Ghanaian microentrepreneur Stella Sabang has just received her $340 loan, which 
she will use to purchase dried maize. She uses her profits as a retailer 
and wholesaler to support her family, including the baby on her back.

Women are the primary recipients of microloans around the world for three main reasons: they use loans to open and grow businesses, they use their profits to support their families, and they save their money for emergencies and future needs. Extremely poor women like Stella Sabang are taking a risk when they take out a microfinance loan, but in that risk they have a viable opportunity to work and break free from poverty. Many succeed, creating sustainable businesses, repaying their loans and supporting their families. They also experience what we all desire, regardless of our circumstances: a life of dignity and hope.

About the Artist

Dana Whitaker is a photojournalist, speaker and personal/professional coach. In 2002 she learned about the power of microfinance to transform lives and was compelled to get involved. Dana spent more than three years traveling to 13 countries on five continents interviewing and photographing microentrepreneurs, and wrote a book based on the experience entitled Transforming Lives $40 at a Time, Women + Microfinance: Upending the Status Quo. To learn more about Dana, visit www.openingeyes.net.