Inspired Microfinance

Proponents of microfinance see their work as creating a level playing field for everybody. Muhammad Yunus argues, “When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often, we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding a solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor.”2 Nevertheless, charity has its place in the world as a short-term stopgap measure, particularly when serving those living at the very base of the poverty pyramid whose primary needs cover food, shelter, and clothing. Perhaps some of them will eventually “graduate” beyond charity. But sadly, there may always be people who for whatever reason might never progress beyond charity. The risk of assuming otherwise potentially sets people up for catastrophe if we remove the last resort safety net that charity offers. The challenge for faith organizations is how they can branch out from charity and support microfinance as one of many solutions to the problems of poverty, while remaining true to their core competencies and principles.