A woman and man in Rwanda feed their children what they grow in their fields. But it’s barely enough. No money remains for school fees. Another family in Burundi lives in a single room. The family has no electricity. The father sells cheese to make money. But every business needs money to make money, and this family has none to spare. 

What helps these people? It isn’t big donations. It’s little loans.

Hope International is an organization that helps people in poverty around the world. It loans money so others can start businesses. People use that startup money to make more money. They buy materials to make products. They purchase tools and equipment for their businesses. Soon they can pay loans back, plus make a profit. 

“Give a man a fish and he’ll have food for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll have food for a lifetime.” Have you heard this saying? It’s a good description of what happened to the families in Rwanda and Burundi (see story 1, “Spreading Butterflies”). It does good to give money and food to people in need. But it may do more good to teach them how to run businesses on their own. Sometimes that takes just a little teaching and a little loaned money. And when someone learns to be responsible in small things, he or she can soon move on to do bigger things.

Now the Rwandan family has plenty of food. The mother used her first loans to sell peanuts at the market. Now she uses her business skills to manage a supermarket, a hardware store, a carpentry business, and a group of rental properties. She has adopted orphans and builds wells in her community so her neighbors can get clean water.

The cheese seller in Burundi also has more than he did before. He sells cheese, butter, mattresses, and cars. Over 30 people work for him. He says, “I have been blessed to bless others.”

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required. — Luke 12:48