Carolina was among the first women served by Five Talents' partner in Tanzania, the Mama Bahati Foundation (MBF). She now owns a soap-making business.
Hotmian's story begins with a failure. But as with many successful entrepreneurs, the failure merely gave her an opportunity to succeed.
"I can pay for school fees so my children can go to school. ...I won't keep any at home because I was kept at home and I don't want that." Leonie, third from the right in the middle row, Burundi
Selvi was too shy to join a Self-Help Group in her Indian village after the 2004 tsunami. Now, she is a group leader. “I have confidence. Now, I want to continue to help my village."
“Because of my loan group, my family is more united, and I have gained confidence and feel more secure.” Matilde Mayhua, Peru
“I don't know what would have happened if this program hadn't come. I wasn't able to buy enough food for my sons. Now, I am able to support them.” Natalana Ahok, Sudan
"I pray daily that the almighty God would guide me in all that I do, so that I can help my community and my family." Sarah, Sudan
Mother's Day is almost here, but it's not too late to express your thanks and love to the special women in your life, while also empowering mothers in Five Talents' microsavings and microcredit programs.
Here are a couple of ways that you can make Mother's Day extra-special this year:
Submit a photograph of your mom, grandmother or aunt to be published on Five Talents' "Talented Moms" Pinterest board. Every photo is a $5 donation to Five Talents! Once we post the photo, you can share the Pinterest board with your loved one. She'll be delighted to see herself among the ranks of the world's most "Talented Moms"! To submit a photo, e-mail it to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or tweet it to @FiveTalents along with the hash tag "#TalentedMoms".
Send your mom, grandmother, aunt or wife a Five Talents "Love Always Hopes" eCard that will empower a woman in the country of your choice -- Peru, Bolivia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Burundi or South Sudan.
This short Five Talents USA video ad is featured in Episode 70 of Anglican.tv's current affairs Web show "Anglican Unscripted." A generous donor covered the cost of the 15-second spot, which features footage from our work in Indonesia, South Sudan, Burundi and Bolivia.
As Mother's Day approaches each year, we look forward to sharing a story about an incredible woman who is participating in one of our programs.
This woman may live half a world away, speak a different language, and know nothing about your line of work. But I can promise that, as you read her story, you'll be able to relate. Her story – and the challenges that she has had to overcome – are not unlike those faced by any mother, wife or aunt you might know.
Besides juggling family life and a business in Tarija, Bolivia, Tomasa, 62, was trying desperately to help her daughter, Karina, free herself from a serious struggle with depression.
Tomasa had grown up a Christian, but her family's distance from a church meant that they were not getting the spiritual support she felt they needed.
"My family was getting farther away from the path of God, especially my youngest daughter. I didn't know how to help her," she said.
Like any of us would, Tomasa tried to spend more time with her daughter, hoping that her encouragement and love would drive away her daughter's feelings of melancholy.
"I opened a restaurant in my house so that my daughter could help with it, and so she would feel useful," Tomasa said. "But it was a bad idea because she began to drink with the clients and became more aggressive."
Tomasa eventually took the drastic step of closing her business. Simply put, her daughter's wellbeing was more important than making money. But then, how would she put food on the table?
Over the weekend, the Washington Post ran a story about the growing attention being given to microsavings. Here at Five Talents, we were delighted to see the story because it affirms the work we've been doing for years. It also communicates a powerful truth: that learning to save can transform one's life – even in communities where women and men do not have access to traditional banks.
"There's a common, misguided, knee-jerk reaction that if you're poor, you have no assets to save," Dean Karlan, a Yale economist, told the Post. "People who are poor obviously save less, but they still save."
We've seen this for years in our Burundi program, which by June 30 will have helped more than 10,000 women and men join savings groups and build wealth where, previously, they had none. Other Five Talents programs – including ones in South Sudan, Myanmar and Bolivia – also feature the group-led savings model.
In the case of Five Talents, however, these savings "circles," as the Post calls them, are far more than glorified piggy banks. They are microcosms of self-government and hubs for compassionate community outreach.
I saw this first-hand during my recent trip to Burundi.
Each group has a constitution (a list of rules) that is created and agreed upon by the members themselves. The rules cover everything from the number of women and men who may participate in a single group, to conditions regarding savings deposits and loan disbursement. Group members also determine their own interest rates and penalty fees.
This self-determination does wonders for members' self-esteem, and it encourages discipline and order that members can then model in their individual homes.
Even more amazing, though, is what these groups are able to accomplish for others in their community. Most savings groups in Burundi create an emergency fund, which they will only tap when the group collectively identifies a needy individual in their community – often someone who is not even a part of their circle.
Our partner in Bolivia, Semillas de Bendicion (Seeds of Blessings), recently shared this interview with Justina, a woman who runs a cleaning materials business at a market in Tarija and is a member of a savings group. Justina, 59, has a 19-year-old daughter named Esther and two small grandchildren.
Q: How has the experience of being in a savings group affected your life? A: Before, I was a very lonely person. I only spoke in quechua (an oral language) with some people. I love my sisters in Christ very much, but I am very shy and I can't speak easily with other people. Neither could I lead praise [in church] or pray out loud. And I always argued with my daughter and her husband. Now, I can talk well with other people. I am less shy, and I also can lead during a praise service.
Q: Can you explain how this change happened? A: The teachings I received in the savings group [included] many activities, and we smiled a lot. [As a member], I had to participate, and so, little by little, I [began] losing my fear. My daughter said that I shine... and smile more than before.
Q: Has your ability to provide for your family changed because of your participation in the group? A: Yes, because before we had to go to the public hospital for my daughter and grandchildren's health [needs]. The medical care there is almost free, but it isn't very good, so with the income from my business I can now take my granddaughters and daughter to a better clinic where they help them very well when they are sick.
Here's a lovely photo taken at a savings group business training seminar in Bolivia, where we partner with the local organization Semillas de Bendicion (Seeds of Blessings). After operating informally for 2.5 years, Semillas de Bendicion was officially registered in 2012 as an association, the simplest organization under Bolivian law.
Sara (R) and her sister Eva (third from R) lead Semillas de Bendicion and are incredibly gifted at teaching and training our micro-entrepreneurs in the city of Tarija, and in the surrounding rural communities. When commenting on this picture, the sisters said, "We like it when people laugh while learning [because they are more likely] to remember what we taught them."
Indeed, everyone looks like they are having a good time here.
The end of the year is fast approaching. But the road out of poverty is long and hard.
In order to continue meeting our commitments to micro-entrepreneurs in places like Bolivia, South Sudan and Myanmar, Five Talents needs your support.
For an example of how your generosity can change a whole community, look no further than this project in Malakal, South Sudan, where over 10,000 participants have been given what is often their first opportunity to become literate and numerate.
Give through PayPal. If you are using a smart phone or tablet, you can easily donate to Five Talents by using the PayPal button on our Ways to Donate page. Or just click here. The process is seamless if you have already created a PayPal account.
Semillas de Bendicion (Seeds of Blessings), Tarija, Bolivia
Anglican Diocese of Bolivia
Association of Evangelical Churches of Tarija
Program Type and Services:
Christian Microfinance Institution: “Savings-Led” with Group Savings and Guarantee
This project currently uses the simple savings and Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCA) models, but plans are in place to develop these into Accumulated Savings and Credit Associations (ASCAs) in order to provide group members with the ability to save and borrow more flexibly.
Training focus:
Budgeting and saving in the household
Business ideas, planning, marketing, price setting
Christian discipleship and values in business
Preventative health, appropriate technology where there are no basic services, nutrition classes
The Community
The Department of Tarija is located in the Southeastern part of Bolivia and borders Argentina to the south and Paraguay to the east. The Department is divided into six provinces, and home to 20 different indigenous tribes with Spanish being the shared language. The city of Tarija is located in a high and dry mountain valley at an altitude of 1850 meters. About 60% of the people in Bolivia live in poverty, 25% of the population is malnourished, and 16% of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day (World Bank).
Women in these communities are primarily engaged in work on family farms, with limited access to financial, health or education services. The average number of years of schooling for rural women is only 2.5 years, while it is 4.7 years for men. Seasonal migration among the men is very high in some regions of the country, which leaves women, in many of the cases, as heads of the household.
The Program
Empowering the citizens of Tarija with business and personal finance skills are essential aspects of stimulating economic growth and improving unemployment. This partnership focuses on women’s groups in the city of Tarija as well as groups in rural communities, including El Puente, Entre Rios, Calamuchita and Valle Concepción. These groups target those populations unable to access services from the limited microfinance industry in Tarija due to geographic or economic barriers.
Through this program, Five Talents expects clients to gain business skills as well as the habits of saving and borrowing, which will enable them to participate in enterprise development.
After operating informally for 2.5 years, Semillas de Bendicion was officially registered in 2012 as an association, the simplest organization under Bolivian law.
The Need
The project leaders need training in the establishment of ASCAs, improvement of their English-language abilities and training on the legal process of establishing a small business as well as price fixing. Five Talents has already reached its goal to expand total outreach in Bolivia to 170 group members by the end of 2012.
In the photo, salon owner Delina talks with trainers Sara and Eva in Bermejo, Bolivia. The amazingly talented Sara and Eva lead Five Talents' partner organization in Bolivia, Semillas de Bendicion (Seeds of Blessings).
One of the most exciting parts of our microfinance program in Bolivia is its experimental savings group program for school children. These children meet weekly at a local church, participate in a savings group and learn basic money management skills. A few eventually set up a micro-business that can help to cover the cost of their schooling. Our partner in Bolivia, Semillas de Bendicion (Seeds of Blessings), sent us this first-person essay from Jessica, a sixth-grader who is a part of the children's savings program. We share her essay here because it's an inspirational story, and because it helps to communicate the nature of the challenges that poor families in Bolivia face when they send their children to school.
I am a sixth-grader in public school, and they say that education is free, but the teachers always ask us for something – uniforms, books, notebooks or other materials.
In my house, only my father works, and the money isn't enough because we have to pay for the lights, water, rent, and for food. My parents ...didn't have enough money [for my school supplies], but a friend who works in the market with her mom, told me how she obtained some money by selling plastic bags and matches in the market. She said she would accompany me and teach me the business.
I was happy, but I needed money to buy the bags and matches.
So I joined the Five Talents/Semillas de Bendicion savings group, and it forced me to save money for which I had worked. The Bible lessons helped me to see my value, as God did great things with little people.
At the end of the year, I took back all of the money that I had saved, my prize [for completing the program], and [the trainers'] words of encouragement to use my money wisely.
I told my mom my idea, and she helped me to buy what I needed.
Since then, I have only been selling matches on Saturdays and Sundays. My two younger brothers come with me to help rich women carry their bags. The [rich women] give them good tips, but they use money to buy food – they eat a lot, they are fat. I, on the other hand, save my profits to buy school materials, books and notebooks.
As Mother's Day approaches each year, we look forward to sharing a story about an incredible woman who is participating in one of our programs.
We've seen this for years in 
Q: How has the experience of being in a savings group affected your life?
The end of the year is fast approaching. But the road out of poverty is long and hard.
I am a sixth-grader in public school, and they say that education is free, but the teachers always ask us for something – uniforms, books, notebooks or other materials.
