La Barquita is located right beside the river and is home to approximately 3,000 families. Although the barrio is served by makeshift electricity lines that provide power to most homes, I was amazed to learn that the barrio has no running water. Residents buy water from trucks that come into the neighborhood or collect rainwater for drinking and cooking. Every two to three years, many of the homes in the barrio are damaged or destroyed as the river overflows its banks because of hurricanes or tropical storms. As we would later learn, many of the residents have spent their entire lives in La Barquita.
We met up with Father Milton from the local Episcopal church and Pedro Lacen, the Esperanza program manager working in La Barquita, at the small one room church in the neighborhood and began our walking tour to meet persons receiving loans from the program.
Rosario was the first person we met. She is an entrepreneur whose business is selling used clothing from her home and at an on-street market in the neighborhood. Rosario lives with her husband and two grandchildren in a small cinderblock home at the end of a narrow alleyway about 50 yards from one of the main streets. She enthusiastically welcomed us into her home and proudly explained her business. She travels by bus into the central area of San Domingo to purchase bundles of used clothing and then sells them to her neighbors. The loan from Five Talents has allowed her to expand her inventory and increase her profits so she can better provide for her family. Her radiant smile and bright eyes conveyed a sense of joy in what she had been able to accomplish with the aid of Five Talents. As we departed, she shared a request that we pray that her husband and children have a stronger relationship with Jesus.
As we walked along the muddy dirt roadways that wove through the barrio we spoke with several other women who had received loans through the Five Talents program. Their various businesses included selling shoes and perfume, operating street-side markets for food and household items, selling cleaning supplies, and making handmade quilts, curtains and other home furnishing. In every situation we visited, the women displayed an entrepreneurial spirit and tremendous confidence in running their businesses. In addition, each of them communicated a sincere, heartfelt gratitude toward Five Talents. Several of the women had successfully repaid their initial loans and had received additional loans to expand their businesses. These women did not let the difficulty of their circumstances hinder their will to succeed. It is easy for me to imagine that these talented women would be successful in most any environment or circumstance.
For me, seeing the microloan program in action in the Dominican Republic provided a very tangible connection to the mission of the Five Talents organization. Looking into the faces of the women whose lives have been impacted both financially and spiritually provided a three-dimensional perspective on how my contributions can help those in need. I would encourage others to go and see.
Tracy Denny was captain of the winning Church Challenge team from The Falls Church (Falls Church, Va.) during the 2008 Five Talents X-OUT Poverty Golf Classic.
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two sisters who run Semillas de Bendicion. If you don’t speak Spanish, that means "Seeds of Blessing." Sara and Eva came up with the name because they want to plant seeds of hope, courage, and joy through passing on their knowledge and mobilizing Bolivians into savings and loans groups. Like me, they are PKs (Priest’s Kids!), which should be fun. Five Talents Latin America Coordinator Tom Waddell, who spent three years as a missionary in Bolivia, will also be going with me.
