Microfinance Photos from Around the World

Mother and Son - Ucchus, Peru

Paolina tells us about her family business of raising guinea pigs (cuy), cows (for milk and cheese) and creating handicrafts to sell at the local market. Taken in the village of Ucchus near Huancavelica, Peru. Read more about microfinance at work in Huancavelica. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Women, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

The red tikka on these women's foreheads indicate that they are married. We met these women - part of a micro-credit and self-help group -in the village Deep Colony several hours outside of Siliguri in northern West Bengal, India. They shared with us the projects they've been doing in the village, as well as stories of children who were taken away by agents to work in other cities. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Guatemalan Mother and Baby - San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala

Sonia runs a small shop in San Pedro Sacatepequez (Guatemala) with her daughter always on her back or side as she works. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Kiva Borrower, Mother and Daughter - San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala

Taken in a village outside of San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Concentration and Weaving - Chacarilla, Peru

Zenovia shows us her weaving loom and how she creates designs for blankets/mantas. Taken in the village of Chacarilla near Huancavelica, Peru. Read more about microfinance at work in Huancavelica. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Running a Small Shop At the Front of the House - Masaya, Nicaragua

Angela is a Kiva borrower, meaning she has a small loan financed through Kiva.org. She uses her credit to help improve the margins in her small shop at the front of the house she shares with her family in a village outside Masaya, Nicaragua. Read more about our adventures in Nicaragua. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Microfinance Meeting of Indian Woman - West Bengal, India

Taken in Gairkata, a village in the northern part of West Bengal, India. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Selling Textiles - Otavalo, Ecuador

Alba lives and works in a village outside Otavalo, Ecuador where she makes bags and other items out of textiles like this to sell at the Saturday Otavalo market. Read more articles about our visit to Ecuador. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Proud Women of Yauli, Peru

These women take out small loans through the microfinance organization ECLOF. They proudly show off their handicrafts and pride in this photo. Taken in Yauli, Peru (near Huancavelica). Read more about microfinance at work in Huancavelica. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Showing Off Her Work - Outside Cuenca, Ecuador

Eva hand weaves hats - what we would call Panama Hats - in the village of Parroquia Quingeo outside of Cuenca, Ecuador. She has a small loan through Kiva to help her buy materials. Here, she shows us some of her work in progress. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Kiva Borrower, Guatemalan Woman with Baby

Florinda Augustina has a small sewing business creating aprons and adding special trim and designs to make them unique. Taken in the village of Paraje Xecaje outside of Totonicapan, Guatemala. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Father and Daughter - Ucchus, Peru

Taken in the village of Ucchus near Huancavelica, Peru. Read more about microfinance at work in Huancavelica. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Woman Working Land - West Bengal, India

One of the older members of the women's self-help group in Deep Colony village (outside Siliguri, India) helps with the new seedlings. Thirteen women work together to maintain this nursery project. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Stacking Bananas - Chapare, Bolivia

Lining bananas up to get boxed. Taken at a banana production plant in Chapare, Bolivia. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Tickling Her Favorite Cow - Outside Cochabamba, Bolivia

Servanda introduces us to her favorite cow and gives her a little tickle. Taken at her farm outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Guatemalan Woman with Embroidery - San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala

Magda Alicia, a microfinance borrower, shows us the handmade and hand woven traditional tops she sells. The more detailed tops are used for weddings and special occasions and can take more than a month to make. Taken in a village outside San Pedro Sacatepequez in Guatemala. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Cooking the Corn - Masaya, Nicaragua

Dried corn needs to be boiled and cooked for a while until it becomes soft enough to grind into a paste to use for tortillas. The family business produces corn tortillas, pork rinds, beans, and runs a small shop. This woman is the sister of a Kiva borrower (microfinance loan) - the whole family business benefits when one person can get a bit of credit. ..Taken in a village near Masaya, Nicaragua. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Women Listening Carefully, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

Women leaders of Self-Help Groups in the village of Gairkata in West Bengal (India) listen intently as we ask questions about their projects and businesses started with microcredit loans. Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Woman Weaving on Loom - Paraje Xecaje, Guatemala

Rosalinda Matea gives us a demonstration on the loom of how she weaves fajas, the woven belts used with skirts (traje) in traditional Mayan or indigenous wear in Guatemala. Taken in the village of Paraje Xecaje outside of Totonicapan, Guatemala. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Kiva Borrower, Scraping the Corn - Panicuy, Guatemala

Paola demonstrates how she scrapes the kernels off the dried corn cobs. These dried kernels will then get taken to a community mill to grind and eventually will get used for tortillas, a staple in Guatemala. Taken in the village of Panicuy outside of Guatemala City, Guatemala. Read more about our visits to Kiva microfinance borrowers in Guatemala. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Beauty and the Beast - Masaya, Nicaragua

Linda is a Kiva borrower, meaning that she has received a small loan financed on the internet through Kiva lenders. Together with her sister, they have used their loans to expand their family business (tortillas, pork rinds, beans) and a small shop. Linda's specialty seems to be making the pork rinds (chicharron). In this photo she's cleaning out pig bits to use later on in the process. Taken in a village outside of Masaya, Nicaragua. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Indian Women, Microfinance - West Bengal, India

These women were members of a self-help group that ran a community nursery in the village of Deep Colony (West Bengal, India). Read: Microfinance Diaries: Seeing is Believing in West Bengal, India © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Jolly Vendor of Coca Leaves - Huancavelica, Peru

The sale of coca leaves is allowed in Peru by authorized vendors. Here, we talk with Donaires, a member of a microfinance group, about the many natural uses of coca leaves (from calcium to reducing headaches). Taken at the market in Huancavelica, Peru. Read more about microfinance at work in Huancavelica. © www.uncorneredmarket.com

A Sewing Work Station - Masaya, Nicaragua

Lucrecia is a Kiva borrower, meaning that she has received a small loan financed on the internet through Kiva lenders. She works at home making decorated and embroidered aprons to sell at market. She can churn out an apron in fifteen minutes - it's impressive to watch. Taken in a village outside of Masaya, Nicaragua. Read: What is Microfinance: A View from the Field © www.uncorneredmarket.com

Growing Tropical Flowers - Chapare, Bolivia

A woman and her husband run a tropical flower farm as an alternative to coca production in Chapare, Bolivia. Read: Cocaine: A Story That Begins in the Bolivian Jungle © www.uncorneredmarket.com