You have the ability to change not just one child’s future, but every generation that comes after them.

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Some of you may know that my husband and I are members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and my husband currently is a branch president, which is like a bishop or pastor leader of the Spanish congregation in our community. 

And a few months ago, we had someone who was baptized that had come to the United States from El Salvador. And in El Salvador, he grew up fishing, just like a lot of the kids do in southern Honduras. And so the part where he's from is right next to the area that we work in. So very, very similar situation. And he was actually only ever ever able to go to first grade. And in first grade, he learned how to read and write. And then he spent the next um how many years until he was 18, working fishing. But because he had gone to school one year and he knew how to read and write, he had those skills that would be necessary for him to come to the United States and, you know, get a good paying job. And I think this really shows the importance of education and even if the students that were helping don't graduate high school, every year that they're in school is going to benefit them because being able to read and write makes a huge difference in anything that they do. It helps them socially. It helps them financially. So even if all of these kids don't graduate, there's still so much value in them going to school and we're grateful to be able to help these kids go to school with help from donations from generous people. Like you.

One of our frequently asked questions is what is a small loan or what amount of money is a small loan? And when we first started, we found that we could lend someone about a hundred and fifty dollars and with that hundred and fifty dollars, they could start, you know, a little business. We have since found that with inflation that's happened over the last few years, really to be able to start a successful business requires about a minimum of $275.. So our current smallest loan is $275, and then our loans do not exceed one thousand two hundred dollars. And in between those two amounts, um, you know, is our average, which is close to five hundred dollars per loan. And what individuals are able to do is have a loan for two hundred and seventy five dollars pay that off and that demonstrates credit worthiness to qualify for a larger loaner to grow their business even more. And depending on what the business is, sometimes we’re able to provide a larger loan up front, if we know that the business plan is really solid, but also requires a bigger upfront investment. And we've been able to see all loans, regardless of the size be paid off, in a timely manner according to their payment plan. And it really doesn't take a lot. But something really cool to keep in mind is that if you donate for a small business loan, your money is being recycled because the way that the loans work is every single month, all of our borrowers make their loan payments. And that money is reused to give out new loans. And so if you are supporting one business, um each month as they make their payments, you're supporting additional businesses. And that money just continues to get recycled over and over and over again. So it's really multiplying your impact, which is really cool because, of course, everybody wants to use their money as efficiently as possible, right and to see their money being used in a way that's going to make a big difference. And so it's awesome that your support not only supports one small business, but many small businesses as that money continues to be recycled.

The US has social safety net programs that prevent more people from being poverty.  Programs like Medicaid and food stamps ensure that American children have access to healthcare and food.  Unfortunately, many of these programs can also perpetuate poverty. If you’re wanting to make a true difference our organization is a great option that truly changes the lives of individuals in poverty.

Visit themarcoviaproject.org to learn more 

Aprendí español como misionero. Mi español no es perfecto pero espero que los que hablan español puedan entender.

Each episode, we're going to be talking about things related to poverty. And today's episode is about poverty as it relates to retirement. And older aging people. I was able to ask our director of operations when I was there recently, what keeps him up at night, what are his concerns and worries? And he really wants to be able to be independent, financially independent in retirement. He doesn't want to be a burden to his kids and doesn't want them to have to be responsible for his financial well-being. So culturally in Honduras, it's more common there than it is here for kids to provide for their parents in retirement. And the reason for that is because people in poverty have an inability to save money for long term, just because they're living day to day. And so it's common even to see people working well into their 60s and 70s just because they need to continue to have an income. And so that's just a difference culturally, but also that stems from poverty is just an inability to make those long-term planning for the future kind of decisions. And it results in people either relying on their children and hopefully their children are not in poverty and and can also care for them. But it is a burden for their kids, or it also can require that they continue to work well into their retirement years. When parents rely on their children for their financial well-being, this can also perpetuate poverty for their children because in addition to meeting their own needs, their children now need to provide for medical emergencies for their parents. Don't get me wrong. I think it's great when people are able to help their parents. And it shows a lot of love and compassion for everything that they did for us, right? But it can definitely also be a burden for young families. living in poverty when they have those additional costs and responsibilities. We're going to try to keep these episodes short and sweet to just really talk quickly about some of the issues related to poverty and poverty alleviation. But thanks for listening and we hope you'll enjoy listening to these and that you'll learn something new.

A quick introduction to the formation of The Marcovia Project.