Five Talents International
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Five Talents International was commended by resolution at the 1998 Lambeth Conference and created as a long-term response to the ravages of poverty that debilitate communities in developing countries. The founders, including Anglican Church leaders, talked about the plight of the poor and those dying of famine, AIDS/HIV and other diseases. They wanted not only to assist but also to guard the dignity of the poor by supporting them in small businesses.
Today, Five Talents is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. The nonprofit also has offices in London and Kampala,Uganda and has recently opened an office in the Southeast United States to coordinate the Latin American program and curriculum development.
The organization states that it's mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by empowering the poor in developing countries using innovative savings and microcredit programs, business training and spiritual development.
Five Talents gives people the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty by providing access to basic savings and microcredit services built firmly on their trusted community traditions. We provide biblically-based business training to help the poor start small businesses and begin to build their future. Five Talents supports indigenous institutions working in microenterprise development and work primarily through the following services and programs: • Consulting services, training and education for savings and microcredit programs. • Materials that promote Biblical business principles. • Loan capital for the poor.
Five Talents has provided funding, consulting or training in the some of the poorest countries in the world since operations fully began in September 1999. It has financed thousands of $50 to $300 loans to poor entrepreneurs in nine countries, including Bolivia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Peru and the Philippines.
In 2005, Five Talents invested in more than 10,000 poor entrepreneurs and their families, a majority of them women. Each loan finances a business that in turn employs at least five other people. Its consulting and training services have impacted hundreds more in Cameroon, Madagascar, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Five Talents do?
• Fund savings and micro-credit programs
• Provide technical assistance
• Provide educational opportunities
• Business as Mission trips
• Holistic development
Why microenterprise development?
Microenterprise development has proven to be an efficient and effective method for fighting poverty and raising up entrepreneurs in developing countries. Where grants and giveaway programs have failed, Five Talents has provided platforms for long-term growth and stability. By teaching basic financial principles and general business training before providing loan capital, Five Talents ensures that the entrepreneurs and their communities benefit now and in the future. It is a very practical and sound approach to fighting poverty.
Local banks cannot afford the costs associated with lending small amounts of money to many microenterprises, nor can they offer loans to clients who can provide little or no collateral. The aim of microenterprise development is to fill the void that separates millions of people from access to basic financial service.
What type of jobs are we talking about?
The majority of businesses are in food production and sales, street vending, brick manufacturing, shoe making, carpentry, auto repair, beauty salons, office services and tailoring. These businesses provide nothing less than survival for families.
What is the impact of Five Talents?
• More than 10,000 clients are being helped in 2006.
• Thousands more since we began in 1999.
• Now supporting 11 programs in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Peru.
• Currently providing technical assistance in Bolivia, Rwanda and Tanzania.
• Repayment rates average more than 90 percent.
