Micro Enterprise Banks

One of the ministries that I am involved in is a Covenant non-profit organization called Fuentes Libres (Free Flowing Fountains). This amazing organization runs women's micro enterprise banks that enable marginalized Oaxacan women to develop or begin their own small business.

Last week I was able to visit one of the banks in the nearby town of Tlacolula (Tih lock oh lu la).
This is always a rewarding experience for me to be able to hear first hand from the women involved in these banks. The photo is of a group of young women visiting from the Chicago area. They are interspersed with the women from the Tlacolula bank.

The Oaxacan women knew that we were coming to visit their bank and they had prepared a delicious cake to share with us as they also shared their own stories. The women told us what they had done with the small loans ($200 - $300 U.S. dollars) that they had received from Fuentes Libres. One woman made tortillas by hand and sold them door to door in her neighborhood. Another woman ran a small stationery store out of her home and sold notebooks, pencils and school supplies to neighbors. Yet another women made tamales and sold them on the weekends in the town center. And so the stories went. Ordinary women--wives, mothers, daughters and friends--who were bettering their lives through the profits of their small businesses.

In addition to repaying their loan every week, these women were saving money each week. They had all decided to save 20 pesos (less than two dollars) each week and proudly showed us their receipts that showed how much they had already saved.

After our refreshments and time of sharing we were able to listen to one of the volunteers at Fuentes Libres as she shared from the Bible and encouraged these women to trust God in their lives.

A Bible verse that is frequently referred to at Fuentes Libres board meetings is Psalm 82:3 -
"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed."