A Bolivian Family’s Future Changed Forever With a $14 Loan

Fernando is proud to walk to school in his brand new shirt and shoes. “My teacher said that I look really handsome — I love her a lot!”

María, Fernando’s mom, started a knitting business in Tarija, Bolivia, with the help of a Five Talents’ partner, Semillas de Bendición (Seeds of Blessing), in order to provide her four children with nutritious food and clothing. The first loan she received was for $14.

“She had great talent in knitting, but her self-esteem was very low, so we encouraged her to start a business,” said Sara and Eva Mamani, Semillas de Bendición program managers. “She was quite fearful, but she decided to take a risk because the poverty in her family was very great. Now, she sells beautiful wool ponchos, and her husband is pleased because their sons are the ones who benefit the most.”

Before starting her business, María consistently reminded her sons that she couldn’t afford to buy them clothes, school supplies and sometimes even food. Fernando was wearing shoes and a shirt he had outgrown. “My feet were hurting a lot because my shoes were very old, and my shirt for school was very small — it looked like my younger brother’s shirt,” he said.

Now, María is using her business profits to better provide for her children – one son at a time.

“My mom told me that next time she’s not going to buy anything for me since it will be my younger brothers’ turn,” Fernando said. “She will keep working, and she will buy other things for my brothers with what she earns, and they will be happy.”

Through her savings group, María has also learned about health and nutrition. “Our mom surprises us with all the yummy things that she cooks; my favorite food is a vegetable cake that she makes,” Fernando said.

Now, when 9-year-old Fernando grows up, he wants to be a teacher and a church pastor so that he can help people too.

Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Each loan finances a microbusiness that, in turn, supports up to six other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

Five Talents’ ongoing work is supported by a staff based in Vienna, Va., an office in London, England, and a program office in Kampala, Uganda. Hundreds of volunteers across the United States and United Kingdom participate in the ministry. For more information and to donate, visit http://www.fivetalents.org/.

Kenyan Mother Sets Example, Fills Role of Encourager for Daughter

Irene is one of the top students in her 4th grade class, and her mother is very proud of her achievements.

Without the help of the Thika Community Development Trust, Irene may not have been able to attend – or have had such success – in school. Jane, Irene’s mom, has been part of the Trust in Kenya since 2004. She’s invested her loans from the Trust in her vegetable garden and rabbit business. She has used the profits to pay for her children’s school fees and clothing and to buy nutritious food.

“I also really hope that with the next loan she gets she will build us a nice home,” Irene said. The family is currently living in a two-room house with iron sheets for a roof and mud walls.

Irene attends Giachuki Primary School in the Thika District in the Central Province of Kenya. Her favorite subjects are Christian Religious Education (CRE) and social studies.

“I particularly love CRE for the very reason that most of the issues taught in class are also covered in Sunday school,” she said. “I particularly love the fact that Jesus was born on Christmas Day, which is just around the corner! It was the same loving Jesus who also rode on a donkey!”

Irene dreams of one day becoming an environment professor, where she can teach others what she knows about trees, animals, flowers and food crops.

“For example, last term we learned about maize and tea and also about rabbits, and we have rabbits at home too!” she said.

Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Each loan finances a microbusiness that, in turn, supports up to six other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

Five Talents’ ongoing work is supported by a staff based in Vienna, Va., an office in London, England, and a program office in Kampala, Uganda. Hundreds of volunteers across the United States and United Kingdom participate in the ministry. For more information and to donate, visit http://www.fivetalents.org/.

This story is the fifth story in a five-week series – Five Weeks with Five Talents: Children of Microfinance.

Income from Jewelry Business Provides Healthy Meals for Peruvian Family

Before Five Talents helped, Rosita and her family suffered from severe malnutrition.

Six-year-old Rosita Elizabeth and her family had moved from a small Peruvian city in the Amazon jungle. And her parents searched in vain for odd jobs – just to survive in Lima.

Rosita’s mother (Maria) tells the story of the family going to bed many nights with empty stomachs. “We would get meals at a community food kitchen but suffered from food poisoning several times,” Maria said.

This forced Rosita’s parents to risk sickness or choose hunger for their family.

In June, Rosita’s stepfather, Roberto, received his first loan of $170 from ECLOF-Peru. He invested the money in the family’s handicraft business – making necklaces, bracelets and earrings from beads made from seeds from the Amazon. Roberto and Maria are using the skills they brought with them to Lima!

The business is generating a monthly income of $195, and with this money, they have purchased two machines in order to meet increased demand for their Amazon bead jewelry.

Now, Rosita smiles as she talks about some of her favorite things: mathematics, playing with dolls, eating arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) and her mom and stepdad’s handicraft business!

“Thanks to God, we have improved our business, we do not beg for food anymore, and my mother can now buy food to cook in our house,” Rosita said.

At age 2, Rosita was battling malnutrition and sickness. Four years later, she dreams of becoming an accountant and working in the family business.

This story is the fourth story in a five-week series – Five Weeks with Five Talents: Children of Microfinance.

Reflection of an Image

It is Advent and we await the coming of Jesus as a child born into a dirty, smelly manger. It is hard to grasp what that might have been like. I sometimes wonder as a parent of two small children what it might have been like to be Joseph. Would he have been scared about Mary actually delivering the baby without her life being threatened?

Even to this day, mothers in many countries die from complications associated with childbirth. Years ago, I walked into a maternity ward in Haiti and I noticed a few flies hovering above a mother in the corner. As I approached I realized she had recently died. I called the doctor over and he quickly checked her pulse, and then had the nurse cover her face with the sheet and he moved on. I was stunned by his nonchalant attitude. In the states we would have done everything possible to save the mother using the latest in technology. When questioned, the doctor told me that postoperative death is common and he had to tend to the living. Moments later, still in the maternity ward, a nurse in our group came running out with a baby who was turning blue. She raced toward another room where the only available oxygen tank in the whole building could be found. It was 1960s vintage but it worked and the baby lived.

That very night at the hotel, I watched an episode of ER, the television show that depicts an emergency room at a hospital in Chicago. The tragic irony was not lost on me as the doctors raced from room to room trying to save lives.

Childbirth was far from easy in the time of Jesus. And in some places it still is and that’s why to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health are the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals. I can imagine Joseph breathing a sigh of relief as the baby Jesus cried out for the first time and Mary had not suffered any ill effects. Even with all the medical facilities we had available at the hospital, I know I breathed easier when the doctors gave the thumbs up!

I wrote these few words soon after my daughter was born almost six years ago. I found them while writing this essay, and I thought they might be appropriate at this time of the year:

“I looked into the mirror and it was you who smiled back at me – a smile so wide I almost cried.

The father finds a reflection of himself as he holds his first-born daughter. Only, instead of a tired, unshaven face at 4 a.m., she has wide, innocent eyes that sparkle happiness and joy. What will she become? I ask under the glow of the bathroom light.

It won’t be long until she is standing and looking into the mirror with no one to hold her. Will she see my reflection in herself just like I sometimes see my parents reflected in me?

More importantly, will she know that she is made in God’s image and the beauty she radiates comes from Him?”

Have a blessed Advent and Christmas!

Craig Cole
Five Talents President and CEO

Women in Technology Honors Five Talents Volunteers with Lifetime Achievement Awards

For three consecutive years, a Five Talents International volunteer has been awarded the Women in Technology Lifetime Achievement Award. The most recent recipient is Elizabeth Lewis, partner with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in Reston, Va. She was presented the award on Nov. 14. Lewis provides volunteer legal advice and has hosted receptions for Five Talents.

“It is a privilege to support Five Talents because it is truly the gift that keeps on giving,” Lewis said. “Donations are used to provide loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries to start businesses with an opportunity to create an ongoing income stream which supports the entrepreneur, family members and employees. Then, the loan is paid back and the money can be loaned again.”

The Women in Technology event recognizes and honors women in the technology field who exemplify volunteer service in the community.

In 2007, the recipient was Lauren Kirby, president of TurnAround LLC. Kirby has provided Five Talents with capacity-building including implementation of a corporate policies and procedures manual.

In 2006, the recipient was Dr. April Young, senior vice president and managing director–US for MMVFinancial. She was honored for her work with Five Talents, where she has served on the board of directors and participated in trips to East Africa to teach basic business planning.

Women in Technology was founded in 1994 and represents professionals who work for technology companies or those that support technology companies in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region. Its mission is to provide women in the technology community a networking and professional growth environment to develop relationships and create new opportunities.

“We are blessed to have such accomplished professional women supporting our work with their passion and expertise,” said Craig Cole, Five Talents president and CEO.