Dear Friends,

We are saddened by the loss of Luis Saturria and Yenny Gerardo, dedicated staff of Esperanza International, our partner in the Dominican Republic. They died in a car accident on March 3, while returning home after a long day in the field doing the work they loved. Luis and Yenny, pictured here during Grameen Bank training in Bangladesh, were tirelessly devoted to fighting poverty. I recently attended memorial services in the Dominican Republic, where I was touched by the overwhelming turnout of family, friends, and colleagues celebrating two lives spent in service to the poor.

As program manager, Luis was a strong leader for Esperanza's microfinance operations, providing encouragement and support to his staff and microfinance clients alike. He was saint-like, smart, deeply concerned about the well-being of his staff and clients, and firmly committed to reaching the poorest.

Yenny started working for Esperanza at age 22, and over eight years demonstrated remarkable commitment to the program and leadership potential, rising to become the eastern regional manager. Andrea Findley, our former country representative who became like a member of the Esperanza family in her work there, remembers Yenny as being "very energetic, sharp, strong willed and intensely dedicated."

This tragedy has been difficult for Esperanza's staff, but they have committed to building a stronger microfinance program as a tribute to their former colleagues. GFUSA intends to provide its full support to Esperanza as they rebuild and emerge stronger than ever.

Sincerely,

Alex Counts
President, Grameen Foundation USA

Increasing the Reach and Impact of Microfinance

GFUSA is increasing its on-the-ground presence in two key hubs for microfinance: The Arab World and India.

In November 2005, GFUSA opened its doors in Beirut, Lebanon, becoming the first U.S.-based microfinance network to establish a local office in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Led by MENA Regional Director Heather Henyon, this office will spearhead efforts of the Grameen-Abdul Latif Jameel Initiative, a partnership between GFUSA and Saudi-based Abdul Latif Jameel Group, to scale up microfinance in this underserved region. An estimated 7 to 14 million people living in the Arab World could benefit from microfinance, but only 7 percent are receiving it. In addition to providing support for microfinance programs in the region, the initiative facilitates knowledge sharing with practitioners outside the region through the Arabic Microfinance Gateway.

In India, Girish Nair has become the local face of GFUSA. A former microfinance institution executive, he will build on our successful track record by working directly with partners deepening our relationships within the Indian microfinance industry. With more than 300 million people living on less than one dollar a day, India has the largest unmet need for microfinance in the world. Since 2000, GFUSA has provided more than $3 million in direct financing to Indian MFIs and has facilitated millions more in loans from local commercial sources. This support has helped our partners increase outreach from 49,000 in March 2000 to almost 1.2 million in December 2005.

Du Ying Leaves the Factory and Weaves her own Dream

Excerpt from Dana Whitaker's upcoming book, Transforming Lives, $40 at a Time

"It's very significant for me to be making profits from my own business," exclaims Mrs. Du Ying, a young girl's giggle emitting from her wide-mouthed smile. Sitting on a squat wooden chair, Ying takes a short break from the work that has transformed her family's life in every way. From a ramshackle stone, straw and mud hut to a solid four-room brick home; from hunger to a well-balanced diet; and from wondering how to support her children's education to saving for future schooling, Ying's profits are creating possibilities for her family that are as richly toned and imaginatively conceived as the luxurious silk rugs she now weaves on her own loom.

Until a few years ago, all Ying had known was hard, relentless work from factory to field. When she wasn't weaving silk rugs for a meager wage, she farmed the small plot of land allotted to her family. Neither her income nor the food she grew were enough to adequately support her family.

One day, staff from the Funding the Poor Cooperative (FPC), a Grameen Foundation USA partner, held a meeting in her rural community in Nanzhao County, Henan Province, China. They offered Ying and other impoverished women an opportunity that was both tempting and frightening -- a business loan of Y1000 ($125), which she could invest in her own rug weaving business.

Read more about Du Ying >

The numerous replies to our question in the January eNewsletter were in agreement that the answer is yes. Responses came from business people, NGOs, and private organizations, as well as from professors and students from all over the world. Your insight into microfinance's growing role included the recognition that microfinance networks such as GFUSA, and microfinance organizations themselves, are "generally getting bigger and better," streamlining their operations and building sustainable programs.

"However, like any industry, microfinance needs to grow with its customers' requirements," wrote Paul McDonald of the United Kingdom. Your responses identified room for growth in at least two areas. India-based business executive Venugopal Reddy pointed out that other services like microinsurance, savings, and help with business plans will assume greater prominence in responding to microfinance clients' needs. And Mr. McDonald suggests that equity funding is needed to help address the serious shortage of capital for microfinance. Thank you for all the insightful and optimistic submissions on the role of microfinance in the near future.

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In this issue

A Farewell to Luis Saturria and Yenny Gerardo of Esperanza International

Increasing the Reach and Impact of Microfinance

Du Ying Leaves the Factory and Weaves her own Dream

Readers' thoughts on the future of microfinance

Newsbriefs

GFUSA president to speak at top universities: In coming weeks, Alex Counts will be featured in high-profile discussions of microfinance at two of the United States' top universities. First he will appear at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government on April 13 to debate the question of "Is Credit the Solution?" with Jeffrey Ashe, Director of Community Finance at Oxfam. On April 19-20, he will be a keynote speaker at the University of Southern California's Microfinance and Beyond conference, alongside Grameen Bank founder and GFUSA board member Muhammad Yunus, and Robert Annibale, Citigroup's Global Director of Microfinance.

Transforming the technology of microfinance: Every day, millions of tiny transactions flow through microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world. To keep track of their operations, they need information systems that allow them to efficiently manage this high volume of information, while giving them the flexibility to adapt to their changing environment. GFUSA's technology center is helping to meet this need with Mifos (Microfinance Open Source Project), the first open source MIS (management information systems) software for MFIs. With Mifos, MFIs can customize and update the software source code to meet their needs, and then share these innovations across the industry.

Growth Guarantees closes first transaction: This February, the first transaction of the Growth Guarantees Program secured a local currency loan of US$750,000 to ENDA Inter-Arabe, one of Tunisia's leading microfinance institutions. The money will fund ENDA's expansion and outreach to the country's growing rural-to-urban migrant population.

GFUSA staff members speak on increasing the impact of microfinance in Asia: The Asia Microfinance Forum, being held March 21-24 in Beijing, aims to build new partnerships and highlight innovations that will strengthen microfinance throughout Asia. Peter Bladin, director of GFUSA's technology center, is discussing how to increase the outreach and sustainability of microfinance through technology. Deb Burand, vice president of programs, is speaking on the role of government regulation in microfinance institutions' ability to access capital. As the forum convenes, host country China has recently passed regulations allowing commercial microfinance programs, welcome news as we move to increase our presence in this underserved area.