Addressing Global Poverty One Family at a Time

The Microfinance Project is based on the Unitarian Universalist principles that “we covenant to affirm and promote … justice, equity and compassion in human relations” and having a “world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.”

The basic idea: Make small loans to people living on the edge, so they can increase their earning power, escape poverty, and make a better living for their families. Often, poor people are not able to borrow money to buy small equipment items or materials necessary for their businesses. Banks are few in rural areas. The UUCS microfinance project is trying to help people that banks cannot or will not help.

Do you want to help? This brochure outlines skills needed and roles to be filled on the Microfinance Team. We welcome your support.

For the the past few years, we have focused on projects with the NEO Fund in Nicaragua and India.  See the  UUCS-Microfinance 2023-24 annual report for details on our successes.

Also, here is the NEO Fund annual report for 2023.

Our Successes

UUCS Microfinance Project has been raising funds since 2008. Our first project was in Laos and resulted in establishing a permanent revolving loan fund benefiting women and their families. During the past year we raised $6,065 and funded microfinance projects through the non-profit organizations, The NEO Fund in Nicaragua and India, and Chijnaya in Peru. We have helped small – really small! – businesses obtain low cost loans in Nicaragua, established a pilot microfinance lending program in India, and provided funds for construction of animal sheds in Peru to shield cattle and increase milk production. Our projects have been especially critical during the pandemic when livelihoods in these countries have been hit hard. When the loans are re-paid, the payments go into a revolving fund to provide capital to keep lending to others, thus multiplying the impact of our donation.

Microfinance Results in Nicaragua In 2016, we entered into a partnership with The NEO Fund to focus on the poorest of the poor in Nicaragua — those individuals that live near the dumps.  Lending will help these individuals earn a sustainable living and provide a boost out of poverty.  Some individual stories are profiled below.  The NEO Fund will identify recipients, provide technical support, and give us reports on the progress of the people using micro lending.

• Microfinance Results in Laos
  In the first three years of the UUCS Microfinance Project, we successfully raised $13,000 to provide small loans to silk and bamboo weavers in two villages in Laos. In the first three years, contributions from the UUCS-provided rotating loan fund in Laos of over $13,000 to artisans in two villages in ...
• Microfinance Results in Peru
  In 2012, the UUCS Microfinance Committee decided to focus on Peru. Our partner community is Chillin, a poor village located about 13,000 feet in the harsh altiplano of southern Peru. The main economic activities are agriculture, animal husbandry, cheese production, knitted woolen clothing, and ceramics. Cows and alpaca are particularly ...

How You Can Help

Our UU congregation can help The Neo Fund assist more poor Nicaraguans like Rebecca and Aurora!  Please contribute to the UUCS Microfinance Project by donating during “Share the Plate” or writing a check payable to the UUCS noting that it is for the Microfinance Project.

We invite you to participate in the project by joining the UUCS Microfinance Committee, helping to select projects, and assisting with our fundraisers.  Contact Ann Hanus at ann.hanus@gmail.com for more information.

Some Personal Success Stories

• Microfinance Results in Kenya
  The UUCS Microfinance Project with IMANI resulted in a successful corn harvest for these women in Kenya despite ongoing draught conditions.  As a result, each woman will have two large bags of corn to feed their families and funds to help pay for healthcare and education costs.    We will be providing ...
• Aurora’s Success Story
  Aurora was born in the city dump called La Chureca and grew up there with thirteen brothers and sisters. They drank water from the polluted lake. They dug through the trash searching for plastic recyclables. They didn’t go to school. Aurora couldn’t read or write. One day her father found ...
• Rebecca’s Success Story
  Rebecca started cooking traditional Nicaraguan dishes and selling them out of her home 4 years ago. She has taken 3 micro-loans, totaling $370, to grow her business and now she is applying for a fourth. Rebecca smiles when she reports that Neo Fund loans “helped me increase my income and ...
• Sra. Gladis Paca Peri’s Success Story
  Sra. Gladis Pacca Peri is a recipient of one of the microfinance loans.  She is in her late 40’s and has three sons. Her husband, Dionisio, is a mason who often works out of town, so Gladis often assumes responsibility for raising both their children and their cattle. She has ...
• Khamkong’s Success Story
  Khamkong is unmarried with no children and lives in Thaphosay Village, a twenty minute motorbike ride from Phonesong Village.  Two decades ago, her family migrated from a remote district. Almost as poor as Tiad and her husband, they had nothing when they arrived: no land and few possessions. Khamkong began ...
• Tiad’s Success Story
  Tiad lives in the tiniest, poorest house of all those we interviewed. She and her husband Kong weave baskets. Tiad and her husband married 4 years ago after serious financial difficulties where he lost his land and incurred major debt. They left their original village to start from scratch in ...
• Khoutkeo’s Success Story
  Khoutkeo of Phonesong Village is a 33 years old farmer and bamboo basket weaver; she has two young teenagers. Her family cultivates rice. In addition, she grows fruit trees and vegetables, and raises ducks and chickens. As a result, her family does not have to buy much food. However, her ...

Links to More Information

Where did this idea come from?

How did UUCS select a non-profit local Partner Organization?

To find out more about our partner organizations, check out their websites:

The NEO Fund:   http://www.theneofund.org

The IMANI Project: www.imaniproject.org (Kenya)

PADETC: www.padetc.org (Laos)

SaoBan: www.saobancrafts.com (marketing arm of PADETC)

The Chijnaya Foundation:www.chijnayafoundation.org (Peru)
Project updates from Chijnaya Foundation

To learn about the abduction and disappearance of Sombath Somphone, PADETC founder, see www.sombath.org .