In the News

Being a nonprofit allows Five Talents to focus less on achieving returns and more on providing clients with tools such as business training and savings opportunities, tools that ensure the responsible management of funds and increase the likelihood of repayment.

"We are not a commercial for-profit microfinance institution. We are a nonprofit organization sending grant funding to organizations to enable them to reach the poorest of the poor in the unreached communities where other MFIs will not go because its not 'profitable for them,'" explained Sonia Patterson, Executive Director of Five Talents.

As the only Burmese in the group, Anne Ni facilitated training without a need for a translator. She is cognizant of the reality that many Christians in Myanmar tend to have a negative view of business enterprises. With a lack of ethical business models, a common perception is that business owners scrounge and cheat. Ni and her colleagues aim to provide a different perspective to business models in Myanmar.

For those fighting poverty in countries impacted by natural disasters, ravaged economies or broken political systems, dignity provides a sense that an individual, a family or a community is worth preserving and sustaining, regardless of circumstances. Creating jobs is one of the fundamental parts of restoring that sense of dignity, so rather than providing a temporary respite, Five Talents utilizes microloans, business training and financial education to help recipients form long-lasting small businesses that are built to grow—and thrive.

Sonia Harter Patterson, a 1988 graduate of Chambersburg Area Senior High School, is the new executive director of Five Talents, a growing Christian microenterprise development organization. Patterson, daughter of the Rev. Dr. William Harter, Chambersburg, Pa., and the late Linda Harter, brings 15 years of experience in developing business, non-governmental and community relations in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. tendered a reception last night for Five Talents International, an organization that offers microcredit programs in developing countries like the Philippines. ...Ambassador Cuisia extolled the work of the organization and support provided by its benefactors for transforming the lives of many poor families in the Philippines and complementing the work of the Aquino Administration in its mandate to create jobs and fight poverty.

The first time April Young traveled to Uganda to host a basic business skills seminar, 600 people showed up. "Women walked 10 miles through the fields," she recalls. "These people are so hungry for this knowledge, they sacrifice time and treasure to come [even though] they are one paycheck away from starvation." Since then, Young has returned to Africa four times as chairperson of Five Talents, a faith-based organization that helps women in developing countries start and operate small businesses.

Mary's song promises that God brings about wondrous reversals in the world: showing favor to the uncredentialed and ignored ("the lowly"); rendering ineffectual the machinations of the arrogant ("scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts"); bringing down those who exploit positions of power; lifting up the poor. Reflect on the Occupy Real Estate movement organizing in East New York as you hear the Magnificat sung by this Judean woman who had to shelter in a stable on the night she gave birth. Consider the transformative potential of micro-lending and other empowerment practices supported by Five Talents and other NGOs dedicated to ending poverty.

Step into the shoes of Priscilla, a 52-year-old woman in the new Republic of South Sudan who recently learned to write her name. As a girl, she never had a chance to attend school, and so Priscilla struggled through much of her life seeking sense of purpose and dignity. Twenty-five years of civil war - and countless other factors - had locked her out of a world of opportunity.

Priscilla had almost given up hope. But thanks to a program that combines microfinance and literacy training, she can now read the names and numbers on her cell phone. What's more, she has started a small business – with no financial help at all from her husband.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of charities, each devoted to a cause that appears paramount? How do you choose one to dedicate your time and resources to? Cue: Five Talents! Through its use of micro-credit programs, and business initiatives, Five Talents promotes entrepreneurship in communities in Third World countries. It also teaches business skills with the goal that the recipients, over time, will be able to become financially independent.

Five Talents is relieved that the Referendum in January to create the new country of South Sudan was relatively peaceful, and we are moving ahead quickly with the Literacy and Financial Education Program (LFEP) in six Episcopal dioceses in Sudan. The original training was accomplished in September of 2010, and since then there have been nearly 40 groups formed with over 700 members within the six program areas that include Khartoum, Renk, Lainya, Juba, Wau and Malakal.