Break Poverty Cycle

ProblemFour out of every ten Mexicans are desperately poor. They live in slums or poor villages and are mostly under or unemployed. They often operate cottage industries or microenterprises, but without affordable working capital, they remain mired in poverty. Discussions with microentrepreneurs in Tlaquepaque reveal that they borrow their working capital from loan sharks who charge such high interest that they remain poor no matter how hard they work. They suffer, and their children suffer. The Gift Oportunidad Microfinanzas, an Opportunity microfinance bank, provides small working capital loans for people in chronic poverty. Loans range from $100 to $500, about what our target clients are borrowing from moneylenders. Spared high interest rates, our clients earn more to invest in the business. Their increased income helps them meet basic family needs. Children are going to school, not work. Group lending through Trust Banks gives hardworking people who have little opportunity to earn