Questions about microfinance:
What is Microfinance?
Questions about donations:
Does 100% of my money go directly to fund a loan to a Guatemalan?
As a donor, do I get paid back when the borrower pays back the loan?
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Questions about our program:
Do you charge interest on the loans?
Do the borrowers go through an application process?
What kind of ongoing oversight is there over the borrowers?
What communities do you work in?
What part of this ministry is ministry?
How are students involved in this ministry?
Why are there only a few microloan applicants currently posted on your website?
Questions about Students International:
What kind of accreditation does Students International have?
Is Students International affiliated with a church or denomination?
What is the mission and vision of Students International?
Where is Students International located?
Where can I learn more about Students International?
If you have a question that isn’t here, please send it to us here, and we’ll answer!
What is Microfinance?
Generally, microfinance is the providing of financial services to the poor, of which microcredit (or microloans) is a part. We run a microloan program, where we loan $100 - $500 to an individual to invest in an income-generating idea. Most of the borrowers have chosen to invest in animals (chickens, pigs, cows), because that is what they know how to do, and have been doing it profitably for most of their lives. Other borrowers invest in ideas such as: crops, their small restaurant, or products for their retail business (shoes, sesame seed, vegetables, animal feed). Upon receiving a loan and investing it in animals or in their business, each borrower then pays back the loan according to their capacity with the earnings from their investment. For animals, for example, the borrower would pay back the loan in full upon selling (or butchering) their animal. For a business loan, the loan is paid back in monthly installments according to their capacity. Once the loan is repaid, the money is then reissued in another loan. In this way your donation to the fund will be recylced to provide microloans (aka opportunities) to Guatemalans for years to come. (Back to top)
Does 100% of my money go directly to fund a loan for a Guatemalan?
While I cannot technically guarantee you that 100% of your donation will go directly to the borrower (for legal and regulatory reasons), I can tell you that as of 10/1/09, 100% of the money donated to the Students International Guatemala Micro-Loan Fund has gone to fund loans for Guatemalans. This program effectively has no overhead, as all of the field staff have raised their own financial support, and the small costs of running the program are covered by the income generated by the interest collected on the loans. (Back to top)
Do I get paid back when the borrower pays back the loan?
No. When the borrower pays back the loan, it is recycled and turned into another loan to a Guatemalan. As such, your donation will provide countless opportunities as your money will be continuously recycled for the life of the program. All donations are tax-deductible gifts to the Students International Guatemala Micro-Loan Fund.
There are some organizations that will let you, the lender, receive their money back as the borrower repays the loan. For us to do that would require substantial legal and tax accounting resources that we, Students International, simply do not have, as it would subject Students International to several investment regulatory issues. (Back to top)
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Students International recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are 100% tax deductible. (Back to top)
Do you charge interest on the loans?
Yes. All loans to the Guatemalans carry a 1% monthly (12 % APR) interest charge on principle outstanding.
While the SI Guatemala Microfinance site is a ministry, we do not want to be portrayed by the community as a charity. We are not giving away money, and the program is not free. When determining what interest rate to charge, we had a few reference points. The few Guatemalan banks that do make loans available to the poor charge anywhere from 1.5% to 4% per month and sometimes higher. The father of microfinance and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus through the Grameen Bank, as described in his book, Banker to the Poor, charges 20% annually on basic income-generating loans. While it may seem high for U.S. standards, 1% per month is cheaper than any other resource available to our borrowers, and is very affordable. A typical starting loan of $130 for a 5 month term will cost the borrower, on average, $5. (Back to top)
Do the borrowers go through an application process?
Yes. Each potential borrower goes through a formal application process. We go to their home or place of work and go through the application and evaluation one-on-one. It is also during this visit that the borrower presents to us their plan of investment. Their plan of investment must include how they are going to spend every dollar of the loan, how much money they are going to make, and how and when they are going to pay the loan back. Many times we will offer suggestions to make their plan better, and we always discuss and review the accuracy of prices and assumptions in their plan. All borrowers are also asked to state the risks of their plan of investment, and what they will do to prevent those risks from happening. (Back to top)
What kind of ongoing oversight is there over the borrowers?
After the loan is administered, we visit the borrowers’ home or place of work the following week to see that they have made their purchases according to their plan of investment. We also visit each borrower in their home or place of work at least once a month to check up on them and see how they are doing. All borrowers are also part of a Bible study meeting that meets every two weeks. During these meetings, there is a brief time where each borrower shares what they have done with the loan, and how their investment is going. The Bible studies are hosted by Mario Mendez, a fellow SI missionary, pastor, and acting community veterinarian. Mario already has an animal cooperative and savings program functioning within these groups. These meetings are where we collect the monthly payments from our borrowers. (Back to top)
What communities do you work in?
Students International Guatemala works primarily in the communities of Magdalena Milpas Altas, El Gorrión, and Antigua, all of which are located about 1 hour WSW of Guatemala City. The microloan program is currently focused in Magdalena and El Gorrión, but we hope to expand our programs into Antigua eventually. If you would like to see the a map of where we work and where each of the SI Guatemala ministry sites are located, click here to go to the Google Maps version, or click here to download the Google Earth version. (Back to top)
What part of this ministry is ministry?
Students International holds to a holistic approach to ministry, meaning we strive to cater to all of the needs of the individual, including the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, and spiritual needs. We recognize that the people in the places where we work do not simply need to be evangelized (many do have that need, some don’t). We also recognize that the poverty from which they suffer is not simply the absence of physical things, such as food, water, and clothes (although that is a large part of it). Poverty encompasses all parts of the individual, and SI hopes to cater to all of those needs, through ministries such as education, healthcare, social work, and others. The vision of this micro-loan program is to provide opportunities for the poor to help build themselves out of the cycle of poverty. By providing these opportunities we hope to develop and grow relationships, and through these relationships we hope to convey the love of Christ Jesus that lives in us, and to talk about faith issues.
As mentioned in the previous question, all of our borrowers meet every two weeks for a Bible study meeting. These meetings include a time of prayer, fellowship, and message from Pastor Mario. In addition to meditations on scripture, Pastor Mario often speaks about the themes of poverty, self-worth, transformation, and development. These themes couldn’t be more relevant to these people, and it is neat to see the transformation that has happened in them: from internalized feelings of inferiority to pride for who they are and what they do, and from being lost and confused in a confusing spiritual world to being sure of who Jesus is and what he can do for them. (Back to top)
How are students involved in this ministry?
As you may know, Students International has a double purpose mission, to both the poor and to the students that come down on mission trips (look below for SI’s mission and vision). In 2009, SI Guatemala will bring about 400 students down from about 27 teams to work alongside us in our respective ministry sites. (To learn more about outreaches, or all of the ministry sites, go to www.stint.com.) In the microfinance ministry site, students will help with the application process, go on home visits, attend bi-weekly meetings, and help with bookkeeping and maintaining this website. Students will also have the opportunity to help with small projects that will benefit an individual borrower. (Back to top)
Why are there only a few microloan applicants currently posted on your website?
To speed up the website. We try to keep between 10 and 12 applicants on the website at any one time. Any more, and the website would take longer to load. Each time you click onto the microfinance page, all of the pictures of all of the applicants must be loaded. By limiting the number of applicants posted, the page loads faster. Once a number of loans are fully funded, we take them down and post additional borrowers and their profiles so that potential donors have a variety of applicants and projects to choose from. (Back to top)
What kind of accreditation does Students International have?
Students International is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and is also a provisional member of the U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short Term Mission. (Back to top)
Is Students International affiliated with a church or denomination?
No. Students International is a not affiliated with any one church or denomination. A variety of denominations and churches do partner with us in sending outreach groups down with Students International. For more information on our outreaches, click here. (Back to top)
What is the mission and vision of Students International?
The mission of SI is: Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple, and serve others in occupational ministries
The vision of SI is: Seeing students and the poor transformed into the likeness of Christ and discover their true calling (Back to top)
Where is Students International located?
Students International has field ministries in Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Fiji. Students International headquarters is located in Visalia, California. (Back to top)
Where can I learn more about Students International?
Check out the new SI website at www.stint.com. (Back to top)
What is Microfinance?
Questions about donations:
Does 100% of my money go directly to fund a loan to a Guatemalan?
As a donor, do I get paid back when the borrower pays back the loan?
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Questions about our program:
Do you charge interest on the loans?
Do the borrowers go through an application process?
What kind of ongoing oversight is there over the borrowers?
What communities do you work in?
What part of this ministry is ministry?
How are students involved in this ministry?
Why are there only a few microloan applicants currently posted on your website?
Questions about Students International:
What kind of accreditation does Students International have?
Is Students International affiliated with a church or denomination?
What is the mission and vision of Students International?
Where is Students International located?
Where can I learn more about Students International?
If you have a question that isn’t here, please send it to us here, and we’ll answer!
What is Microfinance?
Generally, microfinance is the providing of financial services to the poor, of which microcredit (or microloans) is a part. We run a microloan program, where we loan $100 - $500 to an individual to invest in an income-generating idea. Most of the borrowers have chosen to invest in animals (chickens, pigs, cows), because that is what they know how to do, and have been doing it profitably for most of their lives. Other borrowers invest in ideas such as: crops, their small restaurant, or products for their retail business (shoes, sesame seed, vegetables, animal feed). Upon receiving a loan and investing it in animals or in their business, each borrower then pays back the loan according to their capacity with the earnings from their investment. For animals, for example, the borrower would pay back the loan in full upon selling (or butchering) their animal. For a business loan, the loan is paid back in monthly installments according to their capacity. Once the loan is repaid, the money is then reissued in another loan. In this way your donation to the fund will be recylced to provide microloans (aka opportunities) to Guatemalans for years to come. (Back to top)
Does 100% of my money go directly to fund a loan for a Guatemalan?
While I cannot technically guarantee you that 100% of your donation will go directly to the borrower (for legal and regulatory reasons), I can tell you that as of 10/1/09, 100% of the money donated to the Students International Guatemala Micro-Loan Fund has gone to fund loans for Guatemalans. This program effectively has no overhead, as all of the field staff have raised their own financial support, and the small costs of running the program are covered by the income generated by the interest collected on the loans. (Back to top)
Do I get paid back when the borrower pays back the loan?
No. When the borrower pays back the loan, it is recycled and turned into another loan to a Guatemalan. As such, your donation will provide countless opportunities as your money will be continuously recycled for the life of the program. All donations are tax-deductible gifts to the Students International Guatemala Micro-Loan Fund.
There are some organizations that will let you, the lender, receive their money back as the borrower repays the loan. For us to do that would require substantial legal and tax accounting resources that we, Students International, simply do not have, as it would subject Students International to several investment regulatory issues. (Back to top)
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Students International recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are 100% tax deductible. (Back to top)
Do you charge interest on the loans?
Yes. All loans to the Guatemalans carry a 1% monthly (12 % APR) interest charge on principle outstanding.
While the SI Guatemala Microfinance site is a ministry, we do not want to be portrayed by the community as a charity. We are not giving away money, and the program is not free. When determining what interest rate to charge, we had a few reference points. The few Guatemalan banks that do make loans available to the poor charge anywhere from 1.5% to 4% per month and sometimes higher. The father of microfinance and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunus through the Grameen Bank, as described in his book, Banker to the Poor, charges 20% annually on basic income-generating loans. While it may seem high for U.S. standards, 1% per month is cheaper than any other resource available to our borrowers, and is very affordable. A typical starting loan of $130 for a 5 month term will cost the borrower, on average, $5. (Back to top)
Do the borrowers go through an application process?
Yes. Each potential borrower goes through a formal application process. We go to their home or place of work and go through the application and evaluation one-on-one. It is also during this visit that the borrower presents to us their plan of investment. Their plan of investment must include how they are going to spend every dollar of the loan, how much money they are going to make, and how and when they are going to pay the loan back. Many times we will offer suggestions to make their plan better, and we always discuss and review the accuracy of prices and assumptions in their plan. All borrowers are also asked to state the risks of their plan of investment, and what they will do to prevent those risks from happening. (Back to top)
What kind of ongoing oversight is there over the borrowers?
After the loan is administered, we visit the borrowers’ home or place of work the following week to see that they have made their purchases according to their plan of investment. We also visit each borrower in their home or place of work at least once a month to check up on them and see how they are doing. All borrowers are also part of a Bible study meeting that meets every two weeks. During these meetings, there is a brief time where each borrower shares what they have done with the loan, and how their investment is going. The Bible studies are hosted by Mario Mendez, a fellow SI missionary, pastor, and acting community veterinarian. Mario already has an animal cooperative and savings program functioning within these groups. These meetings are where we collect the monthly payments from our borrowers. (Back to top)
What communities do you work in?
Students International Guatemala works primarily in the communities of Magdalena Milpas Altas, El Gorrión, and Antigua, all of which are located about 1 hour WSW of Guatemala City. The microloan program is currently focused in Magdalena and El Gorrión, but we hope to expand our programs into Antigua eventually. If you would like to see the a map of where we work and where each of the SI Guatemala ministry sites are located, click here to go to the Google Maps version, or click here to download the Google Earth version. (Back to top)
What part of this ministry is ministry?
Students International holds to a holistic approach to ministry, meaning we strive to cater to all of the needs of the individual, including the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, and spiritual needs. We recognize that the people in the places where we work do not simply need to be evangelized (many do have that need, some don’t). We also recognize that the poverty from which they suffer is not simply the absence of physical things, such as food, water, and clothes (although that is a large part of it). Poverty encompasses all parts of the individual, and SI hopes to cater to all of those needs, through ministries such as education, healthcare, social work, and others. The vision of this micro-loan program is to provide opportunities for the poor to help build themselves out of the cycle of poverty. By providing these opportunities we hope to develop and grow relationships, and through these relationships we hope to convey the love of Christ Jesus that lives in us, and to talk about faith issues.
As mentioned in the previous question, all of our borrowers meet every two weeks for a Bible study meeting. These meetings include a time of prayer, fellowship, and message from Pastor Mario. In addition to meditations on scripture, Pastor Mario often speaks about the themes of poverty, self-worth, transformation, and development. These themes couldn’t be more relevant to these people, and it is neat to see the transformation that has happened in them: from internalized feelings of inferiority to pride for who they are and what they do, and from being lost and confused in a confusing spiritual world to being sure of who Jesus is and what he can do for them. (Back to top)
How are students involved in this ministry?
As you may know, Students International has a double purpose mission, to both the poor and to the students that come down on mission trips (look below for SI’s mission and vision). In 2009, SI Guatemala will bring about 400 students down from about 27 teams to work alongside us in our respective ministry sites. (To learn more about outreaches, or all of the ministry sites, go to www.stint.com.) In the microfinance ministry site, students will help with the application process, go on home visits, attend bi-weekly meetings, and help with bookkeeping and maintaining this website. Students will also have the opportunity to help with small projects that will benefit an individual borrower. (Back to top)
Why are there only a few microloan applicants currently posted on your website?
To speed up the website. We try to keep between 10 and 12 applicants on the website at any one time. Any more, and the website would take longer to load. Each time you click onto the microfinance page, all of the pictures of all of the applicants must be loaded. By limiting the number of applicants posted, the page loads faster. Once a number of loans are fully funded, we take them down and post additional borrowers and their profiles so that potential donors have a variety of applicants and projects to choose from. (Back to top)
What kind of accreditation does Students International have?
Students International is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and is also a provisional member of the U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short Term Mission. (Back to top)
Is Students International affiliated with a church or denomination?
No. Students International is a not affiliated with any one church or denomination. A variety of denominations and churches do partner with us in sending outreach groups down with Students International. For more information on our outreaches, click here. (Back to top)
What is the mission and vision of Students International?
The mission of SI is: Bringing students and the poor together cross-culturally to encounter God, share the Good News, disciple, and serve others in occupational ministries
The vision of SI is: Seeing students and the poor transformed into the likeness of Christ and discover their true calling (Back to top)
Where is Students International located?
Students International has field ministries in Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Fiji. Students International headquarters is located in Visalia, California. (Back to top)
Where can I learn more about Students International?
Check out the new SI website at www.stint.com. (Back to top)