Entrepreneurial Spirit and Microfinancing Turns Jewelery into Dreams Come True
May 12th, 2009 by Jon Posted in Nicaragua News | No Comments
Jewelery is not something you’d immediately associate with compassionate aid, but at Sarah’s Hope their business model is as much about making beautiful necklaces as it is providing a livelihood for people in need.
Sarah’s Hope is a jewelery line that was established as a way to help fund microfinance loans through the organization named MEDA (The Mennonite Economic Development Association). MEDA provides these loans to entrepreneurs in poor areas all over the world, including Nicaragua.
Each item in Sarah’s Hope’s catalog is named after a woman who has received a microloan through MEDA and has their life transformed. For example, one beautiful pendant is called Eusebia named after a woman from Tuestepe in Nicaragua. According to the Sarah’s Hope website:
Teustepe, Nicaragua is an entrepreneur and mother of 12.
In 1999, after Hurricane Mitch, she received a $100 microloan to sow one acre of red beans. Between 2000 and 2006, thanks to her prompt payment history, she was approved for six additional loans.
This hard-working, community minded woman now owns 100 acres and her business includes a hog farm, a dairy farm and cheese production.
Microfinancing and microloans is an excellent and proven way of helping small business owners get the lift up they desperately need. Eusebia’s story quoted above is just one of the many examples of how this financial model has helped people around the world.
If jewelery is not your preferred way of helping people in need, you can directly loan money through Kiva.org - a hub connecting lenders directly to entrepreneurs in needy regions around the world.
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