Countries we invest in:
Lebanon:
The average person in Lebanon lives in poverty. In a country where agriculture would be a primary source of income, the country is lagging behind. The farmers here face extremely high production costs due to the mountainous land, high cost of labor, antiquated irrigation procedures, and mandatory use of pesticides and fertilizers.
Compounding their obstacles in farming, these farmers also face extraordinary difficulty gaining access to credit, banking, and financial services they need in order to grow their businesses and make them profitable. Lebanon is the perfect candidate for TNH micro-loans because we make these otherwise scarce loans abundantly available.
Sierra Leone:
Since coming out of civil war, Sierra Leone is showing signs of recovery and consumer and investor confidence continue to rise every year. That means that the country's small business owners are on their way to successfully rehabilitating their economy and local communities and beginning to put themselves "on the map" in terms of the global economy.
There's one problem though: Their government is slow to assist with overcoming challenges like unemployment, and reintegrating ex-combatants from the war back into society. If their citizens could gain access to micro-loans and grow their opportunity, it would be immensely helpful in expediting reforms. Because despite the country's abundant natural wealth, over 70% of its population live below the poverty line. TNH is making a difference with their micro-lending program by helping empower those who want to make the changes here in Sierra Leone.
El Salvador:
El Salvador is a country in which the number of people living in extreme poverty has risen sharply since 2005 despite the fact that number of those receiving higher education has also gone up. Clearly, there is no lack of intellect in this country, simply a lack of opportunity and availability of finances. TNH is here to change that. Our goal is to send micro-loans to El Salvador so that these people can have as much opportunity as we are fortunate enough to have here in the US.
India:
India is, impressively, the world's ninth-largest economy and has the fourth largest economy by purchasing power. It's growth has sky-rocketed in the last decade yet still faces enormous challenges similar to developing countries, such as poverty, illiteracy, low-quality public health, and government corruption.
Through micro-loans, it's possible and exceedingly likely that those living below the poverty line will be able to create a business that will contribute to their local community and allow them to become self-sufficient and rise above the low level of poverty.
Help TheNakedHippie reach its goals by helping others reach theirs.