Calvert Foundation™

It’s a win-win. Earn a financial return while lifting families out of poverty. Find out how

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CDFIs/Small Business Environment Fair Trade Microfinance Mission Plus Non-Traditional Affordable Housing

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Microfinance

Small Loans that Make a Big Difference

Making loans as low as $100 changes the lives of hardworking entrepreneurs—mostly women—in developing countries by giving them a way to start or expand local businesses and, more importantly, provide for their families. Our partnership with online microfinance broker MicroPlace (www.microplace.com) is expanding opportunities to invest in microfinance, which Calvert Foundation investors have been doing now for 15 years.

Real-Life Returns

img-micro-01Thanks to a loan from Calvert Foundation borrower PRASAC, Koum Sarum and his wife You Davy have a grocery and a farm. By working with PRASAC, a Cambodia-based microfinance organization, they are now able to hire extra help during the wheat harvest, increasing their yield and providing employment to local workers. Sarum’s wife Davy reads a little but cannot write. To help support relatives, she started working early in her life. Because of this, she didn’t go to school. With proceeds from their businesses, however, they can send all of their children to school, including 5-year-old son Pum Pancharung in kindergarten and 16-year-old daughter Heng Thavary in grade 8.

Microfinance & Women: Facts

  • Women do two-thirds of the world’s work but receive only 10% of the world’s income.
  • Microfinance has helped over 79 million women living in the poorest areas of the world.
  • More women pay back loans on time than their male counterparts.
  • Investing in women increases family expenditures on health, education and nutrition.

Alice Reta, a 33-year-old Kenyan woman, lives with her husband, grandmother, and nine children. Through a microloan from Calvert Foundation partner Kenya Women’s Finance Trust, she has been able to set up a small shop that gives her the income necessary to support her family and send her children to school.

Alice and her family suffered during a bout of violence in her region in 2008, during which they lost many things – including her previous business and their home. Though all of her family survived this period, one of her children lost an eye during “the chaos” and must travel to Nairobi for ongoing medical treatment.

img-micro-02bWith a loan of 20,000 shillings (about $250), Alice’s new business is growing. “I want to give my children food and to buy them clothes,” Alice said. “I pray for us to be together and to be able to educate them and give them the necessities.”

© Photos by Richard Lord for Calvert Foundation

> Why invest in microfinance?
> Profiles of all Calvert Foundation borrowers