Unleash
Entrepreneurship
Lift communities out of poverty, one business at a time

IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT MEDA TRUST

Dear MEDA Trust supporters,

Thank you for helping the working poor in Afghanistan and Nicaragua find new roads out of poverty through your sponsorship of microloans.

The creation of MEDA Trust in 2006 provided us a great opportunity to offer supporters like you a chance to become closer to MEDA clients. When we designed MEDA Trust, we wanted to help you engage friends, colleagues and family members – to pass along your faith, values and concern for the poor to your children and grandchildren.

Three years ago, we embarked on the Afghanistan Challenge, where donations to our microfinance work in Afghanistan were matched dollar for dollar by the Government of Canada. You may have noticed that we no longer offer Afghan loans on MEDA Trust. That’s because – thanks to your support – we have met our goal to provide loan capital for microfinance in Afghanistan. That work continues through a group of microfinance banks with which MEDA remains closely connected.

With our commitment in Afghanistan now fulfilled, we had an opportunity to review the feasibility of our MEDA Trust initiative, and have decided to dismantle MEDA Trust effective March 31. Until March 31, you can still visit MEDA Trust to view loans, make new loans to Nicaragua and track repayments. Your donations to date will continue to be used by our partner microfinance institutions to fund new loans.

As the world of microfinance has grown beyond loans to offering savings and other financial services that many in the Western world take for granted, MEDA has broadened its areas of expertise to help financial institutions in developing countries meet the growing needs of their customers, ensuring they have continued access to financial services.

The advent of social media is providing new and exciting ways to engage others – so stay tuned for more information on our changing online landscape! Again, thank you for your continuing support, and your commitment to creating business solutions to poverty.

Allan Sauder
President

Ivinia's Story
Ivinia's Story

Ivinia started out distributing her freshly baked bread by bicycle. Soon the demand grew and she dreamed of growing her business. She needed to produce more bread but she didn’t have the capital she needed to expand.

When she heard about MiCredito, she was excited. They offered loans at reasonable interest rates. MiCredito gave her a loan and she used the money to buy flour in bulk.

Invinia’s business has grown. She runs her bakery in the back of her home and her future looks bright. Fifty 100lb sacks of flour are neatly stacked beside tables of freshly baked rolls. Her open flame oven makes the room hot. While she works on one side, Ivinia’s son kneads dough on the other. Take one bite of her bread and you’ll know why Ivinia’s business is doing so well! And she no longer needs a bicycle—she now owns a car and a truck!