Realistically, what can each of us do to help end extreme poverty?
A lot more than we sometimes realize.
Recently, a Barna Group survey found that 84% of Americans – roughly eight out of every ten – are unaware that global poverty has been on the decline. In fact, over the last 30 years, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has decreased from 52% to 21%.
Various factors have contributed to this decline, such as economic development and international aid and investment. Donations from people like yourself to organizations like Five Talents have also been critical to this decline.
The simple truth is that ending global poverty, and transforming lives, starts with you and with me.
A donation, a conversation in which you advocate for the poor in an under-served community, even a Facebook "Share" that compels a friend to learn more about the issue – such actions make a real contribution to the fight against global poverty.
Each year, around 75,000 people participate in Five Talents' programs.
What exactly do your donations, advocacy and prayers accomplish? It varies, of course, from community to community, but in Indonesia, for example, the typical person who joins a loan group organized by Five Talents partner The Gerhati Foundation will:
- Receive a micro-business loan;
- Be trained in the effective use of the loan;
- Receive budget skills and business training;
- Be part of a compulsory savings program;
- Increase her household income over several loan and training cycles;
- Have access to a free medical clinic for her entire family.
The hope, the empowerment and, ultimately, the transformation resulting from these financial and training services begins not in the slums of Jakarta, or on the streets of Tarija, Bolivia, or in the mountains of Burundi, but with folks like you -- in Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, PA, Littleton, Colorado, or wherever you are.
Make a donation today and join with us in helping to end extreme poverty.