On the outskirts of a small village in rural western India, a dirt road leads to Anandi's* small brick home. Sitting on her doorstep, Anandi speaks quietly, but she radiates confidence. Other women from her savings group sit on woven mats, a nearby tree providing welcome shade, as they listen to Anandi share her story. Next to the house, a goat sleeps peacefully, while clean laundry dries in the sun.
It’s hard to believe that only three years ago, Anandi’s family had no home at all.
“There was always a worry about how our needs would be met,” Anandi explains of that time, when she, her husband, and their three children crowded into her sister’s home. Like most men in their community, her husband found daily labor in the fields when he could. Because of his irregular income, the family relied on moneylenders to pay for unexpected expenses, paying between 120 and 240 percent interest on each loan.
HOPE International is a network of microfinance institutions and savings and credit associations operating in 17 countries around the world. HOPE works to empower men, women, and families to break the cycles of physical and spiritual poverty through discipleship, biblically based business training, savings services, and small loans. By incorporating a strong witness for Jesus Christ and employing a variety of approaches, HOPE is an innovator in the field of microenterprise development.
* Name changed for security purposes.
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