Why I microfinance

"Microfinance? Can eat one ar?"

Cannot eat one, but you can help put food on people's table by YOU loaning money to people.

It all happened in Muhammad Yunus's trip to one of the poorest households in Jobra. As jobs are scarce in the village, the only answer to break poverty (and for some, survival) is to build businesses.

Simple common sense tells us that we need money to start a business. And at Jobra (or any other villages), money is always a rare commodity. Banks are regarded as unreachable saviors. Bank policies are never made in favour of poor people. They regard them as bad borrowers. Again, they are merely flogging the dead horse harder.

In the village, Yunus made his first loan, loaning USD$27 from his pocket to a group of female basket weavers. Not long later, these ladies were able to make a profit out of their trade and pay off their loan in a short period of time. It was an epiphany for him on that day.

An epiphany because from that little profit they made, they were able to reinvest into the business, and one thing leads to another. As a result, they are now out of poverty and children are in schools.

So, I microfinance because it works. It helps. It is a mean to someone's end. I'm a strong believer in microfinancing. Leveraging on the power of trade, we break the poverty cycle. And since the money is loaned, the loaner gets the money back, which could be used to help another person.

Look at the white box on the right of my page. Kiva is a philanthropic organization built on the concept of microfinancing. Many will enlist themselves on Kiva for help. Financiers like me (and many others) would go through their business proposals and their backgrounds before we decide to loan them the money. One can loan a minimum of USD$25 (approx RM82) to anyone enlisted there. This money loaned will be repaid in full amount within the time frame set by the debtors.

It's so easy. No brainers. Seriously, if you're looking for an effective way to help people, start microfinancing.

So, why don't you microfinance, too?