We went to DR with HOPE International in March. Our dear friends Quenton and Bethany Marty led the trip. There were 5 couples in total and everyone was awesome!! We loved getting to know all of them.
HOPE International "is a global, faith-based, non-profit organization focused on poverty alleviation through microenterprise development. HOPE serves people living in Afghanistan, China, the Dominican Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Moldova, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, South Asia, and Ukraine. HOPE’s vision is to enable sustainable economic development that results in significant and lasting change, temporal and
eternal, in the lives of many people living in poverty."
Most of you know I've been to Ukraine a few times. In Ukraine I was visiting the Marty family (at least part of them - Paul, Cindy, Josh, Justin, and Jessica) who were serving the Lord through HOPE. Cindy founded the Tomorrow Clubs. This is similar to Awana, if anyone was a part of that as a child. When I was in Ukraine I spent most of the time with the Tomorrow Clubs so I was very excited to learn more about the micro-lending part of HOPE in the DR.
Imagine a life without a job, without a car loan, without a school loan, without a home loan, without a way to save money. Where is the hope? This is the life for so many people around the world. There are many charities that try to help by providing resources to these poor people- water, food, clothing, school supplies... While this may give them a temporary "band-aid" it doesn't fix the problem. After they consume the resources given to them, they are right back where they started - without a job, without capital, without hope. Micro-lending stops the cycle!! The poorest of the poor are given business training, skill training, a loan, support, encouragement, and are able to start or supplement a business! Now armed with a job and income, they are able to send their children to school and leave the cycle of poverty! It is arguably the most effective way to bring people out of poverty.
The bank loans are repaid within 6 months. Every two weeks the community comes together and repays a portion of their loan. They are also required to save a portion of their loan. Many people save above and beyond what is required because they realize the power of savings. There are 5-6 people that make up a "bank". Since these people have no collateral this is the way that HOPE ensures repayment on the loans. If one person cannot make a payment, the other people in that bank are required to pay the shortage. They carefully choose who they want to be in their bank since they are liable for each other's loans. The average repayment rate for HOPE is over 97% so this is very effective!
One of HOPE's clients started a school in her home for children that were too poor to attend the regular school. She started with just a few kids and now has a couple hundred! She has two sesssions- morning and afternoon. There is not much room but the kids are soo happy and grateful to be in school!
Here is our group with this amazing woman. Before the school day starts, she gets up at 4AM to sew clothing out of the textiles that she buys with her loan from HOPE. This is how she supports herself. And we thought we had a long day! 
This client opened a grocery store in his little two bedroom "house". It's not a house by our standards- there is no water, no electricity, no plumbing.... But he is making enough money with his store to feed his kids and hopes to soon be able to send them to school. His store is open from 7AM to 11PM. 
This is absolute poverty. I have learned about absolute versus relative poverty. Most of the poverty in the United States is relative poverty. The people who are under the U.S. poverty line and are eligible for assistance often have a TV or a car. These people have nothing. Look at the below "houses". Poverty has a brand new meaning for me. Did you know that 4 billion people in the world live on less than $4 a day?
Most of the clients are women. Below is an adorable man that we met. He has been very successful since he started working with HOPE! Most loans are around $200-$500 (but can vary widely- in Rwanda it might be $50 and in Russia it might be $5000). This man's business is buying and selling spices. He is like a wholesaler. Most of these communities are very rural and the people have no way to get into the city. So many of these clients go to the city and buy food, toiletries, etc, and re-sell them in their community.
If you would like to learn more about HOPE and micro-lending, Josh and I would love to talk with you! You can also visit the HOPE website at www.hopeinternational.org. We are holding a garage sale for HOPE in June. All of the proceeds will go directly to people just like the ones in these pictures. If you want to help HOPE and make a difference, we will gladly take any donations for our garage sale! Let us know!
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