by Elizabeth Ely

Created on: May 29, 2010   Last Updated: June 06, 2010

Sometimes just a small amount of money can make a world of difference. There is perhaps no better example of this than with Microcredit, where small loans are made to some of the world's poorest individuals. Saving what can be a life-changing $25 or $50 is often an insurmountable task for those just struggling to survive. Regular banks are not set up for loaning such small amounts, and so that's where the rest of us come in.

Approaching Microcredit from many angles are Microfinance institutions (MFIs) and various worldwide organizations like theKiva which helps link lenders and borrowers. Renowned microcredit advocate, founder of the Grameen Bank, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus recognized that while “Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs, but many don't have the opportunity to find that out.”

Through this micro lending, these different organizations have helped literally millions of people so far, most of them women and children. Some stories may be more heartbreaking and dramatic than others, but in each case, lives are changed. To help put a face on micro finance, are the stories of three women, from three countries, from three regions of the world. Poverty knows no bounds, but thankfully neither do micro loans.

From Rwanda in Sub-Saharan Africa is Marie-Claire, an HIV positive single mother of two, who is also raising her brother's two children after he was killed in the 1994 genocide. Her first husband died in 2003, and she left her second who abused alcohol. He is also now dead. She is the sole support for her extended family, and she has HIV in a poor country. Yet she has the courage and wherewithal to push ahead. Village Phone micro finance partner URWEGO gave her a US$40 loan so she could start the Isimbi Restaurant, allowing her to support her family. She operates a Village Phone for customers to use. It was so successful that she was able to pay off her loan a month early, and is now able to earn US$624 annually, nearly three times Rwanda's national average.

Sometimes the needs begin more simply. Take Diaz Hernandez from Mexico in the Americas. Her first purchase upon earning money from the embroidery and weaving business she started with a US$50 loan, were shoes for all of her ten children. It may seem a small thing to some, but not if you have none. In poor countries these basic needs can seem like unattainable luxuries. But Antonia became able to provide them

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