Why Microfinance? Why Mi3?
Hundreds of charitable initiatives aim to end the world’s poverty. What makes microfinance and Micro Investment Initiative different?
- Microfinance directly targets poverty and impacts those people who need it most.
Mi3 makes direct microfinance loans to people on a personal level and the changes caused can be astounding. For instance, in our first initiative we lent a young Indonesia woman funds to rent computers for her fledgling home business. Within a few weeks of receiving our loan, we received word that this teenager, with the mere one hundred dollars she borrowed, quadrupled her family’s income (see our video online to learn more about this amazing story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ags_fvb7ufs)! Now, we not only have the inspiring knowledge of our recipient’s success, but we can also track her progress as she slowly pays back her loan. The changes that microfinance makes are immediate and the results can last for a lifetime, another reason why microfinance is so important.
- Microfinance and Mi3 are “sustainable charity.”
Unlike pure aid which is expended instantly after distribution, microfinance loans support local economic development long after Mi3 initially lends to entrepreneurs. Whereas donated rations may feed a family for a week, the milk from a microfinanced cow can provide a family with years worth of nourishment, and provide a much needed source of income leading towards financial stability. Microfinance provides the seeds of self-sufficiency and empowers people to help themselves attain financial independence.
Furthermore, when loans are repaid, not only do such repayments indicate that the loan was successful, but it also means that more capital can be pooled to help other potential entrepreneurs. Hence, not only do Micro Investment Initiative recipients become self-sufficient, but Micro Investment Initiative itself is self-sufficient. Even if Micro Investment Initiative were to completely halt its fundraising efforts, with careful allocation of loans, Mi3 could continue to help third world entrepreneurs indefinitely.
- Micro Investment Initiative is as valuable an experience for those who contribute to its efforts as for those who benefit from them.
The bulk of Micro Investment Initiative’s activities are student-run entrepreneurial initiatives aimed at fundraising for microfinance causes. This way, not only do student contributors help third world entrepreneurial activities, but students themselves learn the intrinsic skills and morals of running a business and share in the satisfaction that comes with directly helping others. The experience of working as an integral part of a Micro Investment Initiative chapter provides life lessons that stay with volunteers long after they graduate.