Microfinance Brochure

Fund-a-Microloan Gift Catalog Bringing a message of hope and opportunity to the poor through micro-loans

This Christmas season

give a truly unique gift by funding a loan to an impoverished family in Guatemala.

By funding a microloan for a flock of chickens or for a small business, you can empower Guatemalans to build themselves out of the cycle of poverty, resulting in hope and opportunities for themselves and for their children. Your financial gift to this ministry will be recycled into a new loan time and time again, as each loan is repaid, to continue to provide opportunities for years to come.

Read about the type of loan projects we work with in Guatemala, and make a donation in lieu of giving a gift to a friend or family member. We’ll send them a Christmas card letting them know what you’ve done in their honor and a picture of the project you’ve chosen to support.

For $90, you can fund a loan for a family to buy a flock of 30 chickens and 300 lbs of chicken feed. In 3 months, the chickens will grow from chicks to a 4 – 5 lb full grown chicken, and will be sold by the pound for a 25-40% profit.

Chickens require a chicken coop and about 20 minutes of work a day and allow women to do household chores and attend to their children without leaving the home.

For $15: a share of a flock

For $190, you can fund a loan to buy a piglet and 500 lbs of animal feed.

In 5 months the pig will grow from 25 lbs to a full grown 250 lbs and be sold at a 35%-60% profit. Pigs require a pig sty and about 20 minutes of work a day, allowing women to easily balance home duties and taking care of the animal.

For $25: a share of a pig

Borrower Profiles

Luz

knows her animals. With her first loan of $180, she bought a flock of 50 chickens, animal feed for the chickens, and a pig. After butchering and selling the chickens door-to-door, she used her earnings to buy the rest of the animal feed for her pig. When she hired the local butcher to do the slaughter in her home, she had already pre-sold most of the meat to her friends and neighbors. She was left with a healthy profit, allowing her to provide for her family and pay for her teenage son’s schooling. In her spare time, Luz knits beautiful children’s clothing to sell from her home.

Learn about

Rosa

our borrowers

is an entrepreneur at heart.

She was one of our first borrowers, and now with her third loan, she has purchased an industrial grade stove in addition to the stove she already had. The new stove has enabled her to cook a larger menu at her lunch time restaurant, where she works seven days a week. Rosa raises her own chickens to cook, increasing her profit margin, and also has a small flower stand in the entrance of her restaurant. When they are in season, Rosa and her husband harvest their apple crop and make the one hour trip at 4 am to Guatemala City several times a week to sell their product at the wholesale market. With her earnings from her businesses she is able to pay the monthly tuition costs for her three children to study in vocational school.

For $250, you can fund a loan to buy a cow and 200 lbs of animal feed. The additional food needed will likely come from what is left from the family’s crop. In 6 – 8 months, the cow will bulk up to about twice its size and be sold at a 50% - 80% profit.

Cows require a flat area and about an hour a day of gathering and carrying dried corn stalk and cut green fodder to the animal. For the need to leave the home, cows are a more common investment for our male borrowers.

For $50: a share of a cow

For $250, you can fund a loan to a small business owner to expand his or her business.

Examples of the small businesses among our borrowers include a restaurant, a small convenience store, an animal feed store, a plant nursery, and several specialized retail businesses.

With a microloan through our program, the borrower can invest in items such as equipment or inventory to grow their business revenues. In 6 - 8 months, the borrower will pay back the loan through monthly installments, having hopefully expanded their business during that time.

State/Province:

Country:

City:

ZIP/Postal code:

Address:

Name of card recipient:

Amount:

Project to fund:

Your name:

To donate by mail, enclose the attached slip and your check in a stamped envelope, and send it to the address specified.

Students International PO Box 2733 Visalia CA 93279-2733

Go to RachelandAaron.Info

With each donation, a Christmas card will be sent with a picture of the project you choose along with a note explaining how the program works. To give a gift in the name of a friend of family member, go to RachelandAaron.Info. Payments by check, credit card, and PayPal are accepted.

Cut off form and enclose along with your payment in an envelope addressed to:

Give the gift of a loan this Christmas Season!

www.RachelandAaron.info E-mail: aaronkelly11@gmail.com

Guatemala

www.stint.com