Microfinancing: The little loans that could -- and do - 08/20/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

Microfinancing: The little loans that could -- and do - 08/20/2007 - MiamiHerald.com: "Microfinancing: The little loans that could -- and do Mainstream bankers are beginning to get interested in microfinancing. Posted on Mon, Aug. 20, 2007
BY JIM LANDERS Dallas Morning News SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico -- Give a poor woman a loan to help her weave skirts or bake tortillas, and soon her business, her family and her self-image improve. So it was with Esparanza Pérez Garcie, 52, who sells tacos and other foods at her little restaurant in the artisans' marketplace here. Her one-room kitchen and dinette faces a covered patio that fills with noise as southern Mexico's rainy season sends its daily deluge spilling down the mountains. Customers welcome the shelter, and the quesadillas and chalupas sell for 50 cents apiece."