Testimonials

Rather than try to combat poverty from the top-down, microenterprise fights poverty from the ground up by working to directly to change the lives of those most affected by poverty.

Bishop Simon Chiwanga, Tanzania

 

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Peru

Peru

Background

This micro-credit programme operates in the district of San Juan de Miraflores in Lima - a slum district of Lima where rural people have migrated to the city looking for work. The district has a population of around 367,000 inhabitants, with an extremely high population density of 15,310 inhabitants per square kilometer. Of the residents, 6.3% are suffering from chronic malnutrition. Most housing is inadequate and lacks basic services such as water and drainage. Eight out of 10 heads of homes do not have a primary level of education. The women represent a particularly vulnerable group. Unemployment and under-employment affects at least 50% of the population nationally.

Project Description

Five Talents is part of a three-way partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Peru and the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) – Peru. Five Talents has provided loan capital, while ECLOF manages the project and the Diocese help to provide oversight and guidance.


The project adopts the group-lending strategy. Women entrepreneurs are given priority in membership of the so-called Solidarity Groups. Group members receive training before loan distribution and while the loan is in effect. Loans are disbursed in the form of “credit steps” which begin with £100. After full and timely repayment over 4-6 months and as the business expands, loan sizes increase.

Please consider supporting this programme. Your donation will achieve the following impacts:

In April 2009, ECLOF, with financial support from Five Talents, expanded it's services into Huancavelica, the poorest area in Peru. By the end of 2009 the project had supported 189 Communal Banks and 422 Solidarity Groups, as well as helping 1,977 clients directly.