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Empowering Individuals in the Global Community Through Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs

Whole Planet Foundation supports entrepreneurs in our global communities by partnering with local microfinance institutions that offer small business loans to the very poor.

Yvesrose, a Microcredit Client (Haiti)

Business: Grocery and Butcher's Shop

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Yvesrose (left) is the head of her borrower group (center chief) which includes her cousin Jocelene.

She says microcredit works because of 2 rocks, the credit officer (on the left) and the center chief (her).

Her loan enabled her to restore her grocery business (on left) which was wiped out by the hurricane of 2008.

To expand on her success she teaches friends the gocery business so that they can mind the store for her.

She is proud of her successful grocery business which has funded another shop to sell goat meat.

Mariana, a Microcredit Client (Haiti)

Business: Produce

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Mariana is a microcredit client of Fonkoze, our implementing partner in Haiti.

She sells produce at this market in Gonaives,an area wiped out by hurricanes in 2004 and 2008.

Her produce stand is amongst many others (such as this woman selling shallots) on a busy dusty street.

Mariana's loan allows her to buy produce in the country and sell it in Gonaives to feed and clothe her family.

Mariana, a Microcredit Client (United States)

Business: Food Cart

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Mariana came to the United States 15 years ago from Ecuador.

She got a microloan through Grameen America to help her fund her food cart.

Her food cart is outside, beneath the #7 train from Queens to Manhattan, which runs every 5 minutes or so.

Mariana serves a variety of food, including quesadillas, chicharron, and gorditas.

She used her loan for marketing materials and for supplies, such as the machine that shapes the gorditas, pictured above.

Access to microcredit has enabled Mariana to make a living through her cooking.

Maria, a Microcredit Client (United States)

Business: Sidewalk Store

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Maria is from Toluca Mexico. With a microloan from Grameen America, she operates a small sidewalk store outside in front of a barber shop in Queens.

She supports herself and her daughter as well as sending money home to Mexico to help her family and ailing mother.

Maria moves her products inside to a space she rents in the building behind her store every day, which takes 30 minutes each morning and night.

Her products are not protected from the elements and often get wet or dirty sometimes making her products unsaleable.

During the winter, being outside all day gets very cold. It can also be hard to hear her customers since the train passes overhead.

She hopes one day to return home to Mexico and have similar opportunities to make a better life for her family.

Eugenia, a Microcredit Client (United States)

Business: Hair and Nail Salon, where she also sells shoes and buys and sells jewelry.

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Eugenia came from Lima Peru 38 years ago with her parents. She went to cosmetology school to learn a trade to find work.

Her shop is on a busy street in Jackson Heights Queens. She has been a client of Grameen America for 1.5 years and is on her second loan to grow her business.

In her shop she cuts and styles hair and does manicures and pedicures as well as buying and selling jewelry.

Eugenia keeps a record of her clients to demonstrate capacity for growth of her business.

She even uses her walls to display construction and work shoes for sale.

Access to microcredit has translated Eugenia's entrepreneurial ingenuity into 3 micro-businesses in one shop.

Elizabeth, a Microcredit Client (United States)

Business: Kisok

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Elizabeth runs an outdoor kiosk in Queens, New York City.

She sells soccer jerseys, baseball caps and jewelry.

Elizabeth is a microcredit client of Grameen America, a Whole Planet Foundation partner.

She emigrated from Bolivia to provide a better life for her two children.

Every two weeks, she sends money to her children in Bolivia, supporting their basic living costs and enabling them to attend the local University.

Whole Foods Market sources produce and dairy from the New York City area.

Microcredit Client (Kenya)

Business: Growing Coffee

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This woman is a coffee farmer in Kenya.

She is a microcredit client of Unitus and Jamii Bora, Whole Planet Foundation partners.

She has taken out a series of microloans in order to expand her farm to include other income-generating activities such as raising chickens, growing bananas and milking cows.

These loans have helped her and her family survive tough economic times in the coffee industry.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in Kenya, although not from microcredit clients.

Microcredit Client (East Timor)

Business: Weaving

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This weaver makes traditional Timorese textiles in East Timor.

She is a microcredit client of Moris Rasik and Silverton Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation partners.

With her microloans, she has purchased materials for her tais weavings which are used for clothing, ceremony and home décor and are an essential part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

She works hard to create a better future for her children.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in East Timor.

Microcredit Client (Indonesia)

Business: Growing Vegetables

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This entrepreneur grows vegetables to sell in the local marketplace in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Her community was devastated by the tsunami in 2006, many losing family members and businesses.

She is slowly rebuilding her life with the help of microcredit. Along with a group of women in her community, she is a microcredit client of Grameen Trust, a Whole Planet Foundation partner.

Her first microloan enabled her to buy seeds and supplies for her garden. With initial profits, she has bought ducks to raise and sell locally,

working diligently toward the goal of sending her five children to school.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in Indonesia.

Microcredit Client (Costa Rica)

Business: Butterfly Farm

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This entrepreneur runs a butterfly farm in Costa Rica.

She raises butterflies for tourism, educational visits and sale in the marketplace. A client of Grameen Trust, a Whole Planet Foundation partner, she has used her microloans to buy cocoons of a variety of butterfly species.

Within a large meshed enclosure, she shows visitors the butterflies in their different stages of development and flying freely.

Whole Foods Market sources bananas from communities in Costa Rica.

Leticia, a Microcredit Client (Nicaragua)

Business: Piñata Making

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Leticia runs a piñata-making business out of her home in Nicaragua.

She is a microcredit client of Pro Mujer, a Whole Planet Foundation partner.

Leticia cares for her grandchildren during the day, while working.

The ability to work from home is an advantage for many clients as it allows them to care for young children while earning an income.

Leticia sells her colorful, hand-crafted piñatas out of her workshop in her home.

In the future, she hopes to add a small café on to the front of her home.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in Nicaragua.

Microcredit Client (Nepal)

Business: Small Store

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This shopkeeper lives in the Ilam tea growing region of Nepal

where over half the population has no access to basic financial services.

A grant from Whole Planet Foundation will enable partners Mercy Corps and Nirdhan Utthan Bank to move into the unserved communities of the Eastern Highlands

and distribute microloans to 10,000 poor individuals over the next three years.

Whole Foods Market sources tea from communities in Nepal.

Libanos, a Microcredit Client (Ethiopia)

Business: Growing Tomatoes

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Libanos runs a tomato growing business in Ethiopia.

Ten years ago, she lost everything when Ethiopia’s war with Eritrea broke out, leaving her home with her daughter and what little else she could carry.

Libanos is a microcredit client of A Glimmer of Hope, a Whole Planet Foundation partner. She is rebuilding her life with the support of microcredit.

She has irrigated her land and grows tomatoes and other crops to feed her family and sell in the local marketplace.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in Ethiopia.

Lidia, a Microcredit Client (Honduras)

Business: Neighborhood Store

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Lidia runs a small store out of her home in Honduras.

She is a microcredit client of Adelante Foundation, a Whole Planet Foundation partner.

Her first microloan enabled her to buy her products in bulk and save on overhead costs.

Lidia must sleep in her store to make room for the rest of her family.

As her business develops, she hopes to build a small kiosk and move her store outside of her home.

Whole Foods Market sources bananas from communities in Honduras.

Felicita, a Microcredit Client (Guatemala)

Business: Embroidery

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Felicita runs an embroidery business in Guatemala and sells her products in the local marketplace.

She is a microcredit client of Banrural Grameen Guatemala, a Whole Planet Foundation partner.

Before receiving a microloan, she lacked the capital to buy enough raw materials to make more than a few blouses a week.

Now, she has doubled her monthly production, enabling her to buy school supplies for her children.

Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in Guatemala.

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Nelson Mandela
Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice.

Muhammad Yunus
The poor themselves can create a poverty free world.

Ingrid Munro, Director of Jamii Bora, a Whole Planet Foundation partner in Kenya
One cannot lift a person out of poverty. There is no country in the world that has raised itself out of poverty through charity. What we offer to Jamii Bora members is access to a ladder that they can climb up to take themselves out of poverty. But the climbing they must do themselves.