A Little Goes a Long Way

This morning I received the first annual report for a project my friend and colleague first told me about last year. It is a micro-loan program for widows in Burundi, Africa, one of the poorest places in the world.

I had read about providing what amounts to venture capital for people in developing nations, and I have received the "gifts" at Christmas that say, "Your gift is our donation to XYZ which purchased two goats for refugees in Estonia," and I've always thought, "What a great idea." So when my friend asked me to be a part of his Widows and Orphans Ministry program and the micro-loan effort, I said, "Sure."

The report I got today listed five pages of women who had borrowed anywhere from $26 to $172 to help them fund their efforts to support their families with everything from "Planting and selling corn and beans" to "Buying a cow to sell milk." The venture was started with just a little bit of seed money from half a dozen associates of my colleague. But the seed money he got from a few friends has turned into an enterprise that has been able to self fund itself as the women who borrow the money pay it back -- with interest -- a whopping ten percent, I might add.

So when Claudine Kwizera borrowed $73 to start selling telephone cards, and she repaid over time $80, her extra $7 went into the kitty for the next needy widow. This self-sustaining fund has already dispersed more than $4300 (a king's ransom in Burundi) of which $3700 has already been paid back and another $1800 still exists for the women who apply for the loans on the next application date. I don't get the math exactly, but I do get the point. This pay it forward sort of system is working in Burundi. Almost 100 women over the last year created and are running their own successful small business operations in order to feed and clothe their children and as part of their quest for a better life.

The small check I sent was a small price to pay to be a part of this effort. I'll do it again in a heartbeat. To know that Macurata Ciza is planting cabbage and Valerie Ntandiburintuntu is selling rice, and their kids are no longer hungry and these women are no longer charity cases feels very good.

If you feel drawn to give, go to www.iamhereforyou.com.

Doing Good Around the World

There are days that humble us all. Today I received an article from my friend and favorite graphics designer Alexa Croft.

The article from the San Francisco Chronicle was about a Modesto, California doctor: Dr. Frank Artress, who had experienced a near-death incident while on vacation in Africa. When the natives helped him to survive his ordeal (which involved getting him over a mountain top), he made the decision, along with his wife, to go back home and sell everything -- the big house, the ocean condo, the art, the matching silver sports cars, the stocks -- everything, and move to Africa.

Dr. Artress has spent the last several years fighting tropical diseases he never knew existed, first from a hospital in Tanzania, and now from the bush, where he treats tribal members, provides antibiotics, and reaches deep into the jungle and developing civilizations. Alexa sent me this article because her sister-in-law, Amber Croft, spent the last several months working with this doctor. Amber's photo was one of several that accompanied the really wonderful article in the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm sure Amber will have incredible stories of her own to tell.

I've attached the link here.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/04/BA8MUSL28.DTL&hw=higher+calling+in+africa&sn=001&sc=1000